ISO3166-2 codes for Italy cover 103 provinces. Each province has a 2-letter code, that is also used for car signs. Together with the ISO 3166-1 code IT for Italy they form the ISO 3166-2 codes. The purpose of this family of standards is to establish a worldwide series of short abbreviations for places, for use on package labels, containers and such. Anywhere where a short alphanumeric code can serve to clearly indicate a location in a more convenient and less ambiguous form than the full place name.
Note: In 1999, the former Province Forlì / FO was renamed as Province Forlì-Cesena, commonly coded with FC. In the same year, the common coding for the Province Pesaro-Urbino has become PU instead of PS. However, ISO 3166-2 still sticks to the old codings.