Frazione
Fourth-level administrative divisions of Italy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A frazione (pl.: frazioni, cognate with English fraction) is a type of subdivision of a comune ('municipality') in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town, similar to a suburb or exurb. Most frazioni were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate territorial subdivisions in the country.
In the autonomous region of the Aosta Valley, a frazione is officially called hameau in French. In South Tyrol, a frazione is called Fraktion in German and frazion in Ladin.
Description
The term frazioni refers to the villages or hamlets that often make up a comune in rural Italian areas.[1] Subdivision of a comune is optional; some comuni have no frazioni, but others have several dozen. The comune usually has the same name of the capoluogo, but not always, in which case it is called a comune sparso.
History
Historically, many frazioni came into being during the Fascist era, when a major effort was made to consolidate and rationalize the territorial subdivisions of the country. Sometimes, a frazione represents a former comune that was believed to be no longer viable.
Until 2000, the central government established the frazioni and defined their borders, except in the case of the five autonomous regions (see regions of Italy), where this was controlled at the regional level. By the Legislative Decree 267/2000 to implement amendments to Title V of the Italian Constitution, the individual comuni now define the frazioni within their borders.
