Government

conventional long form: Italian Republic

conventional short form: Italy

local long form: Repubblica Italiana

local short form: Italia

former: Kingdom of Italy

etymology: derivation is unclear, but the Latin "Italia" may come from the Oscan "Viteliu" meaning "[Land] of Young Cattle" (the bull was a symbol of southern Italic tribes)

Government type
parliamentary republic

Capital
name: Rome

geographic coordinates: 41 54 N, 12 29 E

time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

etymology: by tradition, named after Romulus, one of the legendary founders of the city and its first king

Administrative divisions
15 regions (regioni, singular - regione) and 5 autonomous regions (regioni autonome, singular - regione autonoma)

regions: Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Lazio (Latium), Liguria, Lombardia, Marche, Molise, Piemonte (Piedmont), Puglia (Apulia), Toscana (Tuscany), Umbria, Veneto;

autonomous regions: Friuli Venezia Giulia, Sardegna (Sardinia), Sicilia (Sicily), Trentino-Alto Adige (Trentino-South Tyrol) or Trentino-Suedtirol (German), Valle d'Aosta (Aosta Valley) or Vallee d'Aoste (French)

Independence
17 March 1861 (Kingdom of Italy proclaimed; Italy was not finally unified until 1871)

National holiday
Republic Day, 2 June (1946)

Constitution
history: previous 1848 (originally for the Kingdom of Sardinia and adopted by the Kingdom of Italy in 1861); latest enacted 22 December 1947, adopted 27 December 1947, entered into force 1 January 1948

amendments: proposed by both houses of Parliament; passage requires two successive debates and approval by absolute majority of each house on the second vote; a referendum is only required when requested by one fifth of the members of either house, by voter petition, or by five Regional Councils (elected legislative assemblies of the 15 first-level administrative regions and 5 autonomous regions of Italy); referendum not required if an amendment has been approved by a two-thirds majority in each house in the second vote; amended many times, last in 2020

Legal system
civil law system; judicial review of legislation under certain conditions in Constitutional Court

International law organization participation
accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

Citizenship
citizenship by birth: no

citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Italy

dual citizenship recognized: yes

residency requirement for naturalization: 4 years for EU nationals, 5 years for refugees and specified exceptions, 10 years for all others

Suffrage
18 years of age; universal except in senatorial elections, where minimum age is 25

Executive branch
chief of state: President Sergio MATTARELLA (since 3 February 2015)

head of government: Prime Minister Mario DRAGHI (since 13 February 2021); the prime minister's official title is President of the Council of Ministers; note - Prime Minister Giuseppe CONTE resigned on 26 January 2021

cabinet: Council of Ministers proposed by the prime minister, known officially as the President of the Council of Ministers and locally as the Premier; nominated by the president; the current deputy prime ministers, known officially as vice-presidents of the Council of Ministers, are Matteo Salvini (L) and Luigi Di Maio (M5S) (since 1 June 2018)

elections/appointments: president indirectly elected by an electoral college consisting of both houses of Parliament and 58 regional representatives for a 7-year term (no term limits); election last held on 24-29 January 2022 (eight rounds) (next to be held in 2029); prime minister appointed by the president, confirmed by parliament

election results: Sergio MATTARELLA (independent) reelected president; electoral college vote count in eighth round - 759 out of 1,009 (505 vote threshold)

Legislative branch
description: bicameral Parliament or Parlamento consists of:
Senate or Senato della Repubblica (320 seats; 116 members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote, 193 members in multi-seat constituencies and 6 members in multi-seat constituencies abroad directly elected by party-list proportional representation vote to serve 5-year terms and 5 ex-officio members appointed by the president of the Republic to serve for life)
Chamber of Deputies or Camera dei Deputati (630 seats; 629 members directly elected in single- and multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote and 1 member from Valle d'Aosta elected by simple majority vote; members serve 5-year terms)

elections:
Senate - last held on 4 March 2018 (next to be held in March 2023)
Chamber of Deputies - last held on 4 March 2018 (next to be held in March 2023)

election results:
Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - center-right coalition 137 (Lega 58, FI 57, FdI 18, NCI-UDC 4), M5S 112, center-left coalition 60 (PD 53, SVP-PATT 3, CP 1, +EU 1, Together 1, VdAI 1), LeU 4, MAIE 1, USEI 1; composition (as of March 2022) - men 208, women 112, percent of women 35%
Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - center-right coalition 265 (Lega 125, FI 104, FdI 32, NeI-UDC 4), M5S 227, center-left coalition 122 (PD 112, SVP-PATT 4, +EU 3, CP 2, Together 1), LeU 14, MAIE 1,USEI 1; composition (as of September 2021) - men 401, women 229, percent of women 36.4%; note - total Parliament percent of women 35.9%

Note: in October 2019, Italy's Parliament voted to reduce the number of Senate seats from 315 to 200 and the number of Chamber of Deputies seats from 630 to 400; a referendum to reduce the membership of Parliament held on 20-21 September 2020 was approved, effective for the 2023 election

Judicial branch
highest courts: Supreme Court of Cassation or Corte Suprema di Cassazione (consists of the first president (chief justice), deputy president, 54 justices presiding over 6 civil and 7 criminal divisions, and 288 judges; an additional 30 judges of lower courts serve as supporting judges; cases normally heard by 5-judge panels; more complex cases heard by 9-judge panels); Constitutional Court or Corte Costituzionale (consists of the court president and 14 judges)

judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court judges appointed by the High Council of the Judiciary, headed by the president of the republic; judges may serve for life; Constitutional Court judges - 5 appointed by the president, 5 elected by Parliament, 5 elected by select higher courts; judges serve up to 9 years

subordinate courts: various lower civil and criminal courts (primary and secondary tribunals and courts of appeal)

Political parties and leaders
Article One or Art.1-MDP [Roberto SPERANZA]
Associative Movement of Italians Abroad or MAIE [Ricardo Antonio MERIO]
Brothers of Italy or FdI [Giorgi MELONI]
Democratic Party or PD [Enrico LETTA]
Five Star Movement or M5S [Giuseppe CONTE]
Forza Italia or FI [Silvio BERLUSCONI]
Free and Equal (Liberi e Uguali) or LeU [Pietro GRASSO]
League or Lega [Matteo SALVINI]
More Europe or +EU [Emma BONINO]
Popular Civic List or CP [Beatrice LORENZIN]
Possible [Beatrice BRIGNONE]
South American Union Italian Emigrants or USEI [Eugenion SANGREGORIO]
South Tyrolean People's Party or SVP [Philipp ACHAMMER]
Trentino Tyrolean Autonomist Party (Partito Autonomista Trentino Tirolese) or PATT [Franco PANIZZA, secretary]
Us with Italy [Raffaele FITTO]