Regions of Italy

A disunited history

The idea of Italy as a unified country, is a relatively new one. Two and a half thousand years ago the peninsula was filled with a host of tribes and city states, celtic in the north, Etruscan, Umbrian, and Latin in the centre, with a large number of Greek colonies in the south.

The Romans brought the whole territory under their control, but when the Roman Empire disappeared so did unity. Italy then broke into about fifteen separate countries, often warring with each other, with shifting borders, different cultures and languages, until they were united into the Kingdom of Italy in 1871.

The regions today

The Italian Constitution recognizes the existence of 20 regions, based on these old cultural and geographical divisions. Five of them, for example Trentino-Alto Adige, enjoy a special degree of autonomy from the Italian State. Even today, more than 150 years after unification, the differences between these regions are still quite marked, particularly when it comes to food.

The Italian regions are listed below in alphabetical order.

	Abruzzo Regional capital: L’Aquila Provinces: L’Aquila, Chieti, Pescara, Teramo
	Basilicata Regional capital: Potenza Provinces: Matera, Potenza
	Calabria Regional capital: Catanzaro Provinces: Catanzaro, Cosenza, Crotone, Vibo Valentia, Città metropolitana di Reggio Calabria
	Campania Regional capital: Napoli (Naples) Provinces: Avellino, Benevento, Caserta, Napoli (Naples), Salerno
	Emilia-Romagna Regional capital: Bologna Provinces: Bologna, Ferrara, Forlì-Cesena, Modena, Parma, Piacenza, Ravenna, Reggio Emilia, Rimini
	Friuli-Venezia Giulia Regional capital: Trieste Provinces: Gorizia, Pordenone, Trieste, Udine
	Lazio Regional capital: Roma (Rome) Provinces: Frosinone, Latina, Rieti, Roma (Rome), Viterbo
	Liguria Regional capital: Genova (Genoa) Provinces: Genova (Genoa), Imperia, La Spezia, Savona
	Lombardia (Lombardy) Regional capital: Milano (Milan) Provinces: Bergamo, Brescia, Como, Cremona, Lecco, Lodi, Mantova (Mantua), Milano (Milan), Monza e Brianza, Pavia, Sondrio, Varese
	Marche Regional capital: Ancona Provinces: Ancona, Ascoli Piceno, Fermo, Macerata, Pesaro e Urbino
	Molise Regional capital: Campobasso Provinces: Campobasso, Isernia
	Piemonte (Piedmont) Regional capital: Torino (Turin) Provinces: Alessandria, Asti, Biella, Cuneo, Novara, Torino (Turin), Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, Vercelli
	Puglia Regional capital: Bari Provinces: Bari, Barletta-Andria-Trani, Brindisi, Foggia, Lecce, Taranto
	Sardegna (Sardinia() Regional capital: Cagliari Provinces: Cagliari, Sassari, Olbia-Tempio, Oristano, Medio-Campidano, Carbonia-Iglesias, Ogliastra
	Sicilia (Sicily) Regional capital: Palermo Provinces: Agrigento, Caltanissetta, Catania, Enna, Messina, Ragusa, Palermo, Siracusa, Trapani
	Toscana (Tuscany) Regional capital: Firenze (Florence) Provinces: Firenze (Florence), Arezzo, Grosseto, Livorno (Leghorn), Lucca, Massa e Carrara, Pisa, Pistoia, Prato, Siena
	Trentino-Alto Adige Regional capital: Trento (Trent) Provinces: Bolzano, Trento (Trent)
	Umbria Regional capital: Perugia Provinces: Perugia, Terni
	Valle d’Aosta Regional capital: Aosta Provinces: —
	Veneto Regional capital: Venezia (Venice) Provinces: Belluno, Padova, Rovigo, Treviso, Venezia (Venice), Verona, Vicenza