Italy is a parliamentary republic with two houses and 20 regions

Background

Italy's capital is Rome and its official EU language is Italian. The European Union's country page for Italy states that Italy "is a parliamentary republic with a prime minister who is the head of government", and that "The president is the head of state and appoints the prime minister." The same page states: "The Parliament is composed of 2 houses: the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic." For administration, "The country is subdivided into 20 regions", and "5 of these have a special autonomous status, enabling them to pass legislation on some local matters." Italy has been an EU Member State since 1 January 1958, and its currency is the euro (€). It sends 76 representatives to the European Parliament. Italy's geographical size is given as 302 073 km2 and its population as 58 934 177.