overnment 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); Abruzzo,
Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia
Giulia*, Lazio (Latium), Liguria, Lombardia, Marche, Molise,
Piemonte (Piedmont), Puglia (Apulia), Sardegna* (Sardinia),
Sicilia*, Toscana (Tuscany), Trentino-Alto Adige* (Trentino-South
Tyrol), Umbria, Valle d'Aosta* (Aosta Valley), Veneto

Independence:
17 March 1861 (Kingdom of Italy proclaimed; Italy was not finally
unified until 1870)

National holiday:
Republic Day, 2 June (1946)

Constitution:
passed 11 December 1947, effective 1 January 1948; amended many
times

Legal system:
based on civil law system; appeals treated as new trials; judicial
review under certain conditions in Constitutional Court; has not
accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

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

Executive branch:
chief of state: President Giorgio NAPOLITANO (since 15 May 2006)
head of government: Prime Minister (referred to in Italy as the
president of the Council of Ministers) Romano PRODI (since 17 May
2006)
cabinet: Council of Ministers nominated by the prime minister and
approved by the president
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 10 May 2006
(next to be held May 2013); prime minister appointed by the
president and confirmed by parliament
election results: Giorgio NAPOLITANO elected president on the fourth
round of voting; electoral college vote - 543

Legislative branch:
bicameral Parliament or Parlamento consists of the Senate or Senato
della Repubblica (315 seats; elected by proportional vote with the
winning coalition in each region receiving 55% of seats from that
region; members serve five-year terms) and the Chamber of Deputies
or Camera dei Deputati (630 seats; elected by popular vote with the
winning national coalition receiving 54% of chamber seat