Comune

: comuni, Italian: [koˈmuːni]) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality.

[2] Formed praeter legem according to the principles consolidated in medieval municipalities,[3] the comune is provided for by article 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.

[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.

[13] It is headed by a mayor (sindaco or sindaca) assisted by a legislative body, the consiglio comunale (lit.

[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.

[22][23] The northernmost comune is Predoi, the southernmost one Lampedusa e Linosa, the westernmost Bardonecchia and the easternmost Otranto.

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).

'dispersed municipality') and the frazione which hosts the town hall (municipio) is a sede municipale (compare county seat).

The term originated from the administrative divisions of Rome, and is derived from the Latin word regio (pl.

: quartieri) is a territorial subdivision, properly used, for towns divided into four neighborhoods (quarto; lit.

The medieval Lordship of Negroponte, on the island of Euboea, was also at times divided into six districts, each with a separate ruler, through the arbitration of Venice, which were known as sestieri.

A variation of the word is occasionally found: the comune of Leonessa, for example, is divided into sesti or sixths.

'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.

"[36] 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.

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.