The provinces of Italy () are the second-level administrative divisions of the Italian Republic, on an intermediate level between a municipality () and a region (). Since 2015, provinces have been classified as "institutional bodies of second level".
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.
Overview A province of the Italian Republic is composed of many municipalities (). 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 . Since 2015, the President (Commissioner) and other members of the council will not receive a salary.
In each province, there is also a Prefect (), a representative of the central government who heads an agency called . The Questor () is the head of State Police () in the province and his office is called . There is also a provincial police force depending from local government, called provincial police ().
Due to its size, the Aosta Valley region is not divided into provinces, but straight to the 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, 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) Area Pop. density(p/km²) Established Agrigento AgrigentoAGSicilyInsular407,041133431861 Alessandria AlessandriaALPiedmontNorth-West408,063 1151871861 Ancona AnconaANMarcheCentre461,613235471861 Aosta AostaAOAosta ValleyNorth-West122,55438741927 Arezzo ArezzoARTuscanyCentre333,269103361861 Ascoli Piceno Ascoli PicenoAPMarcheCentre200,202163331861 Asti AstiATPiedmontNorth-West207,0591371171935 Avellino AvellinoAVCampaniaSouth393,093 1401181861 Bari BariBAApuliaSouth1,218,073315411861 Barletta-Andria-Trani Barletta, Andria, TraniBTApuliaSouth375,933244102004 Belluno BellunoBLVenetoNorth-East197,26555601866 Benevento BeneventoBNCampaniaSouth257,968124781861 Bergamo BergamoBGLombardyNorth-West1,119,2334062431861 Biella BiellaBIPiedmontNorth-West168,223184741992 Bologna BolognaBOEmilia-RomagnaNorth-East1,024,290277551861 Brescia BresciaBSLombardyNorth-West1,271,7592662051861 Brindisi BrindisiBRApuliaSouth373,631201201927 Cagliari CagliariCASardiniaInsular534,219124701861 Caltanissetta CaltanissettaCLSicilyInsular243,501114221861 Campobasso CampobassoCBMoliseSouth207,72371841861 Caserta CasertaCECampaniaSouth909,493 3431041861 Catania CataniaCTSicilyInsular1,067,550299581861 Catanzaro CatanzaroCZCalabriaSouth338,160140801861 Chieti ChietiCHAbruzzoSouth369,0591421041861 Como ComoCOLombardyNorth-West598,5624681471861 Cosenza CosenzaCSCalabriaSouth667,134991501861 Cremona CremonaCRLombardyNorth-West355,134 2011131861 Crotone CrotoneKRCalabriaSouth161,76593271992 Cuneo CuneoCNPiedmontNorth-West582,109842471861 Enna EnnaENSicilyInsular151,52559201927 Fermo FermoFMMarcheCentre166,772193402004 Ferrara FerraraFEEmilia-RomagnaNorth-East340,482130211861 Florence FlorenceFITuscanyCentre988,494281411861 Foggia FoggiaFGApuliaSouth587,78584611861 Forlì-Cesena ForlìFCEmilia-RomagnaNorth-East394,337166301861 Frosinone FrosinoneFRLazioCentre460,266142911927 Gallura North-East Sardinia Olbia and Tempio PausaniaSardiniaInsular159,46047262025 Genoa GenoaGELiguriaNorth-West820,691447671861 Gorizia GoriziaGOFriuli-Venezia GiuliaNorth-East138,717292251923 Grosseto GrossetoGRTuscanyCentre214,86348281861 Imperia ImperiaIMLiguriaNorth-West209,848182661861 Isernia IserniaISMoliseSouth78,217 51521970 L'Aquila L'AquilaAQAbruzzoSouth286,765571081861 La Spezia La SpeziaSPLiguriaNorth-West214,539243321924 Latina LatinaLTLazioCentre567,130251331934 Lecce LecceLEApuliaSouth761,927272961861 Lecco LeccoLCLombardyNorth-West334,211415841992 Livorno LivornoLITuscanyCentre324,893267191861 Lodi LodiLOLombardyNorth-West231,481 296601992 Lucca LuccaLUTuscanyCentre379,957214331861 Macerata MacerataMCMarcheCentre301,689109551861 Mantua MantuaMNLombardyNorth-West408,715175641866 Massa-Carrara MassaMSTuscanyCentre186,637162171861 Matera MateraMTBasilicataSouth187,75454311927 Medio Campidano Sanluri and VillacidroSardiniaInsular89,15559282025 Messina MessinaMESicilyInsular594,074 1821081861 Milan MilanMILombardyNorth-West3,253,1112,0651331861 Modena ModenaMOEmilia-RomagnaNorth-East711,502265471861 Monza and Brianza MonzaMBLombardyNorth-West883,3962,179552004 Naples NaplesNACampaniaSouth2,954,8472,504921861 Novara NovaraNOPiedmontNorth-West365,930 273871861 Nuoro NuoroNUSardiniaInsular142,24136531927 Ogliastra Lanusei and TortolìSardiniaInsular53,72229232025 Oristano OristanoORSardiniaInsular146,78549871974 Padua PaduaPDVenetoNorth-East934,5404361011866 Palermo PalermoPASicilyInsular1,195,307 239821861 Parma ParmaPREmilia-RomagnaNorth-East457,509133441861 Pavia PaviaPVLombardyNorth-West546,0231841841861 Perugia PerugiaPGUmbriaCentre635,988 100591861 Pesaro and Urbino PesaroPUMarcheCentre349,556139501861 Pescara PescaraPEAbruzzoSouth311,563253461927 Piacenza PiacenzaPCEmilia-RomagnaNorth-East287,745111461861 Pisa PisaPITuscanyCentre419,588172371861 Pistoia PistoiaPTTuscanyCentre290,867302201927 Pordenone PordenonePNFriuli-Venezia GiuliaNorth-East311,114137501968 Potenza PotenzaPZBasilicataSouth337,527511001861 Prato PratoPOTuscanyCentre261,152 71471992 Ragusa RagusaRGSicilyInsular323,144199121927 Ravenna RavennaRAEmilia-RomagnaNorth-East387,743209181861 Reggio Calabria Reggio CalabriaRCCalabriaSouth510,590159971861 Reggio Emilia Reggio EmiliaREEmilia-RomagnaNorth-East532,157232421861 Rieti RietiRILazioCentre149,335 54 731927 Rimini RiminiRNEmilia-RomagnaNorth-East341,244370271992 Rome RomeRMLazioCentre4,224,9017871211870 Rovigo RovigoROVenetoNorth-East227,183125501866 Salerno SalernoSACampaniaSouth1,053,3022131581861 Sassari SassariSSSardiniaInsular311,12873662025 Savona SavonaSVLiguriaNorth-West266,910173691927 Siena SienaSITuscanyCentre259,50268351861 Sondrio SondrioSOLombardyNorth-West179,26856771861 South Tyrol BolzanoBZTrentino-South TyrolNorth-East542,134731161927 Sulcis Iglesiente Carbonia and IglesiasSardiniaInsular117,78067242025 Syracuse SyracuseSRSicilyInsular382,450180211861 Taranto TarantoTAApuliaSouth547,928222291924 Teramo TeramoTEAbruzzoSouth299,835153471861 Terni TerniTRUmbriaCentre214,639101331927 Trapani TrapaniTPSicilyInsular410,602166251861 Trento TrentoTNTrentino-South TyrolNorth-East548,684881661923 Treviso TrevisoTVVenetoNorth-East878,341354941866 Trieste TriesteTSFriuli-Venezia GiuliaNorth-East227,8401,07261923 Turin TurinTOPiedmontNorth-West2,204,779 3233121861 Udine UdineUDFriuli-Venezia GiuliaNorth-East515,8251041341866 Varese VareseVALombardyNorth-West884,8017381361927 Venice VeniceVEVenetoNorth-East834,077337441866 Verbano-Cusio-Ossola VerbaniaVBPiedmontNorth-West152,67768741992 Vercelli VercelliVCPiedmontNorth-West166,16680821927 Verona VeronaVRVenetoNorth-East930,842301981866 Vibo Valentia Vibo ValentiaVVCalabriaSouth149,922130501992 Vicenza VicenzaVIVenetoNorth-East855,2123141121866 Viterbo ViterboVTLazioCentre307,81285601927 Total Italy — — — —58,942,8281957,894 —
Data
Sardinia — following the outcome of the regional referendums of 2012 it was decreed that such institutions should be reformed or abolished by March 2013 (thus remaining in office until 28 February 2013). In January 2014 the Sardinian Regional Administrative Court declared "unconstitutional" the abolition of the Sardinian provinces, which occurred in 2013. In 2016, Sardinian provinces were reformed by Sardinia regional executive: Cagliari became a metropolitan city; the provinces Olbia-Tempio, Ogliastra, Medio Campidano, and Carbonia-Iglesias were abolished. In 2017, Regional council of Sardinia approved the institution of a new province, South Sardinia. It was formed by the municipalities of province of Cagliari that did not join to metropolitan city of Cagliari, and those which formed the provinces of Medio Campidano and Carbonia Iglesias. South Sardinia was disestablished on 1 June 2025 and the other reinstated, some with different names, and Sassari made a metropolitan city. Sicily — provinces were replaced by six free municipal consortia in 2013 and three metropolitan cities in 2015.Legge 24 marzo 2014, n. 8. Gazzetta Ufficiale della Regione Siciliana (in Italian). Published 28 March 2014. Retrieved 16 June 2020. Friuli-Venezia Giulia — in 2016, the regional council of Friuli-Venezia Giulia approved a law which abolished the four provinces that formed the region, and replaced them by 18 territorial unions of municipalities. In 2019, the regional council of Friuli-Venezia Giulia rebranded the four provinces as the four regional decentralization entities, with their own competences, powers, and capital.Legge regionale 29 novembre 2019, n. 21. Friuli-Venezia Giulia: Leggi e regolamenti (in Italian). Published 29 November 2019. Retrieved 16 June 2020. Metropolitan cities — in 2015, 14 metropolitan cities replaced the provinces of Bari, Bologna, Cagliari, Catania, Florence, Genoa, Messina, Milan, Naples, Palermo, Reggio Calabria, Rome, Turin, and Venice.
Maps
History
National unification
In 1861, at the birth of the Kingdom of Italy, there were 59 provinces. However, at that time the national territory was smaller than the current one: regions of Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, and Lazio were not included in the kingdom.
In 1866, following the Third Independence War, territories of Veneto, Friuli and Mantua were annexed. There were therefore nine more provinces: Belluno, Mantua, Padua, Rovigo, Treviso, Venice, Verona, Vicenza, and Udine, all previously part of the Austrian Empire. Eventually, in 1870, following the union of Rome and its province from the Papal States, the provinces rose in number to 69.