Administrative divisions of Italy:
Regions (black borders)
Provinces (dark gray borders)
Comuni (light grey borders)

A comune (Italian: [koˈmuːne]; pl.: comuni, Italian: [koˈmuːni]) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality.^[1] It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions (regioni) and provinces (province). The comune can also have the title of città ('city').^[2]

Formed praeter legem according to the principles consolidated in medieval municipalities,^[3] the comune is provided for by art. 114 of the Constitution of Italy.^[4] It can be divided into frazioni, which in turn may have limited power due to special elective assemblies.^[5]

In the autonomous region of the Aosta Valley, a comune is officially called a commune in French.

Overview

The comune provides essential public services: registry of births and deaths, registry of deeds, and maintenance of local roads and public works.^[6][7][8] Many comuni have a Polizia Comunale (communal police), which is responsible for public order duties.^[9] The comune also deal with the definition and compliance with the piano regolatore generale (general regulator plan), a document that regulates the building activity within the communal area.^[10]

All communal structures or schools, sports and cultural structures such as communal libraries, theaters, etc. are managed by the comuni.^[11] Comuni must have their own communal statute and have a climatic and seismic classification of their territory for the purposes of hazard mitigation and civil protection.^[12] Comuni also deal with the waste management.^[13]

It is headed by a mayor (sindaco or sindaca) assisted by a legislative body, the consiglio comunale (communal council), and an executive body, the giunta comunale (communal committee).^[14] The mayor and members of the consiglio comunale 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 consiglio's seats.^[15]

The giunta comunale is chaired by the mayor, who appoints others members, called assessori, one of whom serves as deputy mayor (vicesindaco).^[16] The offices of the comune are housed in a building usually called the municipio, or palazzo comunale ("town hall").^[17]

As of January 2021, there were 7,904 comuni in Italy;^[18] they vary considerably in size and population. For example, the comune of Rome, in Lazio, has an area of 1,287.36 km² (497.05 sq mi) and a population of 2,758,454 inhabitants, and is both the largest and the most populated.^[19]

Mural crown for the title of comune. It is located in the upper part of the coat of arms of the comune.

Atrani in the province of Salerno (Campania) was the smallest comune by area, with only 0.1206 km² (0.0466 sq mi),^[20] and Morterone (Lombardy) is the smallest by population.^[21] Many present-day comuni trace their roots along timescales spanning centuries and at times millennia.^[22][23]

The northernmost comune is Predoi, the southernmost one Lampedusa e Linosa, the westernmost Bardonecchia and the easternmost Otranto.^[24] The comune with the longest name is San Valentino in Abruzzo Citeriore,^[25] while the comuni with the shortest name are Lu, Ro, Ne, Re and Vo'.^[26]

The population density of the comuni varies widely by province and region. The province of Barletta-Andria-Trani, for example, has 381,091 inhabitants in 10 comuni,^[27] or over 39,000 inhabitants per comune; whereas the province of Isernia has 81,415 inhabitants in 52 comuni,^[28] or 1,640 inhabitants per comune – roughly 24 times more communal units per inhabitant.

The coats of arms of the comuni 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, eliminated pursuant to the provisions final of the Constitution of Italy).^[29]

Subdivisions

Administrative subdivisions within comuni vary according to their population size.

Comuni with at least 250,000 residents are divided into circoscrizioni^[31] (roughly equivalent to French arrondissements or London boroughs) to which the comune delegates administrative functions like the running of schools, social services and waste collection; the delegated functions vary from comune to comune. These bodies are headed by an elected president and a local council.

Smaller comuni usually comprise:

• A main city, town or village, that almost always gives its name to the comune; such a place is referred to as the capoluogo ('head-place' or 'capital'; cf.Tooltip confer the French chef-lieu) of the comune; the word comune is also used in casual speech to refer to the city hall.
• Outlying areas often called frazioni (singular: frazione, abbreviated: fraz., literally 'fraction'), each usually centred on a small town or village. These frazioni usually never had pasts as independent settlements, but occasionally are former smaller comuni consolidated into a larger one. They may also represent settlements which predate the capoluogo. The ancient town of Pollentia (today Pollenzo), for instance, is a frazione of Bra. In recent years the frazioni have become more important due to the institution of the consiglio di frazione (fraction council), a local form of government which can interact with the comune to address local needs, requests and claims. Even smaller places are called località ('localities', abbreviated: loc.).
• Smaller administrative divisions called municipi,^[32] rioni, quartieri, terzieri, sestieri or contrade, which are similar to districts and neighbourhoods.

Sometimes a frazione might be more populated than the capoluogo; and rarely, owing to unusual circumstances (like depopulation), the town hall and its administrative functions can be moved to one of the frazioni, but the comune still retains the name of the capoluogo.

In some cases, a comune might not have the same name of capoluogo. In these cases, it is a comune sparso ('dispersed comune') and the frazione which hosts the town hall (municipio) is a sede municipale (compare county seat).

Homonymy

There are not many perfect homonymous comuni. There are only six cases in 12 comuni:^[33]

• Calliano: Calliano, Piedmont and Calliano, Trentino
• Castro: Castro, Apulia and Castro, Lombardy
• Livo: Livo, Lombardy and Livo, Trentino
• Peglio: Peglio, Lombardy and Peglio, Marche
• Samone: Samone, Piedmont and Samone, Trentino
• San Teodoro: San Teodoro, Sardinia and San Teodoro, Sicily

This is mostly due to the fact the name of the province or region was appended to the name of the comune in order to avoid the confusion. Two provincial capitals share the name Reggio: 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 region. Many other towns or villages are likewise partial homonyms (e.g. Anzola dell'Emilia and Anzola d'Ossola, or Bagnara Calabra and Bagnara di Romagna).

Title of city

Mural crown for the title of città ("city")

The title of città ('city') in Italy is granted to comuni 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 the Republic (after 1948), on the proposal of the Ministry of the Interior, to which the comune concerned sends an application for a concession, by virtue of their historical, artistic, civic or demographic importance.^[2]

The comuni endowed with the title of città 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".^[34]

Statistics

Largest comuni by area

The following is a list of the largest comuni in Italy, in descending order of surface area, according to ISTAT data referring to 9 October 2011.^[35] The provincial capitals are highlighted in bold.

Rome

Rank	Comune	Region	Province	Area (km2)
1	Rome	Lazio	Rome	1,287.36 km2 (497.05 sq mi)
2	Ravenna	Emilia-Romagna	Ravenna	653.82 km2 (252.44 sq mi)
3	Cerignola	Apulia	Foggia	593.93 km2 (229.32 sq mi)
4	Noto	Sicily	Syracuse	554.99 km2 (214.28 sq mi)
5	Sassari	Sardinia	Sassari	547.04 km2 (211.21 sq mi)
6	Monreale	Sicily	Palermo	530.18 km2 (204.70 sq mi)
7	Gubbio	Umbria	Perugia	525.78 km2 (203.00 sq mi)
8	Foggia	Apulia	Foggia	509.26 km2 (196.63 sq mi)
9	L'Aquila	Abruzzo	L'Aquila	473.91 km2 (182.98 sq mi)
10	Grosseto	Tuscany	Grosseto	473.55 km2 (182.84 sq mi)
11	Perugia	Umbria	Perugia	449.51 km2 (173.56 sq mi)
12	Ragusa	Sicily	Ragusa	444.67 km2 (171.69 sq mi)
13	Altamura	Apulia	Bari	431.38 km2 (166.56 sq mi)
14	Caltanissetta	Sicily	Caltanissetta	421.25 km2 (162.65 sq mi)
15	Venice	Veneto	Venice	415.90 km2 (160.58 sq mi)
16	Viterbo	Lazio	Viterbo	406.23 km2 (156.85 sq mi)
17	Ferrara	Emilia-Romagna	Ferrara	405.16 km2 (156.43 sq mi)
18	Andria	Apulia	Barletta-Andria-Trani	402.89 km2 (155.56 sq mi)
19	Matera	Basilicata	Matera	392.09 km2 (151.39 sq mi)
20	Città di Castello	Umbria	Perugia	387.32 km2 (149.55 sq mi)
21	Gravina in Puglia	Apulia	Bari	384.74 km2 (148.55 sq mi)
22	Arezzo	Tuscany	Arezzo	384.70 km2 (148.53 sq mi)
23	Olbia	Sardinia	Sassari	383.64 km2 (148.12 sq mi)
24	Caltagirone	Sicily	Catania	383.38 km2 (148.02 sq mi)
25	Manciano	Tuscany	Grosseto	372.51 km2 (143.83 sq mi)
26	Enna	Sicily	Enna	358.75 km2 (138.51 sq mi)
27	Manfredonia	Apulia	Foggia	354.54 km2 (136.89 sq mi)
28	Spoleto	Umbria	Perugia	348.14 km2 (134.42 sq mi)
29	Corigliano-Rossano	Calabria	Cosenza	346.56 km2 (133.81 sq mi)
30	Cortona	Tuscany	Arezzo	342.97 km2 (132.42 sq mi)

Smallest comuni by area

The following is a list of the smallest comuni in Italy, in ascending order of surface area, according to ISTAT data referring to 9 October 2011.^[35]

Atrani

Rank	Comune	Region	Province	Area (km2)
1	Atrani	Campania	Salerno	0.1206 km2 (0.0466 sq mi)
2	Miagliano	Piedmont	Biella	0.6678 km2 (0.2578 sq mi)
3	Fiorano al Serio	Lombardy	Bergamo	1.0601 km2 (0.4093 sq mi)
4	Conca dei Marini	Campania	Salerno	1.1281 km2 (0.4356 sq mi)
5	Roccafiorita	Sicily	Messina	1.1682 km2 (0.4510 sq mi)
6	Solza	Lombardy	Bergamo	1.2278 km2 (0.4741 sq mi)
7	Maslianico	Lombardy	Como	1.2885 km2 (0.4975 sq mi)
8	San Lorenzo al Mare	Liguria	Imperia	1.2886 km2 (0.4975 sq mi)
9	Crosio della Valle	Lombardy	Varese	1.4407 km2 (0.5563 sq mi)
10	Ferrera di Varese	Lombardy	Varese	1.5265 km2 (0.5894 sq mi)
11	Casavatore	Campania	Naples	1.5267 km2 (0.5895 sq mi)
12	Piario	Lombardy	Bergamo	1.5451 km2 (0.5966 sq mi)
14	Vajont	Friuli Venezia Giulia	Pordenone	1.5860 km2 (0.6124 sq mi)
15	Arizzano	Piedmont	Verbano-Cusio-Ossola	1.5995 km2 (0.6176 sq mi)
16	Longone al Segrino	Lombardy	Como	1.6045 km2 (0.6195 sq mi)
17	Viganò	Lombardy	Lecco	1.6049 km2 (0.6197 sq mi)
18	Brunello	Lombardy	Varese	1.6200 km2 (0.6255 sq mi)
19	Camparada	Lombardy	Monza e Brianza	1.6337 km2 (0.6308 sq mi)
20	Caines	Trentino-Alto Adige	South Tyrol	1.6345 km2 (0.6311 sq mi)
21	Curti	Campania	Caserta	1.6894 km2 (0.6523 sq mi)
22	Castel Rozzone	Lombardy	Bergamo	1.7066 km2 (0.6589 sq mi)
23	Lozza	Lombardy	Varese	1.7100 km2 (0.6602 sq mi)
24	Aci Bonaccorsi	Sicily	Catania	1.7243 km2 (0.6658 sq mi)
25	Calvignasco	Lombardy	Milan	1.7272 km2 (0.6669 sq mi)
26	Ventotene	Lazio	Latina	1.7454 km2 (0.6739 sq mi)
27	Lirio	Lombardy	Pavia	1.7457 km2 (0.6740 sq mi)
28	Masciago Primo	Lombardy	Varese	1.8082 km2 (0.6981 sq mi)
29	Montello	Lombardy	Bergamo	1.8156 km2 (0.7010 sq mi)
30	Carzano	Trentino-Alto Adige	Trentino	1.8202 km2 (0.7028 sq mi)

Highest comuni by altitude

The following is a list of the first comuni by altitude, in descending order.^[36] The indicated altitude coincides with the height above sea level of the town hall.

Sestriere

Rank	Comune	Region	Province	Altitude (Meters above the sea level)
1	Sestriere	Piedmont	Turin	2,035 m (6,677 ft)
2	Chamois	Aosta Valley	—	1,818 m (5,965 ft)
3	Livigno	Lombardy	Sondrio	1,816 m (5,958 ft)
4	Claviere	Piedmont	Turin	1,760 m (5,770 ft)
5	Rhêmes-Notre-Dame	Aosta Valley	—	1,725 m (5,659 ft)
6	Ayas	Aosta Valley	—	1,699 m (5,574 ft)
7	Argentera	Piedmont	Cuneo	1,684 m (5,525 ft)
8	Valgrisenche	Aosta Valley	—	1,664 m (5,459 ft)
9	La Magdeleine	Aosta Valley	—	1,644 m (5,394 ft)
10	Elva	Piedmont	Cuneo	1,637 m (5,371 ft)
11	Gressoney-La-Trinité	Aosta Valley	—	1,635 m (5,364 ft)
12	Ceresole Reale	Piedmont	Turin	1,620 m (5,310 ft)
13	Pontechianale	Piedmont	Cuneo	1,614 m (5,295 ft)
14	Bionaz	Aosta Valley	—	1,606 m (5,269 ft)
15	Bellino	Piedmont	Cuneo	1,572 m (5,157 ft)
16	Corvara in Badia	Trentino-Alto Adige	South Tyrol	1,568 m (5,144 ft)
17	Selva di Val Gardena	Trentino-Alto Adige	South Tyrol	1,563 m (5,128 ft)
18	Sauze di Cesana	Piedmont	Turin	1,560 m (5,120 ft)
19	Cogne	Aosta Valley	—	1,544 m (5,066 ft)
20	Valsavarenche	Aosta Valley	—	1,541 m (5,056 ft)
21	Valtournenche	Aosta Valley	—	1,528 m (5,013 ft)
22	Pragelato	Piedmont	Turin	1,524 m (5,000 ft)
23	Curon Venosta	Trentino-Alto Adige	South Tyrol	1,520 m (4,990 ft)
24	Saint-Rhémy-en-Bosses	Aosta Valley	—	1,519 m (4,984 ft)
25	Sauze d'Oulx	Piedmont	Turin	1,509 m (4,951 ft)
26	Foppolo	Lombardy	Bergamo	1,508 m (4,948 ft)
27	Torgnon	Aosta Valley	—	1,489 m (4,885 ft)
28	Predoi	Trentino-Alto Adige	South Tyrol	1,475 m (4,839 ft)
29	Livinallongo del Col di Lana	Veneto	Belluno	1,475 m (4,839 ft)
30	Canazei	Trentino-Alto Adige	Trentino	1,465 m (4,806 ft)

Largest comuni by population

List of the first comuni by population in descending order, according to ISTAT data updated to 28 February 2022.^[37] The regional capitals are in bold.

Milan

Rank	Comune	Region	Province	Inhabitants
1	Rome	Lazio	Rome	2,758,454
2	Milan	Lombardy	Milan	1,371,606
3	Naples	Campania	Naples	912,954
4	Turin	Piedmont	Turin	846 067
5	Palermo	Sicily	Palermo	628 883
6	Genoa	Liguria	Genoa	560 155
7	Bologna	Emilia-Romagna	Bologna	392,593
8	Florence	Tuscany	Florence	367,051
9	Bari	Apulia	Bari	316,113
10	Catania	Sicily	Catania	297,761
11	Verona	Veneto	Verona	257,176
12	Venice	Veneto	Venice	254,367
13	Messina	Sicily	Messina	219,565
14	Padua	Veneto	Padua	208,561
15	Prato	Tuscany	Prato	200,647
16	Trieste	Friuli Venezia Giulia	Trieste	200,454
17	Parma	Emilia-Romagna	Parma	196,982
18	Brescia	Lombardy	Brescia	196,727
19	Taranto	Apulia	Taranto	188,848
20	Modena	Emilia-Romagna	Modena	185,628
21	Reggio Calabria	Calabria	Reggio Calabria	171,546
22	Reggio Emilia	Emilia-Romagna	Reggio Emilia	169,100
23	Perugia	Umbria	Perugia	163,614
24	Ravenna	Emilia-Romagna	Ravenna	155,968
25	Livorno	Tuscany	Livorno	153,901
26	Rimini	Emilia-Romagna	Rimini	150,068
27	Cagliari	Sardinia	Cagliari	148,697
28	Foggia	Apulia	Foggia	146,213
29	Ferrara	Emilia-Romagna	Ferrara	131,066
30	Salerno	Campania	Salerno	127,840

Comuni by demographic ranges

The data is updated as of 1 January 2021.^[38]

Map of Italy's population density at the 2011 census

Demographic range	Comuni		Population
	Number	%	Residents	%
more than 500,000 inhab.	6	0.08%	7,170,310	12.10%
from 250,000 to 499,999 inhab.	6	0.08%	1,874,966	3.16%
from 100,000 to 249,999 inhab.	32	0.40%	4,749,945	8.02%
from 60,000 to 99,999 inhab.	58	0.73%	4,446,634	7.50%
from 20,000 to 59,999 inhab.	404	5.11%	13,253,362	22.37%
from 10,000 to 19,999 inhab.	698	8.83%	9,662,013	16.31%
from 5,000 to 9,999 inhab.	1,179	14.92%	8,331,631	14.06%
from 3,000 to 4,999 inhab.	1,087	13.75%	4,222,171	7.13%
from 2,000 to 2,999 inhab.	921	11.65%	2,258,907	3.81%
from 1,000 to 1,999 inhab.	1,520	19.23%	2,213,443	3.74%
from 500 to 999 inhab.	1,101	13.93%	811,919	1.37%
less than 500 inhab.	892	11.29%	262,265	0.44%
Total	7,904	100.00%	59,257,566	100.00%

See also

• Regions of Italy
• Metropolitan cities of Italy
• Provinces of Italy
• List of municipalities of Italy
• List of renamed municipalities in Italy
• Alphabetical list of municipalities of Italy
• Fusion of municipalities of Italy
• Municipalities of Switzerland – those in Italian-speaking areas of the country are called comuni

References

External links

• Associazione Nazionale Comuni Italiani (in Italian)
• Media related to Municipalities in Italy at Wikimedia Commons
• The dictionary definition of comune at Wiktionary