A mountain community (Italian: Comunità montana) in Italy is a territorial association of mountain and foothill municipalities. Mountain communities were established by law on 3 December 1971 as statutory bodies with compulsory municipal membership within their defined territory. It is constituted by the president of the regional council and the mountain and foothill comuni, even those that may be located in different provinces. Their purpose is to jointly exercise certain municipal functions and to execute their functions specifically assigned by the region.[1]