A Splendid Portion of Italy

Mezzogiorno is generally viewed as encompassing Basilicata, Campania, Calabria, Apulia, and Sicily, which lie in Italy’s south, as well as Molise and Abruzzo, which are geographically in central or south-central Italy.    Italians often refer to Southern Italy as Meridione or Mezzogiorno.

The largest city of Southern Italy is Naples, a title it has historically maintained for centuries. Palermo and Bari are the next largest cities in the area.

The term Mezzogiorno (Midday) first came into use in the 18th century. The term was popularized by Giuseppe Garibaldi who referred to the whole of Italy south of Rome as well as the Abruzzi (although part of that region lay to Rome’s north) as “Il Mezzogiorno”. The term, which is a reference to Southern Italy’s hot midday sun, came into vogue after Italy’s unification, and was associated with Southern Italy’s poverty, illiteracy, and crime — stereotypes of the South that persist to this day.

The transition to a united Kingdom of Italy was not smooth for the South. The Southern economy was much more agrarian and feudal than the industrial northern economy.  Poverty and organized crime, tho were persistent problems in Southern Italy as well. Because of this, the South experienced great economic difficulties resulting in massive emigration leading to a worldwide Southern Italian diaspora. Many natives also relocated to the industrial cities in northern Italy, such as Genoa, Milan and Turin.

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.

Today, in spite of increased affluence and a much improved economy, the regional disparities persist. Southern Italy continues to be the least prosperous area of Italy. Problems continue to include corruption, organized crime and relatively high unemployment. Southern Italy includes 37% of Italy’s population, occupies 40% of its land area, but only produces 24% of its gross domestic product.  On the whole, Southern Italy’s per capita income has improved to the point where it is nearing the European Union median.

In recent years, Southern Italy has experienced a revival of its traditions and music, such as Neapolitan song and the Tarantella. There has also been a large number of vacation dwellings constructed in this southern portion of Italy. One example is a villa by the name of Casale in the small village of Abruzzo’s Valle San Giovanni.

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