The Italian geographical region, Italian physical region or Italian region is a geographical
subregion of
Southern Europe delimited to the north and west by the
mountain chain
A mountain chain is a row of high mountain summits, a linear sequence of interconnected or related mountains,Whittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, p 87. . or a contiguous ridge of mountains within a larger ...
s of the
Alps. This subregion is composed of a
continental part in the north, a main
peninsular part, and an
insular part in the south. Located between the
Balkan Peninsula and the
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, def ...
, it protrudes into the centre of the
Mediterranean Sea and overlooks the
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to th ...
, the
Ionian Sea, the
Ligurian Sea, the
Sardinian Channel, the
Sea of Corsica, the
Sea of Sardinia, the
Strait of Sicily
The Strait of Sicily (also known as Sicilian Strait, Sicilian Channel, Channel of Sicily, Sicilian Narrows and Pantelleria Channel; it, Canale di Sicilia or the Stretto di Sicilia; scn, Canali di Sicilia or Strittu di Sicilia, ar, مضيق ص ...
, and the
Tyrrhenian Sea.
The Italian geographical region,
[De Agostini Ed., ''L'Enciclopedia Geografica - Vol.I - Italia'', 2004, p. 78][Mauri, A., ''La presentazione di una storia delle frontiere orientali italiane: una occasione per riflettere sulle determinanti storiche, economiche e geopolitiche dei confini''](_blank)
Working Paper n. 2007-41, Università degli Studi di Milano, 2007 in its traditional and most widely accepted extent, has an area of approximately ,
which is greater than the area of the entire
Italian Republic (). The region also includes territories that are sovereign parts of
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capi ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
,
Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...
, and
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, as well as the four small
sovereign state
A sovereign state or sovereign country, is a political entity represented by one central government that has supreme legitimate authority over territory. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defined ter ...
s of the
Principality of Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Monégasque dialect, Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riv ...
, the
Republic of Malta, the
Republic of San Marino, and the
Vatican City State (the
Holy See).
Geography
Physical geography
In common language, the Italian region generally refers to the Italian Peninsula. Similarly, the inhabitants of the islands use the term ''continent'' to designate the mainland that goes from the
Alps to
Reggio Calabria. Geographically, Italy running in north-west to south-east direction can be divided into the
calcareous Alps, the
alluvial plain, the Northern, Central and Southern
Apennines and
Sicily, In reality, the Italian region includes a
continental part, a
peninsular part, and an
insular part.
Geographical limits
The natural limits of the Italian region, marked by the Alpine
drainage divide and the sea, are relatively clear, except at the western and eastern extremities of the Alps.
On the eastern borders, the chain of the
Julian Alps and the
Kvarner Gulf
The Kvarner Gulf (, or , la, Sinus Flanaticus or ), sometimes also Kvarner Bay, is a bay in the northern Adriatic Sea, located between the Istrian peninsula and the northern Croatian Littoral mainland. The bay is a part of Croatia's internal ...
are traditionally indicated, to which
Dante Alighieri
Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His '' Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: ...
also refers. However, other proposed limits include a border along the
Isonzo (formerly advocated by
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central- Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...
), which would exclude the upper Isonzo valley,
Trieste
Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into pr ...
and Istria entirely. Other borders were listed by the historian and exile Chersino Luigi Tomaz in "''The border of Italy in Istria and
Dalmatia''", among which, in the
Augustan regional structure of Roman Italy, the administrative limes along the
Arsa River, marked the end of
Venetia et Histria
Venetia et Histria ( Latin: ''Regio X Venetia et Histria'') was an administrative subdivision in the northeast of Roman Italy. It was originally created by Augustus as the tenth ''regio'' in 7 AD alongside the nine other ''regiones''. The region ...
.
Therefore to the east, despite the more depressed character of the orography and the scarcity of surface hydrography found in the region south of the
Nauporto pass near
Postumia Postumia may refer to:
* Postumia gens, an ancient Roman family
* Postojna, Slovenia - ''Postumia'' in Italian
* Via Postumia
The Via Postumia was an ancient Roman road of northern Italy constructed in 148 BC by the ''consul'' Spurius Postumius ...
, the continuity of the mountain bulwark is ensured by the reliefs placed between Mount Pomario and
Mount Nevoso, its terminal pillar, where it reaches the Kvarner Gulf and the Bay of
Buccari, immediately south-east of
Fiume
Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Prim ...
.
[Touring Club Italiano, ''Conosci l'Italia.'' Vol. I: ''L'Italia fisica'', 1937, pp. 11-13] To the east, therefore, the extreme limit of Italy is generally identified in Buccari. To the south-east of the Nauporto pass and to the north-west of Mount Pomario, the traceability of the natural border is rather difficult as in this area the hydrographic watershed does not coincide with the orographic chain, which is characterized by rather small peaks.
As for the islands of
Cherso and
Lussino, their belonging to the Italian geographical region may vary according to the sources and interpretations. In particular, they are included in the Italian geographical region as these islands are the natural continuation of Istria, being closer to the Istrian coasts than to the Dalmatian ones.
On the contrary, to the west, the boundary is unchallenged and easily definable between the canton of
Valais,
Savoy,
Aosta Valley and
Piedmont, near the coast can be represented by that buttress of the
Maritime Alps which, detaching itself from the Po-French drainage divide in correspondence with
Monte Clapier, follows the
Authion Massif, which culminates in
Mont Bégo
Mont Bégo ( it, Monte Bego; lij, Monte Begu) is a mountain in the Mercantour massif of the Maritime Alps, in southern France, with an elevation of . It is included in the Vallée des Merveilles ("Valley of Marvels").
Etymology
The name der ...
, and divides the
Roia basin to the east from the
Varo and
Paglione basins to the west. The salient created by the side valley of the
Bevera including the
Mentone basin is orographically separated from everything, thus grafting the border at
Capo d'Aglio where the entire Principality of Monaco is included. Due to the characteristic of being orographically separated from everything, the Menton basin can be excluded. In the latter case, the geographical limit would rejoin the current international state border at the height of Mount Buletta, corresponding with it up to the sea (this is not a
priori correspondence but a simple correspondence by convergence between the geographical and political border; the latter is cited for convenience).
[As evidence of the orographic naturalness of this line, it is recalled how it was used in the autumn-winter 1944–1945 by the Wehrmacht as the best line of defense of the Italian Social Republic from the Franco-American armies settled in Provence after the liberation of France. Even further back, a German army had already used the same line when the Austrian army allied with the Savoy had put itself on the defensive against the French revolutionaries between 1793 and 1796.][As already mentioned above, this thesis was accepted by Octavian Augustus in tracing the borders of Italy in the area.]["Between Lerice and Turbìa the most deserted, the most broken ruin is a staircase, towards that, easy and open.", ]Dante Alighieri
Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His '' Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: ...
, vv.49-51, Chapt. III, '' Purgatorio'', '' La Divina Commedia''.
This solution makes it possible to bring the border of the Italian geographic region closer to the ethno-linguistic one between
Ligurian,
Intemelio and
Occitan languages of the
Niçard dialect.
Another hypothesis would have it that the border, after touching the top of
Mont Pelat, includes the entire basin of the Varo river with its tributaries, placing
Nice within the Italian region, or that, albeit smaller, than from Monte Clapier divides the Roia and Paglione basins on one side from that of the Varo on the other, reaching the coast not far from the latter's mouth, south-west of Nice,
thus leaving Nice still in the geographic region of Italy (as
Francesco Petrarca already claimed in 1331).
["''But while you were eager to go to Italy, you were already in Italy: according to poets and cosmographers, the border to it is the Varo, beyond which Nice is on the land of Italy.''", Francesco Petrarca, Lettera VII a Giovanni Colonna di San Vito in ''Lettere di Francesco Petrarca'', vol. I, Firenze, Le Monnier, 1863, p. 360.] However, there is an opposite thesis, supported by
Charles de Gaulle at the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, which, assigning the nature of a transalpine pass to
Colle di Tenda, excludes the entire Roia Valley with
Ventimiglia from the Italian physical region.
Continental part
The continental part, delimited to the north by the
Alpine watershed, corresponds to about 40% of the Italian region and is located in the north of an imaginary line that goes from the mouth of the
Magra
__NOTOC__
The Magra is a long river of Northern Italy, which runs through Pontremoli, Filattiera, Villafranca in Lunigiana and Aulla in the province of Massa-Carrara ( Tuscany); Santo Stefano di Magra, Vezzano Ligure, Arcola, Sarzana and Amegl ...
river to that of the
Rubicone river. Most of them are made up of the
water catchment areas of the
Po,
Adige,
Brenta,
Piave,
Tagliamento and
Isonzo rivers. From the continental part, however, some Alpine valleys are excluded which, although they are part of the Italian State, such as the
Val di Lei
Lago di Lei is a reservoir in the Valle di Lei, powering the Hinterrhein storage power stations. The reservoir is almost entirely in Italy, but the barrage was built on territory ceded by Italy to Switzerland (municipality of Ferrera, Grisons) ...
tributary of the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian ...
through the
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, source ...
river, the
Val di Livigno, the Sella di Dobbiaco and the Tarvisio basin to the north-east of the Camporosso saddle, tributaries of the
Black Sea through rivers affluent of the
Danube.
Peninsular part
The
Italian Peninsula, or the Italic Peninsula or the Apennine Peninsula, is a peninsula on the
European continent crossed by the
Apennine chain and delimited by four seas: the
Ligurian Sea, the
Tyrrhenian Sea, the
Ionian Sea and the
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to th ...
. Together with the
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, def ...
and the
Balkan Peninsula, they are the three peninsulas that make up
Southern Europe.
The peninsula in the geographical sense begins from the Tuscan-Romagna Apennines, starting from an imaginary line that goes from the mouth of the
Magra
__NOTOC__
The Magra is a long river of Northern Italy, which runs through Pontremoli, Filattiera, Villafranca in Lunigiana and Aulla in the province of Massa-Carrara ( Tuscany); Santo Stefano di Magra, Vezzano Ligure, Arcola, Sarzana and Amegl ...
river to that of the
Rubicone river, and extends to the extreme southern offshoot of
Capo Spartivento
Capo or capos, may refer to:
Designation, akin to captain
*Capo, short for ''Caporegime'', a rank in the Mafia
*''Capo dei capi'', or ''capo di tutti capi'', Italian for "boss of bosses", a phrase used to indicate a powerful individual in organiz ...
in
Calabria. The peninsula has an extension of about in a north-west / south-east direction. The closest large islands,
Sicily,
Sardinia, and
Corsica, are not parts of it. The peninsula corresponds to about 45% of the Italian geographical region.
Insular part
The island part extends over an area of about (about 18.5% of the whole Italian region), of which for
Sicily,
Sardinia, and
Corsica. Outside these large islands, numerous smaller islands, often grouped in archipelagos, are found along the Italian coast, mostly in the
Tyrrhenian Sea. The list below shows the largest islands belonging to the Italian geographical region:
Extreme points
The extreme points of the Italian geographical region, measured with respect to the
Greenwich meridian, are:
* to the north, the
Testa Gemella Occidentale Testa may refer to:
* Testa (botany), a term to describe the seed coat
* Testa (surname)
* Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault, a former Boston law firm
* 11667 Testa, a main-belt asteroid discovered in 1997
* Testa (ceramics), fired clay material, es ...
in the
Aurine Alps, in
Alto Adige/Südtirol, at 47° 04′ 20″ north;
* to the south, the South Cape of the ''Piccolo Sciutu'' rock, in the
Maltese Archipelago, at 35° 47′ 04″ north;
* to the east,
Capo d'Otranto, in
Apulia,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, at 18° 31′ 13″ east longitude.
* to the west, the
Rocca di Chardonnet in the
Cottian Alps, in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, at 6° 32′ 52″ east.
The
orthodromic distance N–S is 1,269 km.
Political geography
The
Italian Republic occupies 93% of the Italian geographical region. The remaining portion (23 000 km²) is divided between several other states, some of which (in order of geographical extension:
Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
,
San Marino,
Monaco, and
Vatican City
Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—'
* german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ')
* pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—'
* pt, Cidade do Vati ...
) are entirely included in the political borders. Some strips of
western Niçard and the Alpine sector near the French border (Italian up to the
1947 Peace Treaty),
Corsica,
Italian Switzerland, the
Maltese Islands, and
Julian March, Slovenian and Croatian, are also ascribed to the Italian geographical region, including the city of
Fiume
Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Prim ...
.
The following countries are entirely included in the limits of the Italian geographical region:
* the
Principality of Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Monégasque dialect, Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riv ...
(entirely included in the continental part, to the west);
* the
Republic of Malta (entirely included in the insular part, to the south);
* the
Republic of San Marino (entirely included in the peninsular part, to the north-east);
* the
Vatican City State (entirely included in the peninsular part, in the center-west).
The following areas also fall within the borders of the Italian geographical region:
* in
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capi ...
(partly included in the continental part and in the insular part, in the east):
::
Istria, the city of
Fiume
Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Prim ...
, the
Pelagosa archipelago and, according to an extensive thesis, the two islands of
Cherso and
Lussino;
* in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
(partly included in the continental part and in the insular part, to the west):
::
Corsica and the
Roia Valley (with
Briga Marittima and
Tenda, sold with the
Treaty of Paris of 1947),
Colle del Monginevro,
Valle Stretta
Valle may refer to:
* Valle (surname)
Geography
*"Valle", the cultural and climatic zone of the dry subtropical Interandean Valles of the Andes of Peru, Bolivia, and northwest Argentina
*University of Valle, a public university in Cali, Colombia ...
behind
Bardonecchia, the area of
Mont Chaberton near the Montgenevre pass, the Colle area
Mont Cenis with the
Mont Cenis lake (also ceded with the 1947 Treaty of Paris), and the
Mentone basin up to
Turbìa;
* in
Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...
(partly included in the continental part, to the east):
::the Slovenian
Julian Alps (
Slovenian Gorizia), a part of western
Carniola and the
Slovene Littoral;
* in
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
(partly included in the continental part, to the north):
::the upper
Val Divedro in the canton of
Valais, the Canton of
Ticino (with the exception of the upper valley of the
Reuss Reuss may refer to:
* Reuss (surname)
*Reuss (river) in Switzerland
*Reuss (state) or Reuß, several former states or countries in present-day Germany, and the Republic of Reuss
* Reuss Elder Line and Reuss Younger Line
The Principality of Reus ...
and the Val Cadlimo with the
Piz Blas) as well as - in the Canton of
Grisons - the
Val Mesolcina, the
Val Calanca, the
Val Bregaglia, the
Val Poschiavo and
Val Monastero (all, except the latter, in any case constituting
Italian-speaking Switzerland
The four national languages of Switzerland are German, French, Italian, and Romansh. German, French, and Italian maintain equal status as official languages at the national level within the Federal Administration of the Swiss Confederation, ...
).
Three alpine valleys, tributaries of the
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, source ...
and
Danube, as well as
Lampedusa
Lampedusa ( , , ; scn, Lampidusa ; grc, Λοπαδοῦσσα and Λοπαδοῦσα and Λοπαδυῦσσα, Lopadoûssa; mt, Lampeduża) is the largest island of the Italian Pelagie Islands in the Mediterranean Sea.
The '' comune'' of ...
and
Lampione of the
Pelagie Islands (small islands located on the African
continental shelf) are parts of the
Italian Republic even though they are not parts of the Italian geographical region.
History
Ancient times
The idea of Italy as a geographic region is very old. It was described with the geographical notion of peninsula as early as the 1st century BC in the oldest treatise called ''
Geographica'' (in ancient Greek: Γεωγραφικά - Gheographikà), a work in 17 volumes by the Greek geographer
Strabo (65/64 – 25/21 BC). In the 15th century,
Guarino da Verona translated the entire work into Latin, thus contributing to its rediscovery.
In the introduction of his book, Strabo gives his definition of Italy:
Middle Ages
For several centuries, the geographical description of Strabo did not change until the publication of the first universal geography of
Conrad Malte-Brun (1775–1826), ''Geography or description of all parts of the world''.
After the
fall of the Western Roman Empire
The fall of the Western Roman Empire (also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Rome) was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rule, and its va ...
, and in particular with the arrival of the
Lombards
The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774.
The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 an ...
, Italy lost its political unity. In the
Carolingian age, a new
Kingdom of Italy was born (in Latin, ''Regnum Italicum''), it includes only
Northern Italy. In addition, starting from the 12th century, Northern Italy itself found itself divided into a myriad of small states often in conflict with each other or victims of foreign expansionist aims.
However, in the 14th century,
Dante Alighieri
Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His '' Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: ...
wrote in the ''
Divine Comedy
The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature a ...
'' (''
L'Inferno'', Canto IX, 114):
Similarly,
Francesco Petrarca wrote at the same time in his work the ''
Il Canzoniere'' (s. CXLVI, 13-14):
19th century
Napoleonic era
In his memoirs written during his captivity on the island of
Saint Helena, but published only in 2010,
Napoleon Bonaparte makes a description of Italy in the first chapter:
Italian unification and the effects of nationalism
After the fall of Napoleon and the restoration of the
absolutist monarchical regimes, Italy remains according to
Metternich's expression "''a simple geographical expression''" without political unity. However, a process has been set in motion that will lead to the
unification of Italy.
After the
proclamation of Vittorio Emanuele II King of Italy on 17 March 1861, the
new united Italy experienced the birth of the
Italian nationalism and the
Italian irredentism, which claimed that the natural border of Italy had to pass on the crest of the Alps based on geographical concepts. Furthermore, the environment that gravitates around the ''
Società Geografica Italiana
The Società Geografica Italiana formed as a geographic society in 1867 in Florence, Italy, and moved to Rome in 1872. As of 1924 it operated from headquarters in Villa Mattei in the Celio rione. The society began publishing a journal in 1868, a ...
'' of
Rome and the ''
Società di Studi Geografici'' of
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...
was strongly imbued with a nationalist spirit which, during the following decades, will become more and more
colonialist
Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their relig ...
and militarist. This would explain, as Lucio Gambi demonstrated, the enthusiastic and almost unanimous adhesion of Italian geographers to
fascism
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and t ...
a few decades later.
20th century
After
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, the notion of the Italian geographical region diminished, as the natural borders, except for some marginal territory, were mostly reached with the annexation of
Trentino-Alto Adige and
Julian March, and it was on other scales that Italian nationalism and imperialism were expressed, well beyond the borders of the Italian geographical region.
After World War II, Italy lost a large part of Julian March, and Italian geography eliminated all political and nationalistic aspects to focus only on geographic ones.
[L. Gambi, Geografia e Imperialismo, Bologna, Patron, 1991.] Therefore, the notion of Italian geographic region, including territories that are not part of the Italian Republic, continues to be present in some Italian geographic encyclopedias,
such as the one published by the
De Agostini.
Notes
References
{{Regions of the world
regions of Europe
Geography of Southern Europe
Geography of Italy
Geography of Malta
Geography of Corsica
Geography of France
Geography of Switzerland
Geography of Croatia
Geography of Slovenia