South Italy

South Italy
Italia meridionale (Italian)
Sud Italia (Italian)
Map of Italy, highlighting South Italy
CountryItaly
Regions
Area
 • Total73,223 km2 (28,272 sq mi)
Population
 • Estimate 
(2022)
13,430,686
Languages 
 – Official languageItalian
 – Official linguistic minorities[2]
 – Regional languages

South Italy (Italian: Italia meridionale or Sud Italia) is one of the five official statistical regions of Italy used by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), a first level NUTS region and a European Parliament constituency. South Italy encompasses six of the country's 20 regions:

South Italy is defined only for statistical and electoral purposes. It should not be confused with the Mezzogiorno, or southern Italy, which refers to the areas of the former Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (once including the southern half of the Italian peninsula and Sicily) with the usual addition of the Western Mediterranean island of Sardinia. The latter and Sicily form a distinct statistical region, called Insular Italy.

Geography

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South Italy borders central Italy to the northwest, while it is washed by the Adriatic Sea to the northeast, the Ionian Sea to the southeast and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the southwest.

The territory of south Italy is predominantly hilly and mountainous. The largest plains are the Tavoliere delle Puglie (second largest plain on the Italian peninsula), the Tavoliere salentino, the Campania plain, the Sele plain, the Metaponto plain, the Sibari plain and the Gioia Tauro plain. It is crossed from north to south by the Apennine Mountains, whose highest mountain is the Gran Sasso d'Italia (2,912 m or 9,554 ft).

Demography

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In 2022, the population resident in south Italy amounts to 13,430,686 inhabitants.[1]

Regions

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Region Capital Inhabitants
 Abruzzo L'Aquila 1,269,860
 Apulia Bari 3,900,852
 Basilicata Potenza 536,659
 Calabria Catanzaro 1,841,300
 Campania Naples 5,592,175
 Molise Campobasso 289,840

Most populous municipalities

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Naples
Bari
Taranto
Reggio Calabria
Foggia

Below is the list of the population residing in 2022 in municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants:[1]

# Municipality Region Inhabitants
1 Naples  Campania 913,462
2 Bari  Apulia 316,015
3 Taranto  Apulia 188,098
4 Reggio Calabria  Calabria 170,951
5 Foggia  Apulia 145,348
6 Salerno  Campania 127,186
7 Giugliano in Campania  Campania 123,679
8 Pescara  Abruzzo 118,657
9 Andria  Apulia 97,146
10 Lecce  Apulia 94,517
11 Barletta  Apulia 92,427
12 Catanzaro  Calabria 84,670
13 Brindisi  Apulia 82,694
14 Torre del Greco  Campania 80,508
15 Pozzuoli  Campania 76,331
16 Corigliano-Rossano  Calabria 74,066
17 Casoria  Campania 74,021
18 Caserta  Campania 72,805
19 Altamura  Apulia 69,880
20 L'Aquila  Abruzzo 69,558
21 Lamezia Terme  Calabria 67,026
22 Potenza  Basilicata 64,406
23 Cosenza  Calabria 63,760
24 Castellammare di Stabia  Campania 62,772
25 Afragola  Campania 61,712
26 Matera  Basilicata 59,685
27 Crotone  Calabria 58,445
28 Acerra  Campania 58,322
29 Marano di Napoli  Campania 57,777
30 Molfetta  Apulia 57,329
31 Cerignola  Apulia 56,978
32 Benevento  Campania 56,201
33 Trani  Apulia 54,941
34 Manfredonia  Apulia 53,902
35 Bisceglie  Apulia 53,534
36 Montesilvano  Abruzzo 53,275
37 Bitonto  Apulia 53,168
38 Avellino  Campania 52,198
39 Portici  Campania 52,054
40 Teramo  Abruzzo 51,548
41 Cava de' Tirreni  Campania 50,539
42 Ercolano  Campania 50,124

Economy

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The gross domestic product (GDP) of the region was 271.1 billion euro in 2018, accounting for 15.4% of Italy's economic output. The GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 19,300 euro, or 64% of the EU27 average in the same year.[3]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Bilancio demografico e popolazione residente per sesso al 31 dicembre 2022" (in Italian). Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  2. ^ "Legge 482". Webcitation.org. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  3. ^ "Regional GDP per capita ranged from 30% to 263% of the EU average in 2018". Eurostat.