CONVENTIONAL LONG FORM NAME OF COUNTRY Italian Republic CAPITAL CITY Rome TYPE OF GOVERNMENT parliamentary republic DATE OF INDEPENDENCE 17 March 1861 (Kingdom of Italy proclaimed; Italy was not finally unified until 1871) NATIONAL HOLIDAYS Republic Day, 2 June (1946) CHIEF OF STATE President Sergio MATTARELLA (since 3 February 2015) HEAD OF GOVERNMENT Prime Minister Paolo GENTILONI (since 12 December 2016) EXECUTE BRANCH/POWERS CHIEF OF STATE: President Sergio MATTARELLA (since 3 February 2015) HEAD OF GOVERNMENT: Prime Minister Paolo GENTILONI (since 12 December 2016); note - Prime Minister Matteo RENZI (since 22 February 2014) resigned 12 December 2016; the prime minister's official title is President of the Council of Ministers CABINET: Council of Ministers proposed by the prime minister and nominated by the president ELECTIONS/APPOINTMENTS: president indirectly elected by an electoral college consisting of both houses of Parliament and 58 regional representatives for a 7-year term (no term limits); election last held on 31 January 2015 (next scheduled for 2020); prime minister appointed by the president, confirmed by parliament LEGISLATIVE BRANCH DESCRIPTION: bicameral Parliament or Parlamento consists of the Senate or Senato della Repubblica (322 seats; 315 members directly elected in single- and multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote to serve 5-year terms and 7 ex- officio members appointed by the president of the Republic to serve for life) and the Chamber of Deputies or Camera dei Deputati (630 seats; 629 members directly elected in single- and multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote and 1 member from Valle d'Aosta elected by simple majority vote; members serve 5-year terms) JUDICIAL BRANCH HIGHEST COURTS: Supreme Court of Cassation or Corte Suprema di Cassazione consists of the first president (chief justice), deputy president, 54 justices presiding over 6 civil and 7 criminal divisions, and 288 judges; an additional 30 judges of lower courts serve as supporting judges; cases normally heard by 5-judge panels; more complex cases heard by 9-judge panels; Constitutional Court or Corte Costituzionale (consists of the court president and 14 judges) JUDGE SELECTION AND TERM OFFICE: Supreme Court judges appointed by the High Council of the Judiciary, headed by the president of the republic; judges may serve for life; Constitutional Court judges - 5 appointed by the president, 5 elected by parliament, 5 elected by select higher courts; judges serve up to 9 years SUBORDINATE COURTS: various lower civil and criminal courts (primary and secondary tribunals, courts, and courts of appeal) SUFFERAGE 18 years of age; universal except in senatorial elections, where minimum age is 25 AMBASSADOR TO THE US Ambassador Armando VARRICCHIO (since 2 March 2016) EMBASSY IN THE US 3000 Whitehaven Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 CONSULATE IN THE US consulate(s) general: Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Miami, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco consulate(s): Charlotte (NC), Cleveland (OH), Detroit (MI), Hattiesburg (MS), Honolulu (HI), New Orleans, Newark (NJ), Norfolk (VA), Pittsburgh (PA), Portland (OR), Seattle consular agency(ies): Anchorage (AL), Charleston (SC), Worcester (MA) US AMBASSADOR TO THEM Ambassador John R. PHILLIPS (since 3 October 2013) US EMBASSY THERE Via Vittorio Veneto 121, 00187-Rome US CONSULATE THERE consulate(s) general: Florence, Milan, Naples consular agency(ies): Anchorage (AK), Charleston (SC), Worcester (MA) REPRESENTATIVE TO UN Sebastiano Cardi INTERNATIONAL DISPUTES Italy's long coastline and developed economy entices tens of thousands of illegal immigrants from southeastern Europe and northern Africa REFUGEES refugees (country of origin): 13,068 (Somalia); 12,203 (Afghanistan); 11,962 (Eritrea); 9,931 (Nigeria); 9,202 (Pakistan); 8,334 (Mali); 5,079 (Cote d'Ivoire) (2015) STATELESS PERSONS stateless persons: 747 (2015) INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS -- HUMAN TRAFFICKING ISSUES -- ILLICIT DRUG TRAFFICKING important gateway for and consumer of Latin American cocaine and Southwest Asian heroin entering the European market; money laundering by organized crime and from smuggling DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLISM OF FLAG three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and red; design inspired by the French flag brought to Italy by Napoleon in 1797; colors are those of Milan (red and white) combined with the green uniform color of the Milanese civic guard NATIONAL SYMBOLS white, five-pointed star (Stella d'Italia); national colors: red, white, green NATIONAL ANTHEM "Il Canto degli Italiani" (The Song of the Italians)