National 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)
National holiday: Anniversary of the Republic, 2 June (1946)
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
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal (except in senatorial elections, where minimum age is 25)
Executive branch: chief of state: President Oscar Luigi SCALFARO (since 28 May 1992) head of government : Prime Minister (referred to in Italy as the president of the Council of Ministers) Romano PRODI (since 18 May 1996) 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; election last held 25 May 1992 (next to be held NA 1999); prime minister appointed by the president election results: Oscar Luigi SCALFARO elected president; percent of electoral college vote - NA
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament or Parlamento consists of the Senate or Senato della Repubblica (326 seats, 315 popularly elected of which 232 are directly elected and 83 by regional proportional representation, 11 appointed senators-for-life; members serve five-year terms) and the Chamber of Deputies or Camera dei Deputati (630 seats; 475 are directly elected, 155 by regional proportional representation; members serve five-year terms) elections: Senate - last held 21 April 1996 (next to be held by NA April 2001); Chamber of Deputies - last held 21 April 1996 (next to be held by NA April 2001) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - Olive Tree 157, Freedom Alliance 116, Northern League 27, Refounded Communists 10, regional lists 3, Social Movement-Tricolor Flames 1, Panella Reformers 1; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - Olive Tree 284, Freedom Alliance 246, Northern League 59, Refounded Communists 35, Southern Tyrol List 3, Autonomous List 2, other 1
Judicial branch: Constitutional Court or Corte Costituzionale, composed of 15 judges (one-third appointed by the president, one-third elected by Parliament, one-third elected by the ordinary and administrative supreme courts)