Georgia Meloni became Italy's first woman prime minister after she and members of her cabinet were sworn in on Saturday, starting the term of the most right-wing government since World War Two.
Meloni, 45, who heads the nationalist Brothers of Italy party, won the election last month as part of a coalition of conservative parties that includes Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia and Matteo Salvini's League.
Meloni's government succeeded a national unity government headed by former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi.
It faces a series of daunting challenges, notably a looming recession, rising energy bills, and how to present a united front against the war in Ukraine.
Despite Meloni's pledge of support for Ukraine, Berlusconi has consistently undermined that position. Last week, he blamed Kyiv for Russia's war in Ukraine and revealed he had exchanged gifts and "nice letters" with his longtime friend Russian President Vladimir Putin.
After days of mostly tense and behind-the-scenes talks, Meloni announced the names of her cabinet members on Friday, assigning five ministries to each of her two junior coalition partners, Forza and the League, and reserving nine for her party.
Technocrats make up the rest of the government's team of 24 officials, of whom only 6 are women.