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South Italy map
Map of Italy south. South Italy map (Southern Europe - Europe) to print. South Italy map (Southern Europe - Europe) to download. South Italy or Il Mezzogiorno (Italian pronunciation: [meddzoˈdʒɔːrno], meaning 'Midday') is the traditional term for the southern half of the Italian state, encompassing the southern section of the continental Italian Peninsula and the two major islands of Sicily and Sardinia. It coincides with the administrative regions of Basilicata, Campania, Calabria, Apulia, Abruzzo, Molise, Sicily, and finally Sardinia, that is considered as part of Southern Italy more for geographic reasons than for cultural, historical reasons as its shown in south Italy map. Some also include the most southern and eastern parts of Lazio (Sora, Cassino, Gaeta, Cittaducale and Amatrice districts) within the Mezzogiorno, because these territories were part, along with all the already listed ones (except Sardinia), of the historical Kingdom of Two Sicilies.
The regions of Southern Italy were exposed to some different historical influences than the rest of the peninsula, starting most notably with Greek colonisation as its mentioned in south Italy map. Greek influence in the South was dominant until Latinisation was completed by the time of the Roman Principate. Greek influences returned by the late Roman Empire, especially following the reconquests of Justinian and the Byzantine Empire.
The Istituto Nazionale di Statistica (ISTAT) uses the term Southern Italy also for identifying one of the five statistical regions in its reporting, but excluding both Sicily and Sardinia, which form a distinct statistical region denominated Insular Italy as you can see in south Italy map. These same subdivisions are at the bottom of the Italian First level NUTS of the European Union and the Italian constituencies for the European Parliament.
The regions that are generally considered to be in Southern Italy as its mentioned in south Italy map are: Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Puglia, and the two islands of Sardinia and Sicily. There are some for which “Southern Italy” also covers parts of Lazio – the parts that were once in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, one of the city-states that existed prior to Italian unification. Others question Sardinia inclusion, but the island gets lumped in with “Southern Italy” out of convenience (or laziness, depending on your perspective).