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The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces ('' province''). The can also have the title of ('
city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
'). Formed '' praeter legem'' according to the principles consolidated in medieval municipalities, the is provided for by art. 114 of the Constitution of Italy. It can be divided into '' frazioni'', which in turn may have limited power due to special elective assemblies. In the autonomous region of the Aosta Valley, a ''comune'' is officially called a ''commune'' in French.


Overview

The provides essential public services:
registry Registry may refer to: Computing * Container registry, an operating-system-level virtualization registry * Domain name registry, a database of top-level internet domain names * Local Internet registry * Metadata registry, information system for re ...
of births and deaths,
registry of deeds Recorder of deeds or deeds registry is a government office tasked with maintaining public records and documents, especially records relating to real estate ownership that provide persons other than the owner of a property with real rights over ...
, and maintenance of local roads and public works. Many have a '' Polizia Comunale'' (communal police), which is responsible for public order duties. The also deal with the definition and compliance with the (general regulator plan), a document that regulates the building activity within the communal area. All communal structures or schools, sports and cultural structures such as communal libraries, theaters, etc. are managed by the . must have their own communal statute and have a climatic and seismic classification of their territory for the purposes of prevention and civil protection. also deal with the waste management. It is headed by a mayor ( or ) assisted by a legislative body, the (communal council), and an executive body, the (communal committee). The mayor and members of the are elected together by resident citizens: the coalition of the elected mayor (who needs a relative majority or an absolute majority in the first or second round of voting, depending on the population) gains three fifths of the 's seats. The is chaired by the mayor, who appoints others members, called , one of whom serves as deputy mayor (). The offices of the are housed in a building usually called the , or ("
town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
"). As of January 2021, there were 7,904 in Italy; they vary considerably in size and population. For example, the of Rome, in Lazio, has an area of and a population of 2,758,454 inhabitants, and is both the largest and the most populated. Atrani in the province of Salerno ( Campania) was the smallest by area, with only , and Morterone (
Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...
) is the smallest by population. Many present-day trace their roots along timescales spanning centuries and at times millennia. The northernmost is Predoi, the southernmost one Lampedusa e Linosa, the westernmost Bardonecchia and the easternmost Otranto. The with the longest name is San Valentino in Abruzzo Citeriore, while the with the shortest name are Lu, Ro, Ne, Re and
Vo' Vo' (or Vo' Euganeo; sometimes incorrectly spelled Vò or Vò Euganeo) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Padua in the Italian Veneto region, located about west of Venice and about southwest of Padua, in the western end of the Euga ...
The population density of the varies widely by province and region. The province of Barletta-Andria-Trani, for example, has 381,091 inhabitants in 10 , or over 39,000 inhabitants per ; whereas the province of Isernia has 81,415 inhabitants in 52 , or 1,640 inhabitants per – roughly 24 times more communal units per inhabitant. The coats of arms of the are assigned by decree of the Prime Minister of Italy by the Office of State Ceremonial and Honors, Honors and Heraldry Service (division of the Presidency of the Council born from the transformation of the Royal '' Consulta Araldica'', suppressed pursuant to the provisions final of the Constitution of Italy).


Subdivisions

Administrative subdivisions within vary according to their population size. with at least 250,000 residents are divided into (roughly equivalent to French
arrondissements An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements'', ...
or London boroughs) to which the delegates administrative functions like the running of schools, social services and waste collection; the delegated functions vary from to . These bodies are headed by an elected president and a local council. Smaller usually comprise: * A main city, town or village, that almost always gives its name to the ; such a place is referred to as the ('head-place' or 'capital'; the
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
) of the ; the word is also used in casual speech to refer to the city hall. * Outlying areas often called (singular: , abbreviated: , literally 'fraction'), each usually centred on a small town or village. These usually never had pasts as independent settlements, but occasionally are former smaller consolidated into a larger one. They may also represent settlements which predate the . The ancient town of Pollentia (today Pollenzo), for instance, is a of Bra. In recent years the have become more important due to the institution of the (fraction council), a local form of government which can interact with the to address local needs, requests and claims. Even smaller places are called ('localities', abbreviated: ). * Smaller administrative divisions called , , , , or , which are similar to districts and neighbourhoods. Sometimes a might be more populated than the ; and rarely, owing to unusual circumstances (like depopulation), the town hall and its administrative functions can be moved to one of the , but the still retains the name of the . In some cases, a might not have a but only some . In these cases, it is a (' dispersed comune') and the which hosts the town hall () is a (compare county seat).


Homonymy

There are not many perfect homonymous . There are only six cases in 12 : * Calliano:
Calliano, Piedmont Calliano is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Asti in the Italian region Piedmont, located about east of Turin and about northeast of Asti. Calliano borders the following municipalities: Alfiano Natta, Asti, Castagnole Monferra ...
and Calliano, Trentino * Castro: Castro, Apulia and Castro, Lombardy * Livo: Livo, Lombardy and
Livo, Trentino Livo (''Liu'' or ''Lio'' in local dialect) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about north of Trento. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 903 and an area of ...
* Peglio:
Peglio, Lombardy Peglio ( Comasco: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Como in the Italian region Lombardy, located about north of Milan and about northeast of Como. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 209 and an area of .All demogr ...
and
Peglio, Marche Peglio is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Italian region Marche, located about west of Ancona and about southwest of Pesaro. Peglio borders the following municipalities: Lunano, Sant'Angelo in Vado, Sa ...
* Samone:
Samone, Piedmont Samone is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about north of Turin. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,513 and an area of .All demographics and other statistics: Ital ...
and
Samone, Trentino Samone (''Samón'' in local dialect) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about east of Trento. Samone is an enclave in the Castel Ivano Castel Ivano is a ''comune'' ( ...
* San Teodoro:
San Teodoro, Sardinia San Teodoro (Gallurese: ''Santu Diadòru'', sc, Santu Tiadòru) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Sassari in the Italian region Sardinia, located about northeast of Cagliari and about southeast of Olbia. As of 31 December 2004 ...
and
San Teodoro, Sicily San Teodoro ( Sicilian: ''U Casali'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Messina in the Italian region Sicily, located about east of Palermo and about southwest of Messina. San Teodoro borders the following municipalities: Cesarà ...
This is mostly due to the fact the name of the province or region was appended to the name of the in order to avoid the confusion. Remarkably two provincial capitals share the name : Reggio nell'Emilia, the capital of the province of Reggio Emilia, in the Emilia-Romagna region, and Reggio di Calabria, the capital of the homonymous metropolitan city, in the
Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...
region. Many other towns or villages are likewise partial homonyms (e.g.
Anzola dell'Emilia Anzola dell'Emilia ( Western Bolognese: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Bologna in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about northwest of Bologna. It is an important area of industries and Habanero's crops near ...
and
Anzola d'Ossola Anzola d'Ossola is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about northwest of Verbania. It occupies a small alluvial plain near the Toce river: its ...
, or Bagnara Calabra and
Bagnara di Romagna Bagnara di Romagna ( rgn, Bagnêra) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Ravenna in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about southeast of Bologna and about west of Ravenna. Bagnara di Romagna borders the following municipa ...
).


Title of city

The title of ('
city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
') in Italy is granted to that have been awarded it by decree of the King of Italy (until 1946) or of the provisional head of state (from 1946 to 1948) or, subsequently, of the President of Italy (after 1948), on the proposal of the Ministry of the Interior, to which the concerned sends an application for a concession, by virtue of their historical, artistic, civic or demographic importance. The endowed with the title of usually carry the golden crown above their coat of arms, except with different provisions in the decree approving the coat of arms or in the presence). "The crown of the city ( .. is formed by a golden circle opened by eight city gates (five visible) with two cordoned walls on the margins, supporting eight towers (five visible) joined by curtain walls, all in gold and black walled".


Statistics


Largest comuni by area

The following is a list of the largest in Italy, in descending order of surface area, according to ISTAT data referring to 9 October 2011. The
provincial Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Can ...
capitals are highlighted in bold.


Smallest comuni by area

The following is a list of the smallest in Italy, in ascending order of surface area, according to ISTAT data referring to 9 October 2011.


Highest comuni by altitude

The following is a list of the first by altitude, in descending order. The indicated altitude coincides with the height above sea level of the town hall.


Largest comuni by population

List of the first by population in descending order, according to ISTAT data updated to 28 February 2022. The regional capitals are in bold.


Comuni by demographic ranges

The data is updated as of 1 January 2021.


Demographic ranges by macroregion

The data is updated as of 1 January 2021.


See also

* Regions of Italy * Metropolitan cities of Italy *
Provinces of Italy The provinces of Italy ( it, province d'Italia) are the second-level administrative divisions of the Italy, Italian Republic, on an intermediate level between a municipality () and a regions of Italy, region (). Since 2015, provinces have been ...
* List of municipalities of Italy *
List of renamed municipalities in Italy The following is a list of settlements in Italy whose name was changed between 1861 and today, sorted by region. This list contains only settlements within the present-day borders of Italy, but omits the German place names in South Tyrol (see Pron ...
*
Alphabetical list of municipalities of Italy Alphabetical order is a system whereby character strings are placed in order based on the position of the characters in the conventional ordering of an alphabet. It is one of the methods of collation. In mathematics, a lexicographical order is t ...
*
Fusion of municipalities of Italy The fusion of Italian municipalities (Italian: ''fusione di comuni'') is the physical-territorial union between two or more contiguous ''comuni''. The following list contains only the municipalities that are within the present-day borders of Ital ...
* Municipalities of Switzerland – those in Italian-speaking areas of the country are called


References


External links


Associazione Nazionale Comuni Italiani
* * {{authority control Types of administrative division Subdivisions of Italy Italy