Editing Sardinia (section)

== Government and politics ==
{{Main|Politics of Sardinia|List of political parties in Sardinia}}
{{See also|Regional Council of Sardinia|List of presidents of Sardinia}}

Sardinia is one of the five [[Italian autonomous regions]], along with the [[Aosta Valley]], [[Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol]], [[Friuli-Venezia Giulia]] and [[Sicily]]. Its particular statute, which in itself is a [[Italian Constitution|constitutional law]], gives the region a limited degree of autonomy, entailing the right to carry out the administrative functions of the local body and to create its own laws in a strictly defined number of domains.

[[File:Map of region of Sardinia, Italy, with provinces-it (as of 2016).svg|Provinces of Sardinia|thumb]]

The regional administration is constituted by three authorities:
* the [[Regional Council of Sardinia|Regional Council]] (legislative power)
* the Regional Junta (executive power)
* the President (chief of executive power)

=== Administrative divisions ===
Since 2016, Sardinia is divided into four provinces<ref>{{cite web
|title=Legge regionale approvata il 27 gennaio 2016
|url=http://consiglio.regione.sardegna.it/XVLegislatura/Leggi%20approvate/lr2016-02.asp
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160228094221/http://consiglio.regione.sardegna.it/XVLegislatura/Leggi%20approvate/lr2016-02.asp
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=28 February 2016
|publisher=Consiglio regionale della Sardegna
|access-date=15 October 2017
}}</ref> ([[Province of Nuoro|Nuoro]], [[Province of Oristano|Oristano]], [[Province of Sassari|Sassari]], [[Province of South Sardinia|South Sardinia]]) and the [[Metropolitan cities of Italy|metropolitan city]] of [[Cagliari]].

{| class="wikitable centered"
|-
! style="background:#ccf;"|Province
! style="background:#ccf;"|Area (km<sup>2</sup>)
! style="background:#ccf;"|Population
! style="background:#ccf;"|Density (inh./km<sup>2</sup>)
|-
| [[Metropolitan City of Cagliari|Cagliari (metropolitan city)]]
| 1,248
| 431,568
| 345.8
|-
| [[Province of Nuoro]]
| 5,786
| 213,206
| 36.8
|-
| [[Province of Oristano]]
| 3,034
| 160,864
| 53.0

|-
| [[Province of Sassari]]
| 7,692
| 494,388
| 64.2
|-
| [[Province of South Sardinia]]
| 6,339
| 358,229
| 56.5
|-
|}
In April 2021, under Sardinian Regional Council's Regional Law Nr. 7,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Legge regionale 12 aprile 2021, n. 7 |trans-title=Regional law 7 of April 12, 2021 |url=http://www.regione.sardegna.it/documenti/1_422_20210419102943.pdf |website=Region of Sardinia |language=it}}</ref> Sardinian administrative divisions were reorganized; the former provinces of Olbia-Tempio (now bearing the name Gallura-North East Sardinia), Ogliastra, Medio Campidano and Carbonia-Iglesias (now bearing the name Sulcis Iglesiente) were restored, the metropolitan city of Cagliari would be expanded with other municipalities from the to-be eliminated Province of South Sardinia, and the western part of the Province of Sassari would be reorganized into the new metropolitan city of Sassari.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cenni storici - Province |url=https://www.sardegnaautonomie.it/cenni-storici-province |website=Autonomous Region of Sardinia |language=it}}</ref> Whilst the Italian government challenged the law,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Leggi impugnate dal Governo |url=https://www.consregsardegna.it/xvilegislatura/attivita/attivita-legislativa/leggi/leggi-impugnate-dal-governo/ |access-date=2025-01-25 |website=Consiglio regionale della Sardegna |language=it-IT}}</ref> thus stalling its implementation,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Politica, nuove Province in alto mare: irrisolto il nodo referendum |url=https://www.lanuovasardegna.it/regione/2021/12/01/news/nuove-province-in-alto-mare-irrisolto-il-nodo-referendum-1.40985443 |access-date=2025-01-25 |website=La Nuova Sardegna |language=it}}</ref> on 12 March 2022, the Constitutional Court ruled in favor of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Madeddu |first=Davide |date=2022-03-12 |title=Sardegna, la Consulta salva la riforma delle Province |url=https://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/sardegna-consulta-salva-riforma-province-AEkGfhJB?refresh_ce=1 |access-date=2025-01-25 |website=Il Sole 24 ORE |language=it}}</ref> On 13 April 2023, the regional council, at the proposal of the regional government, approved an amendment to the 2021 reform, defining the timeframe and manner of its implementation, which would see its full implementation in 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-04-12 |title=Altre 5 Province in Sardegna, iter nel collegato al bilancio - Notizie - Ansa.it |url=https://www.ansa.it/sardegna/notizie/2023/04/12/altre-5-province-in-sardegna-iter-nel-collegato-al-bilancio_f6308759-d400-4df8-aae0-173f9af315bf.html |access-date=2025-01-25 |website=Agenzia ANSA |language=it}}</ref>

=== Military installations ===
[[File:20151102 Davide.Passone U.S. Artillery Training (2) (22126481703).jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|left|US Artillery Live Fire Exercise in Capo [[Teulada, Sardinia|Teulada]] 2015 during NATO exercise Trident Juncture ]]
Around 60% of all the military installations in Italy are in Sardinia, whose area is less than one-tenth of all the Italian territory and whose population is little more than the 2,5%.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalia.info/brief/11254/sardinians-protest-islands-military-occupation|title=Sardinians protest island's "military occupation"|publisher=Nationalia|year=2019}}</ref> The island hosts [[NATO]] joint forces and [[Israeli army|Israeli]] military forces, which use the island's territory to simulate war games; the Inter-service Test and Training Range of Salto di Quirra (PISQ) is one of the most important experimental
military training centres in Europe.<ref>Esu, Aide. ''“‘A Foras, Out’: Youth Antimilitarism Engagement in Sardinia.”'' Bethlehem University Journal, vol. 37, 2020, pp. 53–67. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.13169/bethunivj.37.2020.0053. Accessed 9 February 2021.</ref> The bases, used for manufacturing plants and military testing grounds, totally take up more than 350&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> of the island's land,<ref name=servitu>{{Cite web|url=http://www.regione.sardegna.it/tematiche/ambiente_territorio/servitumilitari/cosasono.html|title=Cosa sono le servitù - Regione Autonoma della Sardegna|website=www.regione.sardegna.it|access-date=24 November 2016|archive-date=27 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160327093132/http://www.regione.sardegna.it/tematiche/ambiente_territorio/servitumilitari/cosasono.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> making Sardinia the most militarized region in Italy and the most militarized island in Europe.<ref>Andrea Maggiolo, [http://www.today.it/cronaca/sardegna-isola-militarizzata-basi-poligoni.html Sardegna, il lato oscuro di un paradiso: è l'isola più militarizzata d'Europa], Today.it, 4 maggio 2014, accesso 14 novembre 2016.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last= Camillo|first= Lisa|title=Una ferita italiana. I veleni e i segreti delle basi NATO in Sardegna: l'inquinamento radioattivo e l'omertà delle istituzioni|publisher=Ponte alle Grazie|year=2019}}</ref><ref name="sardsecret">{{cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/peopleandpower/2020/02/secret-sardinia-200205101020037.html|title=Secret Sardinia|publisher=Al Jazeera|year=2020|access-date=6 February 2020|archive-date=6 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200206125800/https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/peopleandpower/2020/02/secret-sardinia-200205101020037.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Besides the land-occupying installations, where 80% of the military explosives in Italy are used,<ref name="repubblica.it"/> there are also other military structures located on the sea and along the coastline, roughly equivalent to 20,000&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> (little less than the island's surface), being made inaccessible to the civil population when military exercises are held.<ref name=servitu/><ref name="sardsecret" />

Among the most notable military bases on the island are the Interagency Polygons in Quirra, Capo Teulada and Capo Frasca, used by Italian and NATO forces to test-fire ballistic missiles and weapons and by [[Italian Space Agency|Italian]] and [[European Space Agency]] to test space vehicles and for orbital launches. Until 2008, the US navy also had a nuclear submarine base in the [[Maddalena Archipelago]].<ref name=servitu/><ref name="news.com.au"/>

Depleted uranium and thorium dust from missile tests has been linked to an increase in cancers according to activists and local politicians.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-29/sardinia-military-weapons-testing-birth-defects/10759614 |title=Italian military officials' trial ignites suspicions of links between weapon testing and birth defects in Sardinia |last=Alberici |first=Emma |date=29 January 2019 |website=ABC News |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |access-date=29 January 2019}}</ref> In the late 1980s, a high level of birth defects occurred near the [[Salto di Quirra]] weapons testing site after old munitions were destroyed.<ref>{{Cite episode |title=Secret Sardinia |url=https://www.abc.net.au/foreign/secret-sardinia/10759968 |access-date=29 January 2019 |series=Foreign Correspondent |series-link=Foreign Correspondent (TV series) |first=Emma |last=Alberici |network=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=29 January 2019}}</ref>