MEZZOGIORNO

'Southern Italy'

Regional statistics
'Largest city'	Naples
'Regions of Italy'	Apulia, Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Sardinia and Sicily
'Area'  - Total	47,504 mi² (123,036 km²)
'Languages'	Standard Italian (official); Neapolitan, Sicilian, and Sardinian Italian dialects; minorities of Griko and pockets of Franco-Provençal and Arbëresh.
'Population'  - Total (2006)  - Density	20,755,621[1] 168.6 people/km²
'GDP (nom.)'  - Total   - Per capita	''2003 estimates''[2][3] $0.369 trillion (17h) $17,924 (26th)
'GDP (PPP)'  - Total   - Per capita	''2003 estimates''[2][5] $0.365 trillion (24th) $17,724 (32th)

The term Mezzogiorno ("mèzzo" /'mddzo/ or half in English and "giórno" /'dorno/ or day ) first came into use in the 19th century. The term was popularized by Giuseppe Garibaldi who used the term "Il Mezzogiorno" to refer to South Central Italy or all of Italy to the south of Rome as well as the Abruzzi, though part of that region lay to Rome's north. Italians often refer to Southern Italy as ''il meridione'' (the South).
The 'Mezzogiorno' encompasses Basilicata, Campania, Calabria, Apulia, and usually Sicily. It may also include Molise, Abruzzo and Sardinia and the southern half of Lazio. Eurostat and the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica (ISTAT) exclude Sicily and Sardinia as Insular Italy as well as excluding southern Lazzio in their definition of the Mezzogiorno but include Abruzzo and Molise.

Contents

Geography

History

North-South Divide

Culture

See also

References

Geography

The Mezzogiorno is the actual "boot" of the peninsula, containing the ankle (Molise and southern Lazio), the toe (Calabria), and the heel (the southern half of Apulia). Separating the two is the Gulf of Taranto, named after the city of Taranto, which sits at the angle between heel and "sole". It is an arm of the Ionian Sea. The rest of the southern third of the Italian peninsula is studded with smaller gulfs and inlets.
On the eastern coast is the famous Blue Adriatic, leading into the rest of the Mediterranean through the Strait of Otranto (named after the largest city on the tip of the heel). On the Adriatic, south of the "spur" of the boot, the peninsula of Monte Gargano (Policastro), the Gulf of Salerno, the Gulf of Naples, and the Gulf of Gaeta are each named after a large coastal city. Along the northern coast of the Salernitan gulf, on the south of the Sorrentine peninsula, runs the famous Amalfi Coast. Off the tip of the peninsula there is the world famous isle of Capri.
The climate is classic Mediterranean (Köppen climate classification Csa), except at the highest elevations (Dsa, Dsb) and the semi-arid eastern stretches in Apulia, along the Ionian Sea in Calabria, and the southern stretches of Sicily (BSw).
The largest city in the Mezzogiorno is Naples, a title it has historically maintained for centuries. Palermo and Bari are the next largest cities in the area.

History

Ever since the Greeks colonised Magna Graecia in the eighth and seventh centuries BCE, the south of Italy has, in many respects, followed a distinct history from the north. After Pyrrhus of Epirus failed in his attempt to stop the spread of Roman hegemony in 282 BC, the south fell under Roman domination and remained in such a position well into the barbarian invasions (the Gladiator War is a notable suspension of imperial control). It was held by the Byzantine Empire after the fall of Rome in the West and even the Lombards failed to consolidate it, though the centre of the south was theirs from Zotto's conquest in the final quarter of the 6th century. Amalfi, an independent republic from the seventh century until 1075, and to a lesser extent Gaeta, Molfetta, and Trani, rivalled other Italian maritime republics in their domestic prosperity and maritime importance.

From then to the Norman conquest of the 11th century, the south of the peninsula was constantly plunged into wars between Greek, Lombard, and the Caliphate. The Norman conquest of southern Italy completely subjugated the Lombard principalities, integrated the Islamic element, and overwhelmed the Byzantines from all but Naples, which ultimately gave in to Roger II in 1127. He raised the south to kingdom status in 1130, calling it the Kingdom of Sicily. The Normans retained harmonious control of their territory, and ran the kingdom of Sicily efficiently. However, it lasted only 64 years before the Holy Roman Emperors long-held designs on the region came to fruition. The Hohenstaufen rule ended in defeat, but the conquering French of Charles of Anjou were themselves forcibly pushed out in the event immortalized as the Sicilian Vespers. Hereafter, until the union in Spain, the kingdom was split between the principalities of Naples on the mainland and of Sicily over the island. The Aragonese rule left its impression on Italy and the Renaissance through such figures as Alfonso the Magnanimous and the Borgia clan. With the unification of the crowns of Castile and Aragon in the late 15th century, southern Italy and Sicily ceased to have a local monarch and were ruled by viceroys appointed by the Spanish crown.
The region remained a part of Spain until the War of the Spanish Succession, when Duke Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia took Sicily. It was soon exchanged with Austria for Sardinia. It became an independent kingdom for Charles of Bourbon and experienced a period of enlightenment with a local, flourishing royal court. In 1798 the French revolutionaries captured southern Italy and created the short-lived Parthenopaean Republic. Eventually, France created the Kingdom of Naples for the benefit of Napoleon's marshal Joachim Murat. An object of irredentism and the ''Risorgimento'', the land was conquered by Giuseppe Garibaldi and the Redshirts in 1861 and, with the north, formed the modern state of Italy.
The transition to a united Italy was not smooth for the South. The Southern economy was much more agrarian and feudal than the more industrial northern economy. Because of this, the South experienced great economic difficulties resulting in massive emigration leading to a worldwide Southern Italian diaspora. Today, the South remains considerably less economically developed than the North. Southern Italian secession movements have developed, but have gained little, if any, significant influence .

North-South Divide

The Mezzogiorno has historically been an economically underdeveloped area, roughly coextensive with the former Kingdom of Naples. In the 11th and 12th centuries, Sicily and the Kingdom of Naples played a major role in European affairs and exhibited many signs of prosperity. However, by the middle of the 13th century, due to fiscal policies that prevented the growth of a strong merchant class, the region became economically backward compared to the northern Italian states.^[6]. Unlike the rest of Italy, which experienced the rise of many small, independent and prosperous city states, all enterprise in the comparatively large kingdom centred on the capital city of Naples. The outlying areas, cursed with generally poor agricultural conditions, fell further behind. Sicily's trade fell primarily under Catalan control. In spite of economic repression, the Mezzogiorno did experience periods of cultural flowering. With the Spanish conquest, however, the kingdom continued to be repressed and exploited by foreign rule until the late 18th century and when Bourbon rule meant a native court and a time of enlightenment.
Following unification with the rest of Italy in 1861, the southern aristocracy began to deal with northern industrialists- a practice that may have had the adverse effect of continuing the repression in the south well into the 20th century^[6]. Into the 1930s, illiteracy and poverty in southern Italy were still among the highest in western Europe. During the 1950s the regional policy, the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno was set up to help raise the living standards in the South to those of the North. The Cassa aimed to do this in two ways: by land reforms creating 120,000 new small farms, and through the "Growth Pole Strategy" whereby 60% of all government investment would go to the South, thus boosting the Southern economy by attracting new capital, stimulating local firms, and providing employment. As a result the South became increasingly subsidized and dependent, incapable of generating growth itself.
Southern Italy continues to be the least prosperous area of Italy, when compared to Northern and Central Italy. Problems continue to include corruption, organized crime and relatively high unemployment^[8]. Southern Italy includes 37% of Italy's population, occupies 40% of its land area, but only produces 24% of its GDP.
Today, in spite of increased affluence and a much improved economy, the regional disparities persist. However, even though the standard of living is still well below that of northern and central Italy, there are districts with substantial economic production. On the whole, the Mezzogiorno's per capita income has improved to the point where it is nearing the European Union median.^[2]

Culture

Historically, the regions of the Mezzogiorno have been exposed to some different influences than the rest of the peninsula, starting most notably with the Greek colonization. Greek influence in the South was dominant until Latinization was completed by the time of the Roman Principate. Greek influences returned by the late Roman Empire especially following the reconquests of Justinian. After the expansion of Islam, different parts of the South came under various influences. Sicily, Sardinia and parts of Puglia were conquered by the Saracens and the rest of the mainland was subject to a struggle of power among the Arabs, Greeks, Lombards, and Franks. Until the Norman conquests of the 11th and 12th centuries much of the South followed Eastern rite (Greek) Christianity. The Normans and other northern rulers of the middle ages significantly impacted the architecture, religion and high culture of the region. Later, the Mezzogiorno was subjected to rule by other foreign powers, most recently ruled by the new European nation states, such as Spain and Austria. The Spanish made some major impacts on the South, as they ruled it for over three centuries.
After its incorpation into the Kingdom of Italy, poverty and organized crime were persistent problems in the agricultural Mezzogiorno causing much emigration from the area to many other countries, heavily contributing to the Italian diaspora. Since about 1870, many natives of the Mezzogiorno also relocated to the industrial cities in northern Italy, such as Genoa, Milan and Turin.

See also

★ Groups of regions of Italy

★ Central Italy

★ Insular Italy

★ Northern Italy

References

1. [1]
2. Eurostat 2006
3. [2]
4. Eurostat 2006
5. [3]
6. Benedetto Croce, History of the Kingdom of Naples, 1970
7. Benedetto Croce, History of the Kingdom of Naples, 1970
8. T. Astarita, Between Salt Water and Holy Water: A History of Southern Italy, 2005
9. Eurostat 2006