Country name:
conventional long form: Italian Republic
conventional short form: Italy
local long form: Repubblica Italiana
local short form: Italia
former: Kingdom of Italy

Government type:
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

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 (Venetia)
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 1870)

National holiday:
Republic Day, 2 June (1946)

Constitution:
previous 1848 (originally for Kingdom of Sardinia and adopted by Kingdom of Italy in 1861); latest enacted 22 December 1947, adopted 27 December 1947, entered into force 1 January 1948; amended many times, last in 2012 (2013)

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

International law organization participation:
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal (except in senatorial elections, where minimum age is 25)
[see also: Suffrage country ranks ]

Executive branch:
chief of state: President Giorgio NAPOLITANO (since 15 May 2006)
head of government: Prime Minister Enrico LETTA (since 28 April 2013); note - the prime minister is referred to as the President of the Council of Ministers
cabinet: Council of Ministers proposed by the prime minister and nominated by the President of the Republic
elections: president elected by an electoral college consisting of both houses of parliament and 58 regional representatives for a seven-year term (no term limits); election last held on 18-20 April 2013 (next scheduled for 2020); prime minister appointed by the president and confirmed by parliament; national parliamentary elections were last held on 24-25 February 2013
election results: Giorgio NAPOLITANO elected president on the sixth round of voting; electoral college vote - 738 out of a possible 1,007 (504 votes required); Enrico LETTA sworn in as Prime Minister on 28 April 2013 following formal talks between the center-left Democratic Party (PD), the center-right People of Freedom party (PdL), the centrist Civic Choice, and President NAPOLITANO that also led to the creation of a broad coalition government; the talks coming after the February 2013 legislative election produced a stalemate that impeded government formation; the PdL split into the Forza Italia and the New Center Right (NCD) in November 2013 and only the NCD remained in the governing coalition

Legislative branch:
bicameral Parliament or Parlamento consists of the Senate or Senato della Repubblica (321 seats; members elected by proportional vote with the winning coalition in each region receiving 55% of seats from that region; members to serve five-year terms; and up to 5 senators for life appointed by the president of the Republic) and the Chamber of Deputies or Camera dei Deputati (630 seats; members elected by popular vote with the winning national coalition receiving 54% of chamber seats; members to serve five-year terms); note - it has not been clarified if each president has the power to designate up to five senators or if five is the number of senators for life who might sit in the Senate
elections: Senate - last held on 24-25 February 2013 (next to be held in 2018); Chamber of Deputies - last held on 24-25 February 2013 (next to be held in 2018)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - center-left coalition [Pier Luigi BERSANI] 123 (PD 111, SEL 7, SVP 2, other 3), center-right coalition [Silvio BERLUSCONI] 117 (PdL 98, LN 18, other 1), M5S 54, centrist coalition [Mario MONTI] 19, other 2; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - center-left coalition [Pier Luigi BERSANI] 345 (PD 297, SEL 37, CD 6 SVP 5), center-right coalition [Silvio BERLUSCONI] 125 (PdL 98, LN 18, FdI 9), M5S 109, centrist coalition [Mario MONTI] 47, other 4; note - President NAPOLITANO dissolved Parliament on 22 December 2012

Judicial branch:
highest court(s): Supreme Court of Cassation or Corte Suprema di Cassazione (organized into penal, civil, administrative, and military divisions, each with a president and several judges); Constitutional Court or Corte Costituzionale (consists of 15 judges)
judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court judges appointed by the Superior Council of the Judiciary, headed by the president, to serve NA terms; 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, courts, and courts of appeal)

Political parties and leaders:
Center-right parties::