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Updates: 

The NUTS code scheme was revised in 2003. All codes for Italy that were listed on this page changed. The NUTS-1 level areas, known as gruppi di regioni (groups of regions) were consolidated from eleven groups into five. There was another change in 2010. Because of the transfer of seven communes from Marche to Emilia-Romagna, those regions were given new codes. Because of the hierarchical structure of NUTS, all of their provinces' codes also changed. Other changes resulted from the creation of three new provinces, which took effect in 2009. The new codes are shown in the tables below.

Fabien Antoine pointed out to me that a referendum was held on 2012-05-06 concerning the four Sardinian provinces that were created in 2001. The result was for their abolition, to take effect when a regional law is passed, no later than 2013-03-01. Even more significantly, according to Italy's Metronews website (source [6]), the Council of Ministers has decided that provinces should have a population of at least 350,000 and an area of at least 2,500 km.². Following those criteria, 66 provinces will have to be abolished; however, 10 of them will become metropolitan cities (città metropolitane), a new status which will apparently be on the same level as the provinces. The deadline for this transformation is 2014-01-01. Later, Le Figaro reported that the legislature has "buried the bill reducing the number of provinces under a rain of 700 amendments" (mixed metaphor in original: source [7]).

Newsletter II-2, an update to the ISO 3166-2 standard, is dated 2010-06-30. It changes the ISO codes assigned to three of the new provinces, so that province codes and sigle match.

ISO 3166-2 Newsletter number II-1, dated 2010-02-03, adds ISO codes for the most recently-created provinces.

The original ISO 3166-2 Newsletter I-8 was published on 2007-04-17. It had ISO codes for the new provinces of Italy. However, two of them didn't match the provincial sigle. When this was brought to the attention of the maintenance agency, they revised the codes. A corrected version of the newsletter was issued, bearing the same date; I received notification of it on 2007-05-10. (The reason I go into all this detail is that some of my readers may have saved the original newsletter, and may now be wondering why their ISO codes don't match mine.)

Mario Pezza writes that new provinces appear on maps as of the date of the law creating them, but only become active when their first provincial council is elected. Therefore, the provinces of Barletta-Andria-Trani, Fermo, and Monza e Brianza were defined as of 2004-06-11, the date the laws were passed. They became active in 2009-06.

International standard ISO 3166-2 was published on December 15, 1998. It superseded ISO/DIS 3166-2 (draft international standard). For Italy, the draft standard showed 20 regions and ignored the provinces. The final standard shows the same 20 regions with the same codes, but no longer as primary divisions of Italy. Instead, the 103 provinces are shown as the primary subdivisions.

Country overview: 

Short name	ITALY
ISO code	IT
FIPS code	IT
Language	Italian (it)
Time zone	+1 ~
Capital	Rome

 

Italy struggled its way to national unification in the 19th century, except for some Italian-speaking borderlands called Italia irredenta (unredeemed Italy). In World War I, Italy chose the winning side. In reward, it achieved its main territorial ambitions: the incorporation of the South Tyrol and the area around Trieste. After World War II, as a defeated Axis power, it lost part of Trieste, and all of its colonies.

Other names of country: 

1. Danish: Italien
2. Dutch: Italië, Italiaanse Republiek (formal)
3. English: Italian Republic (formal)
4. Finnish: Italia
5. French: Italie f
6. German: Italien n
7. Icelandic: Ítalía
8. Italian: Italia f, Repubblica Italiana (formal)
9. Norwegian: Italia, Republikken Italia (formal)
10. Portuguese: Itália f, República f Italiana (formal)
11. Russian: Италия, Итальянская Республика (formal)
12. Spanish: Italia f, República f Italiana (formal)
13. Swedish: Italien
14. Turkish: İtalya Cumhuriyeti (formal)

Origin of name: 

from Vituli, name of a tribe in Apulia

Primary subdivisions: 

Italy is divided into 109 province (sing. provincia: provinces) and Aosta, whose provincial functions are carried out by the regional government of Valle d'Aosta.

Province	HASC	ISO	CAP	NUTS	Population	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)	Reg	Adjective
Agrigento	IT.AG	AG	92	ITG14	448,053	3,043	1,175	SC	agrigentini
Alessandria	IT.AL	AL	15	ITC18	418,231	3,562	1,375	PM	alessandrini
Ancona	IT.AN	AN	60	ITI32	448,473	1,940	749	MH	anconetani
Aosta	IT.AO	AO	11	ITC20	119,548	3,264	1,260	VD	aostani
Arezzo	IT.AR	AR	52	ITI18	323,288	3,236	1,250	TC	aretini
Ascoli Piceno	IT.AC	AP	63	ITI34	203,153	1,227	474	MH	ascolani
Asti	IT.AT	AT	14	ITC17	208,339	1,511	584	PM	astigiani
Avellino	IT.AV	AV	83	ITF34	429,178	2,792	1,078	CM	avellinesi
Bari	IT.BB	BA	70	ITF47	1,218,038	3,824	1,476	PU	baresi
Barletta-Andria-Trani	IT.BT	BT		ITF48	383,018	1,532	591	PU
Belluno	IT.BL	BL	32	ITH33	209,550	3,679	1,420	VN	bellunesi
Benevento	IT.BN	BN	82	ITF32	287,042	2,071	800	CM	beneventani
Bergamo	IT.BG	BG	24	ITC46	973,129	2,725	1,052	LM	bergamaschi
Biella	IT.BI	BI	13	ITC13	187,249	915	353	PM	biellesi
Bologna	IT.BO	BO	40	ITH55	915,225	3,703	1,430	ER	bolognesi
Bolzano	IT.BZ	BZ	39	ITH10	462,999	7,403	2,858	TT	bolzanini
Brescia	IT.BS	BS	25	ITC47	1,108,776	4,784	1,847	LM	bresciani
Brindisi	IT.BR	BR	72	ITF44	402,422	1,840	710	PU	brindisini
Cagliari	IT.CG	CA	09	ITG27	543,310	4,570	1,764	SD	cagliaritani
Caltanissetta	IT.CL	CL	93	ITG15	274,035	2,124	820	SC	nisseni
Campobasso	IT.CB	CB	86	ITF22	230,749	2,910	1,124	ML	campobassani
Carbonia-Iglesias	IT.CI	CI	09		131,890	1,495	577	SD	carboniensi
Caserta	IT.CE	CE	81	ITF31	852,872	2,640	1,019	CM	casertani
Catania	IT.CT	CT	95	ITG17	1,054,778	3,553	1,372	SC	catanesi
Catanzaro	IT.CZ	CZ	88	ITF63	369,578	2,392	924	CI	catanzaresi
Chieti	IT.CH	CH	66	ITF14	382,076	2,590	1,000	AB	teatini
Como	IT.CO	CO	22	ITC42	537,500	1,289	498	LM	comaschi
Cosenza	IT.CS	CS	87	ITF61	733,797	6,652	2,569	CI	cosentini
Cremona	IT.CR	CR	26	ITC4A	335,939	1,771	684	LM	cremonesi
Crotone	IT.KR	KR	88	ITF62	173,122	1,717	663	CI	crotoniati
Cuneo	IT.CN	CN	12	ITC16	556,330	6,906	2,666	PM	cuneesi
Enna	IT.EN	EN	94	ITG16	177,200	2,562	989	SC	ennesi
Fermo	IT.FM	FM		ITI35	166,218	861	332	MH
Ferrara	IT.FE	FE	44	ITH56	344,323	2,633	1,017	ER	ferraresi
Florence	IT.FI	FI	50	ITI14	933,860	3,515	1,357	TC	fiorentini
Foggia	IT.FA	FG	71	ITF46	649,598	6,959	2,687	PU	foggiani
Forlì-Cesena	IT.FO	FC	47	ITH58	358,542	2,377	918	ER	forlivesi
Frosinone	IT.FR	FR	03	ITI45	484,566	3,245	1,253	LZ	frusinati
Genoa	IT.GE	GE	16	ITC33	878,082	1,840	710	LG	genovesi
Gorizia	IT.GO	GO	34	ITH43	136,491	466	180	FV	goriziani
Grosseto	IT.GR	GR	58	ITI1A	211,086	4,504	1,739	TC	grossetani
Imperia	IT.IM	IM	18	ITC31	205,238	1,157	447	LG	imperiesi
Isernia	IT.IS	IS	86	ITF21	89,852	1,530	591	ML	isernini
L'Aquila	IT.AQ	AQ	67	ITF11	297,424	5,036	1,944	AB	aquilani
La Spezia	IT.SP	SP	19	ITC34	215,935	881	340	LG	spezzini
Latina	IT.LT	LT	04	ITI44	491,230	2,251	869	LZ	latinensi
Lecce	IT.LE	LE	73	ITF45	787,825	2,760	1,066	PU	leccesi
Lecco	IT.LC	LC	23	ITC43	311,452	817	315	LM	lecchesi
Livorno	IT.LI	LI	57	ITI16	326,444	1,212	468	TC	livornesi
Lodi	IT.LO	LO	26	ITC49	197,672	782	302	LM	lodigiani
Lucca	IT.LU	LU	55	ITI12	372,244	1,774	685	TC	lucchesi
Macerata	IT.MC	MC	62	ITI33	301,523	2,775	1,071	MH	maceratesi
Mantua	IT.MN	MN	46	ITC4B	377,790	2,340	903	LM	mantovani
Massa-Carrara	IT.MS	MS	54	ITI11	197,652	1,157	447	TC	massesi
Matera	IT.MT	MT	75	ITF52	204,239	3,450	1,332	BC	materani
Medio Campidano	IT.MD	VS	09		105,400	1,516	585	SD
Messina	IT.ME	ME	98	ITG13	662,450	3,248	1,254	SC	messinesi
Milan	IT.MA	MI	20	ITC4C	2,957,299	1,593	615	LM	milanesi
Modena	IT.MO	MO	41	ITH54	633,993	2,689	1,038	ER	modenesi
Monza e Brianza	IT.MZ	MB		ITC4D	749,911	388	150	LM
Naples	IT.NA	NA	80	ITF33	3,059,196	1,172	452	CM	napoletani
Novara	IT.NO	NO	28	ITC15	343,040	1,339	517	PM	novaresi
Nuoro	IT.NR	NU	08	ITG26	164,260	3,934	1,519	SD	nuoresi
Ogliastra	IT.OG	OG	08		58,389	1,854	716	SD
Olbia-Tempio	IT.OT	OT	07		138,334	3,399	1,312	SD	olbiesi
Oristano	IT.ON	OR	09	ITG28	167,971	3,040	1,174	SD	oristanesi
Padua	IT.PD	PD	35	ITH36	849,857	2,142	827	VN	padovani
Palermo	IT.PA	PA	90	ITG12	1,235,923	4,993	1,928	SC	palermitani
Parma	IT.PR	PR	43	ITH52	392,976	3,450	1,332	ER	parmigiani
Pavia	IT.PV	PV	27	ITC48	493,753	2,967	1,145	LM	pavesi
Perugia	IT.PG	PG	06	ITI21	605,950	6,336	2,446	UM	perugini
Pesaro e Urbino	IT.PS	PU	61	ITI31	351,214	2,893	1,117	MH	pesaresi
Pescara	IT.PE	PE	65	ITF13	295,481	1,226	473	AB	pescaresi
Piacenza	IT.PC	PC	29	ITH51	263,872	2,590	1,000	ER	piacentini
Pisa	IT.PI	PI	56	ITI17	384,555	2,446	944	TC	pisani
Pistoia	IT.PT	PT	51	ITI13	268,503	965	373	TC	pistoiesi
Pordenone	IT.PN	PN	33	ITH41	286,198	2,274	878	FV	pordenonesi
Potenza	IT.PZ	PZ	85	ITF51	393,529	6,551	2,529	BC	potentini
Prato	IT.PO	PO	59	ITI15	227,886	366	141	TC	pratesi
Ragusa	IT.RG	RG	97	ITG18	295,264	1,614	623	SC	ragusani
Ravenna	IT.RA	RA	48	ITH57	347,847	1,859	718	ER	ravennati
Reggio di Calabria	IT.RC	RC	89	ITF65	564,223	3,185	1,230	CI	reggini
Reggio nell'Emilia	IT.RE	RE	42	ITH53	453,892	2,293	885	ER	reggiani
Rieti	IT.RI	RI	02	ITI42	147,410	2,750	1,062	LZ	reatini
Rimini	IT.RN	RN	47	ITH59	272,676	534	206	ER	riminesi
Rome	IT.RM	RM	00	ITI43	3,700,424	5,353	2,067	LZ	romani
Rovigo	IT.RO	RO	45	ITH37	242,538	1,791	691	VN	rodigini
Salerno	IT.SA	SA	84	ITF35	1,073,643	4,919	1,899	CM	salernitani
Sassari	IT.SX	SS	07	ITG25	322,326	4,282	1,653	SD	sassaresi
Savona	IT.SV	SV	17	ITC32	272,528	1,546	597	LG	savonesi
Siena	IT.SI	SI	53	ITI19	252,288	3,821	1,475	TC	senesi
Sondrio	IT.SO	SO	23	ITC44	176,856	3,212	1,240	LM	sondriesi
Syracuse	IT.SR	SR	96	ITG19	396,167	2,109	814	SC	siracusani
Taranto	IT.TA	TA	74	ITF43	579,806	2,437	941	PU	tarantini
Teramo	IT.TE	TE	64	ITF12	287,411	1,949	752	AB	teramani
Terni	IT.TR	TR	05	ITI22	219,876	2,123	820	UM	ternani
Trapani	IT.TP	TP	91	ITG11	425,121	2,461	950	SC	trapanesi
Trento	IT.TN	TN	38	ITH20	477,017	6,209	2,397	TT	trentini
Treviso	IT.TV	TV	31	ITH34	795,264	2,477	956	VN	trevigiani
Trieste	IT.TS	TS	34	ITH44	242,235	212	82	FV	triestini
Turin	IT.TO	TO	10	ITC11	2,165,619	6,833	2,638	PM	torinesi
Udine	IT.UD	UD	33	ITH42	518,840	4,907	1,894	FV	udinesi
Varese	IT.VA	VA	21	ITC41	812,477	1,199	463	LM	varesini
Venice	IT.VE	VE	30	ITH35	809,586	2,462	951	VN	veneziani
Verbano-Cusio-Ossola	IT.VB	VB	28	ITC14	159,040	2,256	871	PM	verbanesi
Vercelli	IT.VC	VC	13	ITC12	176,829	2,089	807	PM	vercellesi
Verona	IT.VR	VR	37	ITH31	826,582	3,121	1,205	VN	veronesi
Vibo Valentia	IT.VV	VV	88	ITF64	170,746	1,140	440	CI	vibonesi
Vicenza	IT.VI	VI	36	ITH32	794,317	2,723	1,051	VN	vicentini
Viterbo	IT.VT	VT	01	ITI41	288,783	3,613	1,395	LZ	viterbesi
110 divisions					56,995,744	301,252	116,319
Province: Names are given in their common English form, where that differs from the Italian. Aosta is a region. HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2 (see note below). CAP: Codici di Avviamento Postale (postal codes). Italy has a system of five-digit postal codes. The first two digits are constant within each province. (In a few cases, two or more provinces use the same first two digits.) NUTS: Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics, a European standard. The first four characters of the NUTS code for each province are the NUTS code for the region to which the province belongs. Population: 2001-10-21 census. Reg: Region to which the province belongs (see list below). Capital: Capitals have the same names as provinces. When a province name mentions more than one city, they are co-capitals. Exceptions: The capital of Medio Campidano is Sanluri. The capitals of Ogliastra are Lanusei and Tortolì. The capital of Monza e Brianza is Monza. Adjective: Masculine plural adjective for inhabitants of the provincial capital, or the province as a whole.

 

Note: ISO province codes as of 2010-02-03 are the same as sigle automobilistiche, except for that of Rome. Its sigla is ROMA. Sigle automobilistiche, or sigle de provenienza (vehicle codes, provenance codes) are used in Italy on license plates, maps, forms, etc. For more historical background, see source [5].

Further subdivisions:

See the Communes of Italy page.

Above the province level, Italy is subdivided into twenty regioni (sing. regione: region). Officially, these are autonomous regions with ordinary statute, except for five autonomous regions with special statute (FV, SC, SD, TT, VD). Both regions and provinces are frequently used in statistical lists, and to locate places. Regions were known as compartimenti (departments) until World War II. The provinces are further subdivided into comuni (communes). There are also some groups of communes that form an intermediate administrative level, the circondari (districts). When new provinces are formed, sometimes the area of the province is a former circondaro.

Region	Abv	ISO	FIPS	NUTS	Population	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)	Capital	Adjective
Abruzzi	AB	65	IT01	ITF1	1,249,388	10,794	4,168	L'Aquila	abruzzesi
Apulia	PU	75	IT13	ITF4	3,970,525	19,348	7,470	Bari	pugliesi
Basilicata	BC	77	IT02	ITF5	591,897	9,992	3,858	Potenza	lucani
Calabria	CI	78	IT03	ITF6	2,010,195	15,080	5,823	Catanzaro	calabresi
Campania	CM	72	IT04	ITF3	5,625,575	13,595	5,249	Naples	campani
Emilia-Romagna	ER	45	IT05	ITH5	3,984,055	22,123	8,542	Bologna	emiliani
Friuli-Venezia Giulia	FV	36	IT06	ITH4	1,216,398	7,845	3,029	Trieste	friulani
Lazio	LZ	62	IT07	ITI4	5,145,763	17,203	6,642	Rome	laziali
Liguria	LG	42	IT08	ITC3	1,701,788	5,418	2,092	Genoa	liguri
Lombardy	LM	25	IT09	ITC4	8,940,594	23,859	9,212	Milan	lombardi
Marche	MH	57	IT10	ITI3	1,446,751	9,693	3,743	Ancona	marchigiani
Molise	ML	67	IT11	ITF2	320,916	4,438	1,713	Campobasso	molisani
Piedmont	PM	21	IT12	ITC1	4,338,262	25,399	9,807	Turin	piemontesi
Sardinia	SD	88	IT14	ITG2	1,645,192	24,090	9,301	Cagliari	sardi
Sicily	SC	82	IT15	ITG1	4,989,871	25,707	9,926	Palermo	siciliani
Trentino-Alto Adige	TT	32	IT17	ITHx	934,731	13,618	5,258	Trento	trentini
Tuscany	TC	52	IT16	ITI1	3,599,085	22,992	8,877	Florence	toscani
Umbria	UM	55	IT18	ITI2	822,972	8,456	3,265	Perugia	umbri
Valle d'Aosta	VD	23	IT19	ITC2	117,208	3,262	1,260	Aosta	valdostani
Veneto	VN	34	IT20	ITH3	4,452,667	18,364	7,090	Venice	veneti
20 regions					57,103,833	301,276	116,325
Abv: Arbitrary two-letter region codes. ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4. NUTS: Nomenclature for Statistical Territorial Units. First three characters identify a NUTS-1 region. Population: 1991 census Adjective: Masculine plural adjective for inhabitants of the region.

 

At the NUTS-2 level, Trentino-Alto Adige is divided into two codes: ITD1 for Provincia Autonoma Bolzano/Bozen and ITD2 for Provincia Autonoma Trento.

NUTS-1 regions, significant only for statistical purposes, are as follows.

NUTS	Name
ITC	Nord-Ovest
ITH	Nord-Est
ITI	Centro
ITF	Sud
ITG	Isole

Territorial extent: 

1. The region of Sardinia corresponds to the island of Sardinia. Any province in Sardinia region lies mainly on the island of Sardinia, although it may include other nearby islands. The same is true of Sicily.
2. The regions of Venezia, Venezia Giulia e Zara, and Venezia Tridentina together were sometimes called Tre Venezie (the three Venetias), or Triveneto. They correspond to the modern regions of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trentino-Alto Adige, and Veneto, plus some territory in Croatia and Slovenia.
3. Agrigento includes the Pelagian Islands: Lampedusa, Linosa, and the tiny islet of Lampione.
4. Arezzo includes an exclave within Pesaro e Urbino, which consequently is also an exclave of Tuscany region within Marche. It's part of Badia Tedalda commune.
5. Benevento includes an exclave within Avellino, constituting the commune of Pannarano.
6. Cagliari includes the islands of Sant' Antíoco and San Pietro.
7. Caltanissetta includes an exclave within Palermo, constituting the commune of Resuttano.
8. Como includes a small exclave within the canton of Ticino, Switzerland, constituting the commune of Campione d'Italia.
9. Enna includes a tiny exclave within Caltanissetta.
10. Foggia includes the Tremiti islands: San Domino, San Nicola, Caprara, Pianosa, etc.
11. Gorizia includes islands in the Laguna di Grado, as far west as the inlet of Porto Buso.
12. Grosseto includes the islands of Giglio, Giannutri, and the Formiche di Grosseto.
13. Latina includes the islands of Ponza, Palmarola, Ventoténe, Zamone, and other nearby islands.
14. Livorno includes most of the Tuscan Archipelago, including the islands of Elba, Capraia, Montecristo, Pianosa, and Gorgona.
15. Matera includes an exclave within Potenza, part of Tricárico commune.
16. Messina includes the Aeolian (Lipari) Islands, of which the largest are Lipari, Salina, Vulcano, Stromboli, Filicudi, Alicudi, and Panarea.
17. When Monza e Brianza becomes a separate province, Milan will include an exclave of Lentate sul Severo, surrounded by Como and Monza e Brianza.
18. Naples includes the islands of Ischia, Capri, Prócida, and other nearby islands.
19. Oristano includes the island of Mal di Ventre.
20. Palermo includes an exclave within Agrigento, part of Bisacquino commune.
21. Perugia includes an exclave within Pesaro e Urbino (which consequently is also an exclave of Umbria region within Marche), part of Città di Castello commune.
22. Rimini includes a tiny exclave within Pesaro e Urbino (and barely touching San Marino; consequently also an exclave of Emilia-Romagna region within Marche), part of Verucchio commune.
23. Sassari includes neighboring islands such as Asinara, Maddalena, Caprera, Spargi, Tavolara, Molara, Santo Stefano, Santa Maria, Rázzoli, and Budelli.
24. Terni includes an exclave on the border between Perugia and Siena, part of Fabro commune.
25. Trapani includes the islands of Pantelleria, Maréttimo, and the Égadi islands (Favignana, Lévanzo, etc.).
26. Udine includes islands in the Laguna di Marano, as far east as Santa Andrea.
27. Viterbo includes a small exclave on the border between Rieti and Terni, part of Gallese commune.

Origins of names: 

1. Abruzzi: unknown, may be related to Latin aper: boar or abruptus: steep
2. Alessandria: after Pope Alexander III
3. Ancona: Ancient Greek ankon: bent arms, for the shape of two promontories
4. Avellino: Latin Abellinum: pertaining to Abella, a city in Campania
5. Bari: possibly from Ancient Greek baris: fortified house
6. Basilicata: Ancient Greek basilikos: royal; former name Lucania is from Latin lucus: woods
7. Benevento: named Maleventum prior to 268 B.C., when it was changed to Beneventum (Latin bene: good, eventum: fortune); however, Maleventum probably came from mal: height, not malus: bad
8. Bolzano: possibly from Bautianum: Bautius's plantation
9. Brindisi: brention: stag's head
10. Cagliari: Greek Karalis, from pre-Indo-European kar: rock
11. Calabria: from Calaber, ethnic name
12. Caltanissetta: diminutive of Caltanissa, said to be from Arabic Kal`at: castle, an-Nisa': of women
13. Campania: Latin campania: countryside, fields
14. Campobasso: Italian for low field
15. Caserta: Italian casa: house, erta: elevated, for a castle overlooking it
16. Crotone: possibly from Ancient Greek kroton: castor-oil plant
17. Cuneo: Latin cuneus: corner (between the Gesso and Stura Rivers)
18. Emilia: from Latin Æmilia Regio, the destination of the Via Æmilia, whose construction began under consul Marcus Æmilius Lepidus
19. Ferrara: probably Latin ferraria: iron smithy
20. Florence: from Latin Florentia: flowering place
21. Foggia: Italian dialect for ditch
22. Forlì: Latin forum Livii: city of Livius (Roman consul Marcus Livius Salinator)
23. Friuli: Latin Forum Julium: city of Julius Caesar
24. Gorizia: Slovenian Gorica: little mountain
25. Grosseto: possibly place of the grossi (type of fig trees)
26. Imperia: after the river Impero; created in 1923 by the union of Porto Maurizio and Oneglia
27. L'Aquila: Italian for "the eagle"
28. Latina: renamed from Littoria in 1945 to avoid Fascist overtones; located in northern Latium
29. Lazio: Latin Latium: broad plain
30. Liguria: from Liguri, ethnic name
31. Lodi: Latin Laude Pompeia: mention of Pompey, after Cneius Pompeius Strabo
32. Lombardy: from ethnic name Langobardi, meaning men with long beards (or axes)
33. Macerata: Latin for pisé, or rammed earth, because that method of construction was used
34. Marche: Italian for march (buffer state)
35. Messina: after the Greek region of Messinia, because of colonists from there
36. Milan: Gallic medio: middle, lanon: inhabited place, through Latin Mediolanum
37. Modena: possibly from Etruscan mutna: tomb
38. Naples: Ancient Greek nea: new, polis: city
39. Padua: probably from Padus, the Latin name of the Po River
40. Palermo: Ancient Greek pan: all, hormos: anchorage (i.e. good harbor)
41. Pescara: Medieval Latin piscaria: fish market
42. Piacenza: Latin placentia: pleasure
43. Piedmont: piedmont, or foothills, of the Alps
44. Pisa: possibly pre-Indo-European pisa: wetland
45. Pistoia: from Latin pistor: grinder of grain
46. Ravenna: possibly pre-Indo-European rava: torrent
47. Romagna: land of the Romans, as it remained part of the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire after the fall of Rome
48. Sicily: from ethnic name Sikeloi
49. Syracuse: named for a swamp
50. Trapani: Ancient Greek drepanon: scythe, for the shape of a promontory
51. Trentino-Alto Adige: Alto Adige means the upstream part of the Adige River
52. Trieste: probably from an Indo-European root meaning market
53. Turin: Latin Augusta Taurinorum, from the ethnic name Taurini
54. Tuscany: Latin Tuscus: having to do with the Etruscans
55. Valle d'Aosta: Valley of Aosta (city). Aosta comes from Latin Augusta prætoria Salassorum. It was a colony founded by emperor Augustus to house his pretorian guard, in the land of the Salassi.
56. Venetia, Venice: land of the Veneti (ethnic name)

Change history: 

The 1911 edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica said, "The kingdom is divided into 69 provinces, 284 regions, of which 197 are classed as circondarii and 87 as districts (the latter belonging to the province of Mantua and the 8 provinces of Venetia), 1806 administrative divisions (mandamenti) and 8262 communes. These were the figures at the date of the census. [Most likely this refers to the 1901 census.] In 1906 there were 1805 mandamenti and 8290 communes, and 4 boroughs in Sardinia not connected with communes." The following table is taken from the same source, although it only shows 68 provinces.

Province	Pop-1881	Pop-1901	Area(mi.²)	Region
Alessandria	729,710	825,745	1,950	Piedmont
Ancona	267,338	308,346	762	Marches
Aquila degli Abruzzi	353,027	436,367	2,484	Abruzzi and Molise
Arezzo	238,744	275,588	1,273	Tuscany
Ascoli Piceno	209,185	251,829	796	Marches
Avellino	392,619	421,766	1,172	Campania
Bari delle Puglie	679,499	837,683	2,065	Apulia
Belluno	174,140	214,803	1,293	Venetia
Benevento	238,425	265,460	818	Campania
Bergamo	390,775	467,549	1,098	Lombardy
Bologna	464,879	529,619	1,448	Emilia
Brescia	471,568	541,765	1,845	Lombardy
Cagliari	420,635	486,767	5,204	Sardinia
Caltanisetta	266,379	329,449	1,263	Sicily
Campobasso	365,434	389,976	1,691	Abruzzi and Molise
Caserta	714,131	805,345	2,033	Campania
Catania	563,457	703,598	1,917	Sicily
Catanzaro	433,975	498,791	2,030	Calabria
Chieti	343,948	387,604	1,138	Abruzzi and Molise
Cosenza	451,185	503,329	2,568	Calabria
Cremona	302,097	3,594,304	1,695	Lombardy
Cuneo	635,400	670,504	2,882	Piedmont
Ferrara	230,807	270,558	1,012	Emilia
Florence	790,776	945,324	2,265	Tuscany
Foggia	356,267	421,115	2,688	Apulia
Forli	251,110	283,996	725	Emilia
Genoa	760,122	931,156	1,582	Liguria
Girgenti	312,487	380,666	1,172	Sicily
Grosseto	114,295	137,795	1,738	Tuscany
Lecce	553,298	705,382	2,623	Apulia
Leghorn	121,612	121,137	133	Tuscany
Lucca	284,484	329,986	558	Tuscany
Macerata	239,713	269,505	1,087	Marches
Mantua	295,728	315,448	912	Lombardy
Massa and Carrara	169,469	202,749	687	Tuscany
Messina	460,924	550,895	1,246	Sicily
Milan	1,114,991	1,450,214	1,223	Lombardy
Modena	279,254	323,598	987	Emilia
Naples	1,001,245	1,141,788	350	Campania
Novara	675,926	763,830	2,553	Piedmont
Padua	397,762	444,360	823	Venetia
Palermo	699,151	796,151	1,948	Sicily
Parma	267,306	303,694	1,250	Emilia
Pavia	469,831	504,382	1,290	Lombardy
Perugia	572,060	675,352	3,748	Umbria
Pesaro and Urbino	223,043	259,083	1,118	Marches
Piacenza	226,758	250,491	954	Emilia
Pisa	283,563	319,854	1,179	Tuscany
Porto Maurizio	132,251	144,604	455	Liguria
Potenza	524,504	491,558	3,845	Basilicata
Ravenna	218,359	234,656	715	Emilia
Reggio	244,959	281,085	876	Emilia
Reggio di Calabria	372,723	437,209	1,221	Calabria
Rome	903,472	1,142,526	4,663	Lazio
Rovigo	217,700	222,057	685	Venetia
Salerno	550,157	585,132	1,916	Campania
Sassari	261,367	309,026	4,090	Sardinia
Siena	205,926	233,874	1,471	Tuscany
Sondrio	120,534	130,966	1,232	Lombardy
Syracuse	341,526	433,796	1,442	Sicily
Teramo	254,806	312,188	1,067	Abruzzi and Molise
Trapani	283,977	373,569	948	Sicily
Treviso	375,704	416,945	960	Venetia
Turin	1,029,214	1,147,414	3,955	Piedmont
Udine	501,745	614,720	2,541	Venetia
Venice	356,708	399,823	934	Venetia
Verona	394,065	427,018	1,188	Venetia
Vicenza	396,349	453,621	1,052	Venetia
68 provinces	28,459,628	32,965,504	110,623
Pop-1881: 1881-12-31 census. Pop-1901: 1901-02-10 census. Region: Region to which the province belonged.

 

Note: the figures given in the source are consistent, with a few exceptions. The figures for Lombardy don't add up right. Specifically, the total of the areas of the provinces of Lombardy falls short of the correct area for the whole region by 91 mi.². The 1881 populations of the individual provinces fall short of the regional total by 515,050. The 1901 populations exceed the regional total by 2,670,529. Part of that discrepancy must be due to Cremona, which is unlikely to have grown almost twelve-fold in two decades. There's one other problem: the total of the populations by region for 1901 is 32,965,954, which is 450 more than the reported total.

1. 1920-07-16: Treaty of Saint-Germain took effect. Territory was transferred from several provinces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to Italy. The southern part of Tyrol province (about half) and a small part of Carinthia became Venezia Tridentina region, consisting of Trento province. Most of Coastland (Küstenland) province and the enclave of Zara in Dalmatia were annexed to Venezia region, becoming the provinces of Gorizia, Pola, and Trieste.
2. 1920-11-12: Treaty of Rapallo signed, by which Fiume (Rijeka) became a free state, and Italy received two groups of Adriatic islands: in the north, Cherso (Cres), Lussin (Lošinj), and some smaller islands; in the south, Lagosta (Lastovo), Pelagosa (Palagruža), and others.
3. 1923: Name of city and province of Porto Maurizio changed to Imperia. Name of Udine province, but not its capital, changed to Friuli.
4. 1924-01-27: City of Fiume, and most of the Free State, annexed to Italy by treaty with Yugoslavia, becoming the province of Fiume in the region of Venezia.
5. 1927: Nuoro province formed from parts of Cagliari and Sassari. Pistoia province split from Florence. Name of city and province of Girgenti changed to Agrigento. Name of city and province of Castrogiovanni changed to Enna.
6. ~1927: Aosta province split from Turin. Bolzano province split from Trento. Brindisi and Taranto provinces split from Lecce. Castrogiovanni province formed from parts of Caltanissetta and Catania. Frosinone and Viterbo provinces split from Rome. La Spezia and Savona provinces split from Genoa. Matera province split from Potenza. Pescara province formed from parts of Chieti and Teramo. Ragusa province split from Syracuse. Rieti and Terni provinces split from Perugia; Rieti province transferred from Umbria region to Lazio. Varese province split from Como. Vercelli province split from Novara.
7. 1934: Littoria province split from Rome.
8. ~1935: Venezia region split into Venezia Euganea and Venezia Giulia e Zara regions. The latter consisted of Fiume, Gorizia, Pola, and Trieste provinces.
9. ~1937: Name of Taranto province, but not its capital, changed to Ionio.
10. 1937: Name of Pola province, but not its capital, changed to Istria.
11. 1938: Name of Massa-Carrara province, and its capital Massa, changed to Apuania.
12. ~1939: Asti province split from Alessandria. Name of Fiume province, but not its capital, changed to Carnaro. Name of Basilicata region changed to Lucania.
13. ~1945: Massa city, Massa-Carrara, Taranto, and Udine provinces, and Basilicata region restored to their pre-war names. Name of Littoria city and province changed to Latina.
14. 1945-09-07: Province of Valle d'Aosta abolished, and its powers transferred to the regional government.
15. 1946-05-15: Sicily became an autonomous region with special statute.
16. 1947-02-10: Peace treaty signed. Four small areas transferred from Piedmont and Liguria regions to France. An area around Trieste was made into the Free Territory of Trieste. It consisted of Zone A, containing Trieste itself, under U.S.-British allied military administration, and Zone B, under Yugoslavian military administration. Venezia Giulia e Zara region (except for small part of Gorizia province and the Free Territory of Trieste) transferred to Yugoslavia.
17. 1947: Name of Venezia Tridentina region changed to Trentino-Alto Adige.
18. 1948: Name of Emilia region changed to Emilia-Romagna.
19. 1948-02-26: Valle d'Aosta region, consisting of the province of Aosta, split from Piedmont. It and Sardinia and Trentino-Alto Adige became autonomous regions with special statute.
20. 1954-10-25: Zone A of Free Territory of Trieste annexed to Italy as the province of Trieste.
21. 1963-01-31: Venezia Euganea region (capital Venice) split into Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Veneto. Friuli-Venezia Giulia, an autonomous region with special statute, consisted of the provinces of Gorizia, Trieste, and Udine.
22. ~1965: Abruzzi and Molise region (capital L'Aquila) split into Abruzzi region and Molise region.
23. ~1969: Pordenone province split from Udine.
24. 1974-07-16: Oristano province formed from parts of Cagliari and Nuoro.
25. ~1979: Isernia province split from Campobasso.
26. 1992-03-06: Biella province split from Vercelli.
27. 1992-03-27: Prato province split from Florence.
28. 1993-11-01: Under the Maastricht Treaty, the European Union replaced the European Communities, of which Italy was a member.
29. 1996-01-01: New provinces created: Crotone and Vibo Valentia split from Catanzaro; Lecco formed from part of Como and smaller part of Bergamo; Lodi split from Milan; Rimini split from Forlì; Verbania split from Novara. Several of these had previously been circondari.
30. 1999: Sigla of Pesaro e Urbino province changed from PS to PU.
31. ~2000: Name of Forlì province changed to Forlì-Cesena, and its sigla changed from FO to FC; name of Verbania province changed to Verbano-Cusio-Ossola.
32. 2001-07-12: Law passed, creating four new provinces in Sardinia region. Carbonia-Iglesias and Medio Campidano provinces split from Cagliari (former HASC code IT.CA). Ogliastra split from Nuoro (IT.NU). Olbia-Tempio formed from parts of Nuoro and Sassari (IT.SS). Parts of Nuoro transferred to Cagliari and Oristano (IT.OR). The new provinces became active following the elections of 2005-05-22 to 23. In earlier plans, Olbia-Tempio would have been named Gallura, and Carbonia-Iglesias would have been Sulcis-Iglesiente. Source [4] has a map of the changes.
33. 2004-06-11: Three new provinces created. In Apulia region, Barletta-Andria-Trani was formed from parts of Bari (former HASC code IT.BA; 2001 population, 1,559,662; area, 5,139 km.²) and Foggia (IT.FG, 690,992, 7,192). In Marche, Fermo was split from Ascoli-Piceno (IT.AP, 369,371, 2,089). In the Lombardy region, Monza e Brianza was split from Milan (IT.MI, 3,707,210, 1,985). Their creation was approved by the Chamber of Deputies on 2003-10-29; passed by the Senate on 2004-05-19 (2004-05-12 in the case of Monza e Brianza); signed by the President on 2004-06-11; and published in the Official Gazette on 2004-06-15. Barletta-Andria-Trani became active on 2009-06-08; Fermo on 2009-06-22; and Monza e Brianza on 2009-06-07.
34. 2006-12: Sigla of Medio Campidano changed from the provisional MD to VS.
35. 2009-08: Seven communes transferred from Pesaro e Urbino province to Rimini, and thus from Marche region to Emilia-Romagna: Casteldelci, Maiolo, Novafeltria, Pennabilli, San Leo, Sant'Agata Feltria, and Talamello.
36. 2009-12-18: Five communes transferred from Milan province to Monza e Brianza: Busnago, Caponago, Cornate d'Adda, Lentate sul Seveso, and Roncello.

Other names of subdivisions: 

Regions:

1. Abruzzi: Abruzos (Portuguese, Spanish); Abruzzen (German); Abruzzes (French); Abruzzo (variant)
2. Apulia: Apulien (German); Pouilles, Pouille (French); Puglia (Italian, Portuguese); Puglie (Italian-variant)
3. Basilicata: Basilicate (French); Lucania (obsolete)
4. Calabria: Calabre (French); Calabrie (Italian-variant); Kalabrien (German)
5. Campania: Campanha (Portuguese); Campanie (French); Kampanien (German)
6. Emilia-Romagna: Emilia (Italian-obsolete); Emilia-Romaña (Spanish); Émilie-Romagne (French)
7. Friuli-Venezia Giulia: Friaul-Venetien (German); Frioul-Vénétie Julienne (French); Friuli-Venecia Julia (Spanish)
8. Lazio: Lacio (Spanish); Lácio (Portuguese); Latium (French, German, variant)
9. Liguria: Ligurie (French); Ligurien (German)
10. Lombardy: Lombardei (German); Lombardie (French); Lombardia (Italian, Portuguese, Spanish)
11. Marche: Marca (Spanish); Marches (French); Marches, The Marches (variant); Marken (German)
12. Molise: Molisa (Spanish)
13. Piedmont: Piamonte (Spanish); Piemont (German); Piémont (French); Piemonte (Italian, Portuguese)
14. Sardinia: Cerdeña (Spanish); Sardaigne (French); Sardegna (Italian); Sardenha (Portuguese); Sardinië (Dutch); Sardinien (German)
15. Sicily: Sicile (French); Sicilia (Italian, Spanish); Sicilië (Dutch); Sizilien (German); Сицилия (Russian)
16. Trentino-Alto Adige: Trentin-Haut Adige (French); Trentino-Alto Adigio (Spanish); Trentino-South Tirol (variant); Trentino-Südtirol (German); Venezia Tridentina (obsolete)
17. Tuscany: Toscana (Italian, Portuguese, Spanish); Toscane (French); Toskana (German)
18. Umbria: Ombrie (French); Umbrien (German)
19. Valle d'Aosta: Aostatal (German); Aosta Valley (variant); Val d'Aoste, Vallée d'Aoste (French)
20. Veneto: Venecia (Spanish); Venetia (variant); Vénétie (French); Venetien (German); Venezia Euganea (obsolete)

Provinces:

1. Agrigento: Agrigente (French); Girgenti (obsolete)
2. Alessandria: Alejandría (Spanish); Alexandrie (French)
3. Ancona: Ancône (French)
4. Aosta: Aoste (French); Val d'Aosta, Valle d'Aosta (variant)
5. Barletta-Andria-Trani: provincia dell'Ofanto (Italian-informal)
6. Benevento: Bénévent (French)
7. Bergamo: Bergame (French)
8. Bologna: Bologne (French); Bolonha (Portuguese); Bolonia (Spanish)
9. Bolzano: Bozen, Südtirol (German)
10. Caserta: Caserte (French)
11. Catania: Catane (French)
12. Como: Côme (French)
13. Cremona: Crémone (French)
14. Cuneo: Coni (French)
15. Ferrara: Ferrare (French)
16. Florence: Firenze (Italian); Florença (Portuguese); Florencia (Spanish); Florens (Swedish); Florenz (German)
17. Foggia: Capitanata (obsolete)
18. Forli: Forlì (Italian)
19. Genoa: Gênes (French); Genova (Italian); Gênova (Portuguese); Génova (Spanish); Genua (Dutch, German, Swedish)
20. Gorizia: Görz (German)
21. Imperia: Porto Maurizio (obsolete)
22. L'Aquila: Aquila (variant)
23. La Spezia: Spezia (variant)
24. Latina: Littoria (obsolete)
25. Livorno: Leghorn (obsolete); Liorna (Spanish); Livourne (French)
26. Lucca: Lucques (French)
27. Mantua: Mantoue (French); Mantova (Italian, Spanish, Swedish)
28. Massa-Carrara: Apuania (obsolete); Massa-Carrare (French); Massa e Carrara (variant)
29. Messina: Messine (French)
30. Milan: Mailand (German); Milaan (Dutch); Milán (Spanish); Milano (Italian, Swedish); Milão (Portuguese)
31. Modena: Modène (French); Módena (Spanish)
32. Naples: Napels (Dutch); Nápoles (Portuguese, Spanish); Napoli (Italian); Neapel (German, Swedish)
33. Novara: Novare (French)
34. Padua: Padoue (French); Padova (Italian, Swedish)
35. Palermo: Palerme (French)
36. Parma: Parme (French)
37. Pavia: Pavie (French)
38. Perugia: Pérouse (French); Perúgia (Portuguese)
39. Pesaro e Urbino: Pesaro-et-Urbino (French); Pesaro-Urbino (variant); Pésaro y Urbino (Spanish)
40. Piacenza: Plaisance (French)
41. Pisa: Pise (French)
42. Ragusa: Raguse (French)
43. Ravenna: Rávena (Spanish); Ravenne (French)
44. Reggio di Calabria: Reggio Calabria (variant); Reggio de Calabre (French)
45. Reggio nell'Emilia: Reggio d'Émilie (French)
46. Rome: Rom (Danish, German, Swedish); Roma (Italian, Portuguese, Spanish); Rooma (Finnish); Рим (Russian)
47. Salerno: Salerne (French)
48. Siena: Sienne (French)
49. Syracuse: Siracusa (Italian, Spanish, Swedish); Syrakus (German)
50. Taranto: Ionio (obsolete); Tarent (German); Tarente (French)
51. Trento: Trente (French); Trient (German)
52. Treviso: Trévise (French)
53. Trieste: Triest (German)
54. Turin: Torino (Italian); Turijn (Dutch); Turim (Portuguese)
55. Udine: Friuli (obsolete)
56. Venice: Venecia (Spanish); Venedig (German, Swedish); Venetsia (Finnish); Veneza (Portuguese); Venezia (Italian); Venise (French); Венеция (Russian)
57. Verbano-Cusio-Ossola: Verbania (variant)
58. Vercelli: Verceil (French)
59. Verona: Vérone (French)
60. Vicenza: Vicence (French)
61. Viterbo: Viterbe (French)

Population history:

Region	1895	1911	1936	1943	1951-11-04	1961-10-15	1971-10-24	1981-10-25	1991-10-20	2001-10-21
Abruzzi	1,384,355	1,430,706	1,600,631	1,677,146	1,684,030	1,461,000	1,166,694	1,217,791	1,249,388	1,262,392
Apulia	1,854,180	2,130,151	2,637,022	2,886,570	3,220,485	3,312,000	3,582,787	3,871,617	3,970,525	4,020,707
Basilicata	546,600	474,021	543,262	584,240	627,586	603,000	603,064	610,186	591,897	597,768
Calabria	1,338,264	1,402,151	1,771,651	1,907,953	2,044,287	1,937,000	1,988,051	2,061,182	2,010,195	2,011,466
Campania	3,128,223	3,311,990	3,698,695	3,991,409	4,346,264	4,668,000	5,059,348	5,463,134	5,625,575	5,701,931
Emilia-R.	2,292,097	2,681,201	3,339,058	3,472,017	3,544,340	3,628,000	3,846,755	3,957,513	3,984,055	3,983,346
Friuli-V.G.			977,257	1,030,231	1,226,121	1,165,000	1,213,532	1,233,984	1,216,398	1,183,764
Lazio	1,019,198	1,302,423	2,647,088	3,063,203	3,340,798	4,000,000	4,689,482	5,001,684	5,145,763	5,112,413
Liguria	976,654	1,197,231	1,466,915	1,535,976	1,566,961	1,758,000	1,853,578	1,807,893	1,701,788	1,571,783
Lombardy	4,032,668	4,790,473	5,836,342	6,190,361	6,566,154	7,372,000	8,543,387	8,891,652	8,940,594	9,032,554
Marche	973,807	1,093,253	1,278,071	1,330,774	1,364,030	1,312,000	1,359,907	1,412,404	1,446,751	1,470,581
Molise							319,807	328,371	320,916	320,601
Piedmont	3,325,733	3,424,450	3,506,134	3,602,721	3,518,177	3,949,000	4,432,313	4,479,031	4,338,262	4,214,677
Sardinia	751,255	852,407	1,034,206	1,153,384	1,276,023	1,373,000	1,473,800	1,594,175	1,645,192	1,631,880
Sicily	3,484,125	3,672,258	4,000,078	4,256,077	4,486,749	4,634,000	4,680,715	4,906,878	4,989,871	4,968,991
Trentino-A.A.			669,029	660,825	728,604	783,000	841,886	873,413	934,731	940,016
Tuscany	2,310,534	2,694,706	2,974,439	3,088,511	3,158,811	3,293,000	3,473,097	3,581,051	3,599,085	3,497,806
Umbria	604,987	686,596	725,918	765,711	803,918	780,000	775,783	807,552	822,972	825,826
Valle d'A.					94,140	102,000	109,150	112,353	117,208	119,548
Veneto	3,080,153	3,527,360	4,287,806	4,483,891	3,918,059	3,774,000	4,123,411	4,345,047	4,452,667	4,527,694
Totals	31,102,833	34,671,377	42,993,602	45,681,000	47,515,537	49,904,000	54,136,547	56,556,911	57,103,833	56,995,744

Sources: 

1. [1] Fifth United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names. Vol. II. New York: United Nations, 1991.
2. [2] Le Regioni in Cifre, edizione 1991. Istituto Nazionale di Statistica, Rome, 1991.
3. [3] Il Leonardo: Almanacco di Educazione Populare. Ente Nazionale Biblioteche Popolari e Scolastiche, Rome, 1968.
4. [4] I comuni della Sardegna  (the communes of Sardinia, retrieved 2003-11-28)
5. [5] Targhe  (license plates, retrieved 2003-11-28)
6. [6] "Cancellate 66 Province ", Metronews website (retrieved 2012-09-20).
7. [7] "Ces réformes auxquelles Mario Monti a dû renoncer ", Le Figaro website (retrieved 2013-01-26).