A
frazione, in
Italy, is the name given in administrative law to a type of territorial subdivision of a
comune; for other
administrative divisions, see
municipio,
circoscrizione,
quartiere. It is
cognate to the English word
fraction, but in practice is roughly equivalent to "
parishes", "
hamlets" or "
wards" in other countries.
Typically the frazioni cover villages surrounding the principal town (the capoluogo) of a comune. Subdivision of a comune is optional, some comuni have no frazioni, but others have several dozen.
In practice, most frazioni are small villages or hamlets, occasionally a mere clump of houses, although being such a place is not requisite. Nor is every hamlet a frazione; those that are not are often referred to as località, for example in the telephone book. In some occasions frazioni can be more populated than the capoluogo of the comune. Very occasionally, 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, however, still retains the name of the capoluogo.
Historically, many frazioni came into being during the Fascist period, when a major effort was made to consolidate and rationalize the territorial subdivisions of the country. Sometimes, a frazione represents a former comune felt at some point to be no longer viable.
