Calabria

Region: Calabria

Provinces: Catanzaro (CZ), Cosenza (CS) and Reggio di Calabria (RC)

Area: 15,080 sq.km/5,281 sq.mi

Population: 2,000,000

Situation

The region of Calabria occupies the southwest of the peninsula, the toe of the Italian boot, between the Ionian and Tyrrhenian seas.

Landscape and vegetation

The region is traversed by the Calabrian Apennines - three massive ranges of granite and gneiss belonging to an ancient mountain rump. In the north is the Sila (Botte Donato, 1,930m/6,369ft) and in the south the Aspromonte range (Montalto, 1,956m/6,455ft), separated by an expanse of low-lying land, once marshy and malaria-ridden, which is caught between the Golfo di Squillace and the Golfo di Santa Eufemia. Along the west coast of northern Calabria, separated from the Sila by the fertile Crati valley, extends the Calabrian Coastal Chain (Catena Costiera), falling down to the sea in precipitous cliffs. The lower uplands are covered with dense mixed forests of beeches and pines (representing about 40% of the total area of Calabria), which give the landscape an almost Central European character. There are few beaches along the coasts, which are much indented by bays and coves. The region has been frequently devastated by violent earthquakes, particularly along the Strait of Messina.

Population and economy

Economically Calabria is one of the most under-developed parts of Italy. The overwhelming majority of the population live by agriculture. In the fertile low-lying land a mixed agriculture of Mediterranean type predominates, producing wheat, olives, citrus fruit and figs; at the higher levels only pasturing is possible. The only minerals of any consequence are rock salt (at Lungro) and sulfur (at Strongoli). A number of dams in the Sila range supply electric power for the industrial area around Crotone.

History

In ancient times the name of Calabria was given to the Salentine peninsula, the "heel" of Italy between the Gulf of Taranto and the Adriatic, which was occupied by the Iapyges and conquered by Rome in 272 B.C. Present-day Calabria was then the land of the bruttii, and formed part of magna graecia from the eighth century B.C. until occupied by Rome during the second Punic War. After the fall of the Ostrogothic kingdom it passed to Byzantium and was given the name of Calabria after the loss of the Salentine peninsula. In the ninth and 10th centuries Calabria suffered repeated Saracen raids. It was conquered by the Normans in 1060, and later became part of the kingdom of Naples until its union with Italy in 1860.