Italian Regions, Provinces, and Municipalities

Oct 17, 2024

You might have heard that Italy is divided into regions, provinces, and municipalities. Let’s review how everything is organized and, in the process, learn some useful new vocabulary.

Le regioni

Italy has 20 regioni (regions). You can think of them as similar to states in the US or provinces in Canada. They are:

North: Valle d’Aosta, Piemonte, Liguria, Lombardia, Trentino-Alto Adige, Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Emilia-Romagna.
Center: Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio.
South: Abruzzo, Molise, Campania, Puglia, Basilicata, Calabria, Sicilia, Sardegna.

Some regions have special autonomy. Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Sardegna, Sicilia, Trentino-Alto Adige, and Valle d'Aosta are known as regioni a statuto autonomo (autonomous regions with special statute). This means they have greater legislative, administrative, and financial independence compared to the rest of the regions.

Each region has a capoluogo di regione (regional capital). For example, Roma is both the capitale d’Italia (Italy’s capital) and the capoluogo del Lazio (Lazio’s capital).

Le province

Italy has 107 province (provinces). You can think of them as administrative divisions that group several comuni (municipalities) under their jurisdiction.

Provinces are larger than individual cities and typically include a main city known as il capoluogo di provincia (the provincial capital) and surrounding towns and rural areas. They serve as intermediaries between the regioni and the comuni for administrative purposes.

For example, la provincia di Lecce in Puglia (the Lecce province in the Puglia region) has almost 800,000 inhabitants, while Lecce, the city, has only about 95,000 inhabitants. This is possible because la provincia di Lecce includes 95 other nearby comuni, aside from Lecce itself.

Le 14 città metropolitane

Since 2015, Italy has 14 special provinces that are technically no longer considered provinces but rather città metropolitane (metropolitan cities) with extended autonomy.

These entities were established to streamline governance in densely populated urban areas and their surroundings.

In practice, you can think of them as very populated provinces with additional responsibilities and administrative powers.

The 14 città metropolitane are:

Rome
Milan
Naples
Turin
Palermo
Bari
Catania
Bologna
Florence
Venice
Genoa
Messina
Reggio Calabria
Cagliari

These metropolitan cities encompass both the central urban areas and the surrounding municipalities.

I comuni

Italy has 7,896 comuni (municipalities). These are the smallest administrative divisions.

It’s important to note that comuni vary widely in size. A comune can be a tiny town with just a few dozen people, such as Morterone in provincia di Lecco, which has around 30 inhabitants. But it can also be a giant metropolis like Milano or Roma.

Each comune has a sindaco (mayor) and una giunta comunale (a municipal council or executive board).

The sindaco is the head of the local government, responsible for the administration of the comune, while the giunta comunale is made up of assessori (councilors or deputies), who assist the mayor in decision-making. Together, they form the executive branch of the comune.

I hope this was useful and, for your convenience, you’ll find a vocabulary recap and pronunciation guide below.

Vocabulary Recap

Assessore
Phonetic: ahs-seh-SOH-reh
IPA: as.seˈso.re
Plural: Assessori
English: Councilor or deputy

Capitale
Phonetic: kah-pee-TAH-leh
IPA: ka.piˈta.le
Plural: Capitali
English: Capital (national capital)

Capoluogo
Phonetic: kah-poh-LWOH-goh
IPA: kapoˈlwɔ.ɡo
Plural: Capoluoghi
English: Regional capital

Città
Phonetic: cheet-TAH
IPA: t͡ʃitˈta
Plural: (invariable) Città
English: City

Comune
Phonetic: koh-MOO-neh
IPA: koˈmu.ne
Plural: Comuni
English: Municipality

Giunta comunale
Phonetic: JOOHN-tah koh-moo-NAH-leh
IPA: ˈd͡ʒun.ta ko.muˈna.le
Plural: Giunte comunali
English: Municipal council or executive board

Paese
Phonetic: pah-EH-zeh
IPA: paˈe.ze
Plural: Paesi
English: Country, or small town/village (depending on context)

Provincia
Phonetic: proh-VEEN-chah
IPA: proˈvin.t͡ʃa
Plural: Province
English: Province

Regione
Phonetic: reh-JOH-neh
IPA: reˈd͡ʒo.ne
Plural: Regioni
English: Region

Regione a statuto autonomo
Phonetic: reh-JOH-neh ah stah-TOO-toh ow-TOH-noh-moh
IPA: reˈd͡ʒo.ne a staˈtu.to auˈtɔ.no.mo
Plural: Regioni a statuto autonomo
English: Autonomous region with special statute

Sindaco
Phonetic: SEEN-dah-koh
IPA: ˈsin.da.ko
Plural: Sindaci
English: Mayor