The
Chamber of Deputies is a house of the bicameral
Parliament of Italy (the other being the
Senate of the Republic). The two houses together form a perfect bicameral system, meaning they perform identical functions, but do so separately. Pursuant to article 56 of the
Italian Constitution, the Chamber of Deputies has 630 seats, of which 618 are elected from Italian constituencies, and 12 from Italian citizens living abroad. Deputies are styled
The Honourable (Italian:
Onorevole) and meet at
Palazzo Montecitorio. The Chamber and the
parliamentary system of the Italian Republic and under the previous
Kingdom of Italy is a continuation of the traditions and procedures of the Parliament and Chamber of Deputies as established under King
Charles Albert, (1798-1849), during the
Revolutions of 1848, and his son
Victor Emmanuel II, (1820-1878) of the
Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont which led in the "
Italian unification 'Risorgimento' movement" of the 1850s and '60s, under the leadership of then
Prime Minister,
Count Camillo Benso of Cavour ("Count Cavour").