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
[1]
 • 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

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

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

Regions

RegionCapitalInhabitants
 AbruzzoL'Aquila1,269,860
 ApuliaBari3,900,852
 BasilicataPotenza536,659
 CalabriaCatanzaro1,841,300
 CampaniaNaples5,592,175
 MoliseCampobasso289,840

Most populous municipalities

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]

#MunicipalityRegionInhabitants
1Naples Campania913,462
2Bari Apulia316,015
3Taranto Apulia188,098
4Reggio Calabria Calabria170,951
5Foggia Apulia145,348
6Salerno Campania127,186
7Giugliano in Campania Campania123,679
8Pescara Abruzzo118,657
9Andria Apulia97,146
10Lecce Apulia94,517
11Barletta Apulia92,427
12Catanzaro Calabria84,670
13Brindisi Apulia82,694
14Torre del Greco Campania80,508
15Pozzuoli Campania76,331
16Corigliano-Rossano Calabria74,066
17Casoria Campania74,021
18Caserta Campania72,805
19Altamura Apulia69,880
20L'Aquila Abruzzo69,558
21Lamezia Terme Calabria67,026
22Potenza Basilicata64,406
23Cosenza Calabria63,760
24Castellammare di Stabia Campania62,772
25Afragola Campania61,712
26Matera Basilicata59,685
27Crotone Calabria58,445
28Acerra Campania58,322
29Marano di Napoli Campania57,777
30Molfetta Apulia57,329
31Cerignola Apulia56,978
32Benevento Campania56,201
33Trani Apulia54,941
34Manfredonia Apulia53,902
35Bisceglie Apulia53,534
36Montesilvano Abruzzo53,275
37Bitonto Apulia53,168
38Avellino Campania52,198
39Portici Campania52,054
40Teramo Abruzzo51,548
41Cava de' Tirreni Campania50,539
42Ercolano Campania50,124

Economy

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

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "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 2015-10-17.
  3. ↑ "Regional GDP per capita ranged from 30% to 263% of the EU average in 2018". Eurostat.

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