TUTTE LE REGIONI ITALIANE SPIEGATE IN 27 MINUTI (con sottotitoli)

Northern Italy. Let's start with Valle d'Aosta, the smallest and least populated region in Italy. Its extension is 3260 km² and has 126 thousand inhabitants.

It is a Region with a special status, due to the presence of a French-speaking minority, which however corresponds to only 1% of the entire regional population. The most common language in this region is Franco-Provençal. The capital is Aosta.

The name of Aosta was given in honor of Octavian Augustus, after the conquest of the territory by the Romans in 25 BC In more recent history, the Aosta Valley was part of the Duchy of Savoy and the Kingdom of Sardinia, and is then it became an Italian Region. The economy of the Aosta Valley is mainly based on winter tourism: the temperature here can reach -20 ° and snowfall is abundant during the cold season. The mountains are the flagship of this splendid region, which includes the four highest peaks in Italy: Mont Blanc, Monte Rosa, Matterhorn and Gran Paradiso.

Piedmont. Piedmont has a history closely linked to the development of the Kingdom of Italy, which originated from the Sardinian-Piedmontese one. Turin is the regional capital and was the first Italian capital, from the year of unity until 1865.

The territory of this region is mainly mountainous and is rich in rivers and lakes. In addition to the many natural and landscape resources, Piedmont offers a great artistic-cultural heritage of different historical periods: from the Romanesque, to the Gothic, to the neoclassical, up to the Baroque and contemporary art. The metropolitan area of ​​Turin has about 2 million inhabitants and includes industrial, cultural and artistic centers of national level.

Many historical companies of Italy have been founded in this city: FIAT, Iveco, Cirio, Lavazza, etc. The other Piedmontese provinces are Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, Vercelli, Novara, Biella, Alessandria, Asti and Cuneo. The Piedmontese population is about 4 million and 300 thousand inhabitants, spread over an area of ​​25,400 km², which makes Piedmont the second largest Italian region.

Piedmont has an enviable but often not known linguistic richness. In addition to Italian, the region recognizes 5 other historical languages: Piedmontese, Occitan, Franco-Provençal, French and Walser, a variant of German. In addition, the dialects of Lombard, Ligurian and Emilian are spoken.

Let's talk about Liguria. Liguria is a strip of land washed by the sea and borders France to the west, Piedmont to the north and Emilia Romagna to the east. Its population is about one and a half million inhabitants, distributed in the four provinces of Genoa, Savona, Imperia and La Spezia.

The climate is mild on the coast, but has cold winter temperatures on the mountainous part of the region. Tourism is one of the most economically important activities for Liguria, especially for renowned landscapes such as Portofino, the Cinque Terre or Porto Venere. Genoa is the capital of this region, and the birthplace of the great Fabrizio De André.

The fame of this city is not limited only to music: Genoa was one of the Maritime Republics, as well as the birthplace of Christopher Columbus. The economy of the region is based on agriculture, livestock, fishing and industry, closely linked to the great port of Genoa. Characteristic of this region is the Ligurian language, unfortunately spoken less and less due to various socio-cultural factors, but the protagonist of regional literary and artistic works.

Lombardy. Lombardy is the most populous region in Italy, with 10 million inhabitants. Most of the people live in the area around Milan, the regional capital and also the national financial and economic center.

Milan is also the birthplace of Alessandro Manzoni, one of the pillars of Italian literature. The rest of the inhabitants live in the other provinces of Sondrio, Como, Lecco, Monza and Brianza, Varese, Bergamo, Brescia, Pavia, Lodi, Cremona and Mantua, on an area of ​​about 24 thousand km². The name of this region is due to the Lombards, the Germanic population who in the sixth century BC occupied a large part of the peninsula, establishing the seat of the kingdom in what is now Pavia.

The Lombard economy is the first in Italy, contributing to about one fifth of the national gross domestic product. Many companies, which operate mainly in the industrial, textile and chemical sectors, are based in Lombardy. It is a region rich in culture and beautiful lakes, including Lake Garda, Lake Maggiore, Lake Como, Lake Iseo.

In addition to Italian, several dialects of the Lombard language are spoken. Trentino Alto Adige. Trentino Alto Adige has about 1 million inhabitants and is one of the three Italian Regions with special status in Northern Italy.

Most of the regional responsibilities are managed directly by the two autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano. The special status is due to the different linguistic composition of the population. Trentino speaks almost completely Italian or Trentino dialects, except in some historical communities, where Cimbro and Mocheno are spoken, two German-speaking languages ​​protected by the Province of Trento.

Alto Adige, on the other hand, is German-speaking, with a minority of about 25% speaking Italian. In Trentino-Alto Adige there is also a linguistic minority that speaks Ladin, a Rhaeto-Romanic language, also spoken in Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia. Many indicate the northern part of the Region with the name of "Südtirol": it is the Austrian name of Alto Adige, an area that belonged to Austria until 1918.

The territory is mainly mountainous, with peaks reaching 3900 meters. Tourism is the main activity, both in summer and in winter. There are numerous renowned ski resorts, such as those of Madonna di Campiglio, Ortisei and Canazei, destinations frequented by thousands of tourists.

Veneto. Veneto is the Italian region that attracts the most tourists, thanks to the presence of cities of art such as Venice and Verona. The nearly 5 million inhabitants are spread over an area of ​​approximately 18,400 km², in the six provinces of Belluno, Treviso, Vicenza, Padua, Rovigo and Verona and in the metropolitan city of Venice.

Geographically, the territory of the Veneto is very varied, and is made up of hilly, mountainous, flat and coastal areas, crossed by many rivers. The climate of the Region changes considerably depending on the area: relatively mild near the sea and rigid near the Dolomites. The history of Veneto is very rich.

The Venetian cities have known periods of great splendor, especially during the Venetian supremacy over the seas, which reached its peak in the fifteenth century. In the nineteenth century the Veneto gave life to the Risorgimento uprisings, culminating with the proclamation of the Republic of San Marco in 1848. During the First World War, the Venetian mountains were the scene of legendary battles against the Austrian army.

Veneto is one of the richest and most productive regions in Italy, and hosts many companies active in the textile, chemical and manufacturing sectors, which contribute significantly to the national gross domestic product. In addition to Italian and Venetian, three other indigenous languages ​​are spoken in the Region: Cimbrian, Ladin and Friulian. Friuli Venezia Giulia.

Friuli Venezia Giulia is a region rich in linguistic and cultural peculiarities, which is why it has been granted the special status. The regional population is 1 million and 200 thousand units who reside on an area of ​​almost 8000 km². The borders of this region are the result of the two world wars: after the first, Italy obtained the Venezia Giulia from Austria, while following the second conflict our country had to yield to Yugoslavia Fiume, Zadar, along with numerous surrounding islands and valleys.

This Region is a crossroads of different cultures and has recognized as official languages, in addition to Italian, also Friulian, German and Slovenian. Alongside these languages, Venetian dialects are also spoken, such as Trieste. From an administrative point of view, Friuli Venezia Giulia was the first Italian region to have abolished all the provinces, which until 2016 were Trieste, Pordenone, Gorizia and Udine.

This region is ideal for holidays: it is possible to visit caves, mountains, coastal areas and suggestive and spectacular valleys. There are ski facilities, the food and wine offer is very wide and high quality wines are produced. Emilia Romagna.

Emilia Romagna has an area of ​​22,452 km² and has about 4 and a half million inhabitants. Its territory extends from the Adriatic coast to Liguria and is largely occupied by the Po Valley, with some reliefs in the Apennine area. This Region was born from the union of Emilia and Romagna.

Emilia includes the metropolitan city of Bologna, the regional capital, and the provinces of Ferrara, Modena, Parma, Reggio Emilia and Piacenza. Romagna includes the provinces of Rimini, Ravenna and Forlì-Cesena. The city of Reggio Emilia has a strong symbolic value for the history of Italy, as the tricolor banner was exhibited for the first time here in 1797.

Three regional languages ​​belonging to the Gallo-Italic family are widespread in Emilia Romagna: 'Emilian, Romagna and Ligurian. Emilia Romagna is one of the richest areas in Europe, with an unemployment rate below 4%. In this region there are various leading companies in the food and industrial sector, as well as many small family-run companies, and large brands famous all over the world: Ferrari, Ducati, Maserati, Barilla and many food and wine productions with the DOP brand.

Now let's talk about Central Italy and let's start with Tuscany. Tuscany is home to 3 million and 700 thousand inhabitants on an area of ​​approximately 23 thousand km². Florence is the capital and main historical, artistic and economic-administrative hub.

The other Tuscan provinces are Arezzo, Grosseto, Livorno, Lucca, Massa, Pisa, Pistoia, Prat o and Siena. The name Toscana derives from the ancient Latin name of the Etruscan region, that is Tuscia. After the collapse of the Roman Empire and the Byzantine dominion, the Tuscan cities experienced a period of progressive growth, witnessed by the advent of Pisa, the Maritime Republic which extended its supremacy over the Tyrrhenian Sea.

Tuscany was the cradle of the Renaissance. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, centers such as Florence and Siena attracted the best artists of the time, who created unique and unsurpassed works of art. At the same time, a prosperous trade has developed in these cities, which has led to the birth of the modern banking sector.

The region's economy is based on various industrial districts, agricultural production and tourism, with about 6 million tourists arriving every year to enjoy the great wealth of monuments and works of art. Tuscan is, after the Sardinian language, the idiom that has least diverged from Latin and has evolved in a linear and homogeneous way. It is the basis of the Italian language, thanks to the literary works of Dante Alighieri, Francesco Petrarca, Giovanni Boccaccio, Niccolò Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardini.

Lazio. Lazio is the second largest Italian region by population, after Lombardy, with approximately 5 million 900 thousand inhabitants. Rome, the city where most of the population resides, is the capital of this region and the capital of Italy.

In addition to Rome, the other provinces of Lazio are Viterbo, Rieti, Frosinone and Latina. A peculiarity of this region is the fact that it hosts an entire state, namely the Vatican City. The name of the Region derives from Latium, an area that, even before the birth of Rome, hosted a Latin people.

The history of Lazio is strongly linked to that of the Roman Empire, which after reaching its maximum expansion with the Emperor Trajan in 117 AD dissolved at the end of the 5th century. After being part of the Holy Roman Empire, the Lazio territory was gradually included in the State of the Church, until the capture of Porta Pia in 1870, which decreed its accession to the Kingdom of Italy. Lazio, with its historical, artistic, archaeological, architectural and religious heritage, is one of the most important regions, not only for Italian culture, but also for European and world culture.

In Lazio, local languages ​​are spoken generally belonging to the group of median Italian dialects, in the central-northern part, and to the group of southern dialects in the southern part. The city of Rome represents a sort of linguistic island, characterized by the Roman dialect, very similar to Italian and often considered a "spoken" rather than a dialect. Umbria.

Umbria is located in the heart of the peninsula and extends over an area of ​​8,456 km². It hosts a population of 885 thousand inhabitants, distributed over the two provinces of Perugia, the regional capital, and Terni. The Umbrian landscape is spectacular and very varied.

We find hills, lakes, streams and woods, embellished by the presence of cities of art rich in history and traditions. The name of the Region derives from the Umbrians, a population that occupied the region in pre-Roman times, together with the Etruscans. After the fall of the Roman Empire, its land was occupied by Lombards and Byzantines, and then it was divided into the small states of the noble period.

In addition to presenting a rich variety of dishes and typical products, the Umbrian heritage includes monuments, works of art and numerous monasteries scattered throughout the territory. Romanesque churches, Gothic cathedrals, basilicas, palaces and frescoes of rare beauty still bear witness to the great artistic production that, in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, gave Umbria immortal masterpieces. In Umbria there are local languages ​​that are part of the Italian median dialectal group, a dialect continuum extended in central Italy, including Lazio and Marche.

We are talking about the Marche. The name of this region is found in the plural and does not derive from that of the ancient Piceni population, who lived in this area in pre-Roman times, but from the Germanic word “marka”, which means border territory. Over the course of history, the various "marquisates" present in this area have come together to give life to the current region.

The one and a half million inhabitants of the Marche is divided between the capital Ancona and the provinces of Pesaro Urbino, Macerata, Fermo and Ascoli Piceno, for a total area of ​​just over 4900 km². The landscape is very varied, and features mountains, hills and a 173 km long coastline, characterized by the presence of renowned seaside resorts. The Marche economy is based on an interesting model that combines the productivity of small-medium enterprises and the good quality of life typical of central Italy.

The Marches are also characterized by a singular wealth of internationally renowned artists and scholars, such as Raffaello Sanzio, one of the major protagonists of Renaissance painting, Gioachino Rossini, a great composer and Giacomo Leopardi, one of the greatest poets of the Italian nineteenth century. The Marche, together with Umbria and Lazio, are characterized by the presence of a continuum between three dialectal divisions, which fade imperceptibly between them. Among the Marche dialects, we find dialects of the Gallo-Italic group, but also of the groups of the central and southern Italian dialects.

We finally arrive in the South and the Islands, and we begin with Abruzzo. Despite being geographically in the center of the Italian peninsula, Abruzzo is commonly included among the southern regions due to its cultural and historical affinities with southern Italy. Its name derives from Aprutium, the area near present-day Teramo, inhabited by the Pretuzi in pre-Roman times.

The region is also known with the plural Abruzzi, after the division into Abruzzo Citiori and Abruzzo Ulterior at the time of its belonging to the Kingdom of Naples. This region extends over an area of ​​just over 10 thousand km² and has a population of approximately 1. 3 million inhabitants.

L'Aquila is the regional capital, while the other provinces are Pescara, Chieti and Teramo. The Abruzzo region is mainly mountainous and hilly, with a narrow coastal strip along the coast, 131 km long. Despite the numerous earthquakes, the region retains many fascinating villages of historical and artistic value and among the most beautiful in Italy.

Beside the architectural beauties, Abruzzo can boast unsurpassed naturalistic attractions, concentrated in the various national parks, in the Apennine area, and in the remaining numerous protected areas. The Abruzzo economy is the best in southern Italy, thanks to a gradual growth that allowed the region to free itself from the poverty of the early 1950s. The Abruzzo dialects are mainly part of the group of intermediate southern Italian dialects, often with influences from central Italy or Campania.

We are talking about Campania. At the time of the Romans, the Tyrrhenian coast of Campania was called Agro Capuano, a name that gradually changed to become Campania. The territory of this region has been the subject of many dominations over the years, thanks to the Lombards, the Byzantines, the Normans, the Spaniards and the Bourbons.

Precisely during the Bourbon period, it was part of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, before its annexation to the Kingdom of Italy. Naples is the capital of Campania and has almost one million inhabitants. Campania is among the most populous Italian regions in the South and the third in Italy, with more than 5 and a half million inhabitants.

The other Campania provinces are Benevento, Caserta, Avellino and Salerno. The geography of Campania is very varied, and is characterized by mountain ranges and coastal areas with small islands, such as Ischia, Capri and Procida. Its countless artistic and architectural treasures make this Region one of the most important nationally from a cultural point of view, as evidenced by the many UNESCO sites in the area.

Tourism is one of the main economic activities, along with the service sector and industry. The Neapolitan language has no official value in Campania, despite having an important role in the history and culture of southern Italy. Parallel to the Neapolitan language, the Campania dialects, belonging to the intermediate southern group, developed and were also used beyond the regional borders, especially in lower Lazio.

Molise. Molise was born from the detachment of the province of Campobasso from Abruzzo, to which it was united until 1963. With 4438 km², it is the second smallest region in Italy after Valle d'Aosta.

Its name comes from that of the most prestigious fiefdom, which gradually grew to become the dominant county at the time of Frederick II. The Molise area is divided into two provinces, that of Campobasso, the regional capital, and that of Isernia, for a total of about 300,000 inhabitants. Its low population density does not allow for great economic productivity, even if the per capita GDP is one of the highest in southern Italy.

Although the regional territory is not particularly extensive, Molise can count on a great variety of unspoiled landscapes, which include mountains, hills and coastal areas. In the Molise area there are ethnic and linguistic minorities. The main ones are that of the Croats of Molise, and the Albanian or arbëreshë.

In both minorities the typical language and the various traditions are maintained. Basilicata. The inhabitants of Basilicata are called Lucanians.

This term derives from Lucania, the first name of the Region, even before becoming a Roman possession. The same name was also used during the Fascist period, only to be replaced with the current one in 1947. Emperor Augustus was the first to use the name Basilicata, which derives from the Greek “basilikos”, meaning “king's official”.

Basilicata is home to more than half a million inhabitants, spread over about 10 thousand km². The region is divided into two provinces: the capital Potenza and Matera, famous for the “Sassi di Matera”, the historic center of the city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The regional area is mainly mountainous and hilly.

The morphological constitution hinders industrial investments, the intensive development of agriculture and the capillarity of transport. However, the Lucanian economy counts on the presence of numerous hydrocarbon fields, whose impact on regional employment appears to be promising. The Lucanian dialects do not have linguistic uniformity and vary greatly depending on the area.

In general, they are part of the intermediate southern dialect group. In Basilicata there is an Arbëreshë ethnic and linguistic minority, and it is possible to find bilingual Italian and Albanian signs. Puglia.

As for Abruzzo and Marche, Puglia was also often called in the plural, although today it is no longer used. This was due to the subdivision of the current territory into three different divisions. In the Angevin period it was therefore used to say "the Apulia".

The name derives from the ancient inhabitants, the Apuli. After the collapse of Rome, Apulia was occupied by the Byzantines, the Normans, the Angevins, the Aragonese and the Bourbons. The Apulian soil extends over about 19,540 km² and is inhabited by 4 million inhabitants.

Bari is the regional capital and the other provinces are Lecce, Foggia, Taranto, Brindisi and Barletta-Andria-Trani. Puglia is home to the Tavoliere delle Puglie, the largest flat area in southern Italy, second only to the Po Valley. The Apulian coasts extend for about 865 km of which about 90% are suitable for swimming.

The regional economy is heavily based on agricultural activity, recently joined by the technological, chemical and automotive sectors. In Puglia many dialects are spoken which can be classified into two basic groups: the intermediate southern dialects, spoken in the central-northern part, and the extreme ones, spoken in Salento. Furthermore, there are small linguistic islands where griko, derived from Greek, and arbëreshë are spoken.

Calabria. The history of the name of this region, which constitutes the "toe of the boot", is truly unique. The denomination in the Augustan era of the Roman Empire was in fact Bruttium.

Even before, the Greeks indicated the inhabitants of this territory as "Itali": to all intents and purposes, this is the origin of the name of our country. The word Calabria was instead used to indicate Puglia. Over the centuries, after the Byzantine rule, the name began to indicate only the Calabrian peninsula.

Although the borders of Calabria are almost completely washed by the sea, its territory is mainly mountainous, with the presence of the Lucanian and Calabrian Apennines. Many of its coastal stretches are steeply sloping and rocky, especially those on the Tyrrhenian side. Calabria is inhabited by about 2 million inhabitants, who reside in the capital Catanzaro and in the other provinces of Vibo Valentia, Crotone, Reggio Calabria and Cosenza.

Although the high rate of hidden economy does not allow to have reliable data, Calabria is one of the poorest regions in Italy. The main economic sectors of the region are agriculture, especially citrus production, and tourism. The Calabrian population has a quite varied identity and the set of dialects spoken in the region reflects these characteristics.

In the north of the region a Calabrian dialect deriving from the Neapolitan language is spoken, while in the south from the Sicilian one. There are recognized linguistic minorities who speak the gatekeeper, a variety of Occitan, the Greek-Calabrian dialect and Arbëreshë. Let's talk about Sicily now.

Sicily is the first Italian region by extension, extending over 25,832 km², and the fifth by population, with about 5 million inhabitants. The region consists of the island of Sicily, the largest in the Mediterranean Sea, and various other islands and archipelagos. Due to its insularity, it is one of the five Italian Regions with a special statute.

There are nine provinces: Palermo (capital), Agrigento, Catania, Caltanissetta, Enna, Messina, Ragusa, Syracuse and Trapani. The Region comprises several small islands, 19 of which are inhabited. The history of Sicily has very ancient origins.

The island was inhabited by the Phoenicians and the Greeks, who left important evidence of their passage. After the Roman domination, it was occupied by the Byzantines, the Normans, the Angevins and the Aragonese, and then passed to the Bourbons. The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies ceased to exist in 1860, when the region was united with the Kingdom of Italy with a plebiscite, following the expedition of the Thousand, led by Garibaldi.

Sicily has an area rich in archaeological sites, centers of extraordinary cultural importance, and unique natural beauties, such as the Etna volcano. The economy is mainly based on agriculture, tourism and industry, especially that of the mining sector. The official language in Sicily is Italian, but a large part of the population also speaks the Sicilian language, not protected by the Italian state, despite being recognized by the Sicilian Region, UNESCO, the European Union and other international organizations.

On the island there are also ethno-linguistic and dialectal minorities, such as the Gallo-Italic one of Sicilian Lombardy, the Arbëreshe and the Greek one. Sardinia. Sardinia is the third among the Italian regions by extension, with more than 24 thousand km² of surface.

Its population is one million 650 thousand inhabitants. This region enjoys a special status, due to its insularity and the use of Sardinian and Catalan, two idioms recognized as minority languages ​​by the Italian state. The regional capital is Cagliari and the other provinces are Oristano, Nuoro, Sassari and South Sardinia.

Sardinian history is ancient and fascinating. The island has been a mooring frequented by those who sailed from one shore to the other of the Mediterranean since the early days of civilization. The Nuragic people, who have lived on the island since the second millennium BC, have left numerous testimonies, especially in the form of the Nuraghi, basalt stone towers probably built for defensive purposes.

Following the Roman and Byzantine domination, Sardinia experienced the period of the Giudicati, followed by a long Spanish occupation. The Sardinian economy is heavily based on tourism. The island attracts millions of tourists every year thanks to the beauty of its pristine coasts.

Sardinian is the historical language of Sardinian populations that succeeded the nuragic and considered, together with Italian, as the most conservative of the Romance languages. Today it is estimated that only 10% of the young population uses Sardinian actively. Furthermore, in the north of the island, Romance languages ​​of Corsican-Tuscan derivation are spoken, and we also find non-Sardinian linguistic islands, such as that of Alghero where a variant of Catalan is spoken.