Provinces of Italy

Provinces of Italy
*Province d'Italia* (Italian)
Provinces of Italy; Province d'Italia (Italian);
Category	Regionalised unitary state
Location	Italian Republic
Number	110
Populations	81,415 (province of Isernia) – 4,231,451 (Metropolitan City of Rome Capital)
Areas	212.50 km2 (82.05 sq mi) (province of Trieste) –; 7,397.86 km2 (2,856.33 sq mi) (South Tyrol)
Government	Provincial Government (President of Province),; Regional Government, National Government;
Subdivisions	Comuni;

The provinces of Italy (Italian: province d'Italia) are the second-level administrative divisions of the Italian Republic, on an intermediate level between a municipality (comune) and a region (regione). Since 2015, provinces have been classified as "institutional bodies of second level".^[1]

There are currently 110 institutional bodies of second level in Italy, including 82 ordinary provinces, 2 autonomous provinces, 4 regional decentralization entities, 6 free municipal consortia, and 15 metropolitan cities, as well as the Aosta Valley region (which also exercises the powers of a province).

Italian provinces (with the exception of the current Sardinian provinces) correspond to the NUTS 3 regions.^[2]

Overview

A province of the Italian Republic is composed of many municipalities (comune). Usually several provinces together form a region; the region of Aosta Valley is the sole exception—it is not subdivided into provinces, and provincial functions are exercised by the region.

The three main functions devolved to provinces are:

Local planning and zoning
Provision of local police and fire services
Transportation regulation (car registration, maintenance of local roads, etc.)

The number of provinces in Italy has been steadily growing in recent years, as many new ones are carved out of older ones. Usually, the province's name is the same as that of its capital city.

According to the 2014 reform, each province is headed by a President (or Commissioner) assisted by a legislative body, the Provincial Council, and an executive body, the Provincial Executive. President (Commissioner) and members of Council are elected together by mayors and city councilors of each municipality of the province. The Executive is chaired by the President (Commissioner) who appoint others members, called assessori. Since 2015, the President (Commissioner) and other members of the council will not receive a salary.^[3]

In each province, there is also a Prefect (prefetto), a representative of the central government who heads an agency called prefettura-ufficio territoriale del governo. The Questor (questore) is the head of State Police (Polizia di Stato) in the province and his office is called questura. There is also a provincial police force depending from local government, called provincial police (polizia provinciale).

Due to its size, the Aosta Valley region is not divided into provinces, but straight to the comune level.

South Tyrol and Trentino are autonomous provinces, unlike all other provinces they have the same legislative powers as regions and are not subordinated to Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, the region they are part of.

Type

Based on the most recent legislation, contained in the law of 7 April 2014 n. 56,^[4] the council and the presidents of the provinces of the regions with ordinary statute are elected by restricted suffrage by the mayors and councilors of the province's municipalities, while in the metropolitan cities, the equivalent of the president of the province is the (elective) mayor of the capital, called "metropolitan mayor".

There are other types of entities similar to the provinces in the regions with special statutes: the free municipal consortia in Sicily and the Sardinian provinces are governed by extraordinary commissioners appointed by the respective regional administrations, the autonomous provinces of Trentino-Alto Adige each elect its own president, and finally, in Aosta Valley, the functions of the province are carried out by the regional administration (whose president is elected by the regional council).

List of provinces

List

Type	Province	Capital	Code	Region	Macroregion	Population (2026)^[5]	Area ^[5]	Pop. density (p/km²)^[5]	Comuni^[5]	Established
F	Agrigento	Agrigento	AG	Sicily	Insular	407,041	3,052.82 km² (1,178.70 sq mi)	133	43	1861
O	Alessandria	Alessandria	AL	Piedmont	North-West	408,063	3,558.78 km² (1,374.05 sq mi)	115	187	1861
O	Ancona	Ancona	AN	Marche	Centre	461,613	1,963.21 km² (758.00 sq mi)	235	47	1861
D	Aosta	Aosta	AO	Aosta Valley	North-West	122,554	3,260.85 km² (1,259.02 sq mi)	38	74	1927
O	Arezzo	Arezzo	AR	Tuscany	Centre	333,269	3,232.99 km² (1,248.26 sq mi)	103	36	1861
O	Ascoli Piceno	Ascoli Piceno	AP	Marche	Centre	200,202	1,228.19 km² (474.21 sq mi)	163	33	1861
O	Asti	Asti	AT	Piedmont	North-West	207,059	1,510.17 km² (583.08 sq mi)	137	117	1935
O	Avellino	Avellino	AV	Campania	South	393,093	2,805.96 km² (1,083.39 sq mi)	140	118	1861
M	Bari	Bari	BA	Apulia	South	1,218,073	3,862.73 km² (1,491.41 sq mi)	315	41	1861
O	Barletta-Andria-Trani	Barletta, Andria, Trani	BT	Apulia	South	375,933	1,542.93 km² (595.73 sq mi)	244	10	2004
O	Belluno	Belluno	BL	Veneto	North-East	197,265	3,609.98 km² (1,393.82 sq mi)	55	60	1866
O	Benevento	Benevento	BN	Campania	South	257,968	2,080.37 km² (803.24 sq mi)	124	78	1861
O	Bergamo	Bergamo	BG	Lombardy	North-West	1,119,233	2,754.86 km² (1,063.66 sq mi)	406	243	1861
O	Biella	Biella	BI	Piedmont	North-West	168,223	913.27 km² (352.62 sq mi)	184	74	1992
M	Bologna	Bologna	BO	Emilia-Romagna	North-East	1,024,290	3,702.25 km² (1,429.45 sq mi)	277	55	1861
O	Brescia	Brescia	BS	Lombardy	North-West	1,271,759	4,785.48 km² (1,847.68 sq mi)	266	205	1861
O	Brindisi	Brindisi	BR	Apulia	South	373,631	1,861.33 km² (718.66 sq mi)	201	20	1927
M	Cagliari	Cagliari	CA	Sardinia	Insular	534,219	4,703.61 km² (1,816.07 sq mi)	124	70	1861
F	Caltanissetta	Caltanissetta	CL	Sicily	Insular	243,501	2,138.47 km² (825.67 sq mi)	114	22	1861
O	Campobasso	Campobasso	CB	Molise	South	207,723	2,925.28 km² (1,129.46 sq mi)	71	84	1861
O	Caserta	Caserta	CE	Campania	South	909,493	2,651.28 km² (1,023.66 sq mi)	343	104	1861
M	Catania	Catania	CT	Sicily	Insular	1,067,550	3,573.51 km² (1,379.74 sq mi)	299	58	1861
O	Catanzaro	Catanzaro	CZ	Calabria	South	338,160	2,415.41 km² (932.60 sq mi)	140	80	1861
O	Chieti	Chieti	CH	Abruzzo	South	369,059	2,599.53 km² (1,003.68 sq mi)	142	104	1861
O	Como	Como	CO	Lombardy	North-West	598,562	1,279.02 km² (493.83 sq mi)	468	147	1861
O	Cosenza	Cosenza	CS	Calabria	South	667,134	6,709.62 km² (2,590.60 sq mi)	99	150	1861
O	Cremona	Cremona	CR	Lombardy	North-West	355,134	1,770.41 km² (683.56 sq mi)	201	113	1861
O	Crotone	Crotone	KR	Calabria	South	161,765	1,735.65 km² (670.14 sq mi)	93	27	1992
O	Cuneo	Cuneo	CN	Piedmont	North-West	582,109	6,894.83 km² (2,662.11 sq mi)	84	247	1861
F	Enna	Enna	EN	Sicily	Insular	151,525	2,574.67 km² (994.09 sq mi)	59	20	1927
O	Fermo	Fermo	FM	Marche	Centre	166,772	862.75 km² (333.11 sq mi)	193	40	2004
O	Ferrara	Ferrara	FE	Emilia-Romagna	North-East	340,482	2,627.38 km² (1,014.44 sq mi)	130	21	1861
M	Florence	Florence	FI	Tuscany	Centre	988,494	3,513.65 km² (1,356.63 sq mi)	281	41	1861
O	Foggia	Foggia	FG	Apulia	South	587,785	7,007.33 km² (2,705.55 sq mi)	84	61	1861
O	Forlì-Cesena	Forlì	FC	Emilia-Romagna	North-East	394,337	2,378.32 km² (918.27 sq mi)	166	30	1861
O	Frosinone	Frosinone	FR	Lazio	Centre	460,266	3,246.96 km² (1,253.66 sq mi)	142	91	1927
O	Gallura North-East Sardinia	Olbia and Tempio Pausania		Sardinia	Insular	159,460	3,416.28 km² (1,319.03 sq mi)	47	26	2025
M	Genoa	Genoa	GE	Liguria	North-West	820,691	1,833.75 km² (708.01 sq mi)	447	67	1861
R	Gorizia	Gorizia	GO	Friuli-Venezia Giulia	North-East	138,717	475.40 km² (183.55 sq mi)	292	25	1923
O	Grosseto	Grosseto	GR	Tuscany	Centre	214,863	4,503.17 km² (1,738.68 sq mi)	48	28	1861
O	Imperia	Imperia	IM	Liguria	North-West	209,848	1,154.76 km² (445.86 sq mi)	182	66	1861
O	Isernia	Isernia	IS	Molise	South	78,217	1,535.16 km² (592.73 sq mi)	51	52	1970
O	L'Aquila	L'Aquila	AQ	Abruzzo	South	286,765	5,047.34 km² (1,948.79 sq mi)	57	108	1861
O	La Spezia	La Spezia	SP	Liguria	North-West	214,539	881.38 km² (340.30 sq mi)	243	32	1924
O	Latina	Latina	LT	Lazio	Centre	567,130	2,256.14 km² (871.10 sq mi)	251	33	1934
O	Lecce	Lecce	LE	Apulia	South	761,927	2,798.88 km² (1,080.65 sq mi)	272	96	1861
O	Lecco	Lecco	LC	Lombardy	North-West	334,211	805.60 km² (311.04 sq mi)	415	84	1992
O	Livorno	Livorno	LI	Tuscany	Centre	324,893	1,213.52 km² (468.54 sq mi)	267	19	1861
O

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]