A frazione (: 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. Most frazioni were created during the Fascist Italy (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 language.
In practice, most frazioni are small or hamlets, occasionally just a clump of houses. Not every hamlet is classified as a frazione; those that are not are often referred to as località, for example, in the telephone book. In some cases, frazioni are more populous than the capoluogo of the comune. Due to unusual circumstances or to the depopulation of the capoluogo, the town hall and its administrative functions can move to one of the frazioni: the comune still retains the name of the capoluogo.
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.
In many comuni, in addition to their advisory function, the frazioni have their clerks and recorders of deeds, but they do not maintain their own civil records.
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