#_Long-form name: Italian Republic

_#_Type: republic

_#_Capital: Rome

_#_Administrative divisions: 20 regions (regioni, singular--regione);
Abruzzi, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia
Giulia, Lazio, Liguria, Lombardia, Marche, Molise, Piemonte, Puglia,
Sardegna, Sicilia, Toscana, Trentino-Alto Adige, Umbria, Valle d'Aosta,
Veneto

_#_Independence: 17 March 1861, Kingdom of Italy proclaimed

_#_Constitution: 1 January 1948

_#_Legal system: based on civil law system, with ecclesiastical law
influence; appeals treated as trials de novo; judicial review under
certain conditions in Constitutional Court; has not accepted compulsory
ICJ jurisdiction

_#_National holiday: Anniversary of the Republic, 2 June (1946)

_#_Executive branch: president, prime minister (president of the
Council of Ministers)

_#_Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament (Parlamento) consists of
an upper chamber or Senate of the Republic (Senato della Repubblica)
and a lower chamber or Chamber of Deputies (Camera dei Deputati)

_#_Judicial branch: Constitutional Court (Corte Costituzionale)

_#_Leaders:

Chief of State--President Francesco COSSIGA (since 3 July 1985);

Head of Government--Prime Minister Giulio ANDREOTTI (since 22 July
1989, heads the government for the seventh time); Deputy Prime Minister
Claudio MARTELLI (since 23 July 1989)

_#_Political parties and leaders:
Christian Democratic Party (DC), Arnaldo FORLANI (general secretary),
Ciriaco De MITA (president);
Socialist Party (PSI), Bettino CRAXI (party secretary);
Social Democratic Party (PSDI), Antonio CARIGLIA (party secretary);
Liberal Party (PLI), Renato ALTISSIMO (secretary general);
Democratic Party of the Left (PDS--was Communist Party, or PCI, until
January 1991), Achille OCCHETTO (secretary general);
Italian Social Movement (MSI), Giuseppe (Pino) RAUTI (national
secretary);
Republican Party (PRI), Giorgio La MALFA (political secretary);
Lega Nord, Umberto BOSSI, president;
Italy's 50th postwar government was formed on 13 April 1991,
with Prime Minister ANDREOTTI, a Christian Democrat, presiding over a
four-party coalition consisting of the Christian Democrats, Socialists,
Social Democrats, and Liberals

_#_Suffrage: universal at age 18 (except in senatorial elections,
where minimum age is 25)

_#_Elections:

Senate--last held 14-15 June 1987 (next to be held by June 1992);
results--DC 33.9%, PCI