Latina () is the capital of the

province of Latina The Province of Latina ( it, Provincia di Latina) is an area of local government at the level of province in the Republic of Italy. It is one of five provinces that form the region of Lazio. The provincial capital is the city of Latina. It is bo ...

in the

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

region, in central Italy. , the city has 126,612 inhabitants and is the second-largest city of the region, after the national capital

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. It was founded in 1932 under the fascist administration, as Littoria, when the area surrounding it which had been a swamp since antiquity was drained.

History

Although the area was first settled by the

Latins The Latins were originally an Italic tribe in ancient central Italy from Latium. As Roman power and colonization spread Latin culture during the Roman Republic. Latins culturally "Romanized" or "Latinized" the rest of Italy, and the word Latin ...

, the modern city was founded by

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in ...

on 30 June 1932 as Littoria, named for the fascio littorio. The city was inaugurated on 18 December of the same year. Littoria was populated with settlers coming mainly from

Friuli Friuli ( fur, Friûl, sl, Furlanija, german: Friaul) is an area of Northeast Italy with its own particular cultural and historical identity containing 1,000,000 Friulians. It comprises the major part of the autonomous region Friuli Venezia Giuli ...

and

Veneto Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona. Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...

, who formed the so-called Venetian- Pontine community (today surviving only in some peripheral boroughs). The edifices and the monuments, mainly in rationalist style, were designed by famous architects and artists such as Marcello Piacentini,

Angiolo Mazzoni Angiolo Mazzoni (May 21, 1894 – September 28, 1979) was a state architect and engineer of the Italian Fascist government of the 1920s and 1930s. Mazzoni designed hundreds of public buildings, post offices and train stations during the Interwar ...

and Duilio Cambellotti. In 1934 it became a provincial capital and, after

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 ...

, renamed Latina in 1946. With the arrival of other people mostly from Lazio itself, the original Venetian-like dialect was increasingly substituted by a form of

Romanesco dialect Romanesco () is one of the central Italian dialects spoken in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, especially in the core city. It is linguistically close to Tuscan and Standard Italian, with some notable differences from these two. Rich in ...

. The city coat of arms is a blue shield with a stylized drawing of the City Hall Clock Tower in the middle, standing on a field of green, and flanked by two stalks of

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

tied at the base with a red ribbon engraved with the motto ''LATINA OLIM PALUS'' ("Latina, once a swamp") in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

. The shield is surmounted by a

mural crown A mural crown ( la, corona muralis) is a crown or headpiece representing city walls, towers, or fortresses. In classical antiquity, it was an emblem of tutelary deities who watched over a city, and among the Romans a military decoration. Later ...

Economy

The city has some

pharmaceutical A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and ...

chemical industry The chemical industry comprises the companies that produce industrial chemicals. Central to the modern world economy, it converts raw materials ( oil, natural gas, air, water, metals, and minerals) into more than 70,000 different products. ...

and a strong service sector. Latina is also an important centre for agriculture (vegetables, flowers, sugar, fruit, cheese and derivates). The former

Latina nuclear power plant Latina Nuclear Power Plant is a former nuclear power plant at Latina, Lazio, Italy. Consisting of one 153 MWe Magnox reactor, it operated from 1963 until 1987. A second reactor, the experimental CIRENE design, began construction at Latina i ...

has been shut down and is currently undergoing decommissioning.

Government

Frazioni

The

frazioni A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate territ ...

of Latina are: Latina Lido, Latina Scalo, Borgo Bainsizza, Borgo Carso, Borgo Faiti, Borgo Grappa, Borgo Isonzo, Borgo Montello, Borgo Piave, Borgo Podgora, Borgo Sabotino, Borgo Santa Maria,

Borgo San Michele Borgo San Michele is one of the frazioni of Latina, Lazio Latina () is the capital of the province of Latina in the Lazio region, in central Italy. , the city has 126,612 inhabitants and is the second-largest city of the region, after the nation ...

, Chiesuola, and Tor Tre Ponti.

Geography

Latina is located in the Province of Latina, part of the southern section of the region of

. The city is about south of Rome The municipality borders on

Aprilia Aprilia is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer founded immediately after World War II in Noale, Italy, by Alberto Beggio. The company started as a manufacturer of bicycles and moved on to manufacture scooters and small-capacity motorcycles ...

Cisterna di Latina Cisterna di Latina is a town and '' comune'' in the province of Latina in Lazio, of central Italy. It was the scene of the Battle of Cisterna in January 1944. The Garden of Ninfa is located in the commune's territory. The town, then known as ...

Nettuno Nettuno is a town and '' comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Rome in the Lazio region of central Italy, south of Rome. A resort city and agricultural center on the Tyrrhenian Sea, it has a population of approximately 50,000. Economy It ha ...

, Pontinia, Sabaudia,

Sermoneta Sermoneta is a hill town and '' comune'' in the province of Latina ( Lazio), central Italy. It is a walled hill town, with a 13th-century Romanesque cathedral called Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta and a massive castle, built by the Caetan ...

and

Sezze Sezze (from the Latin "Setia") is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Latina, central Italy, about south of Rome and from the Mediterranean coast. The historical center of Sezze is located on a high hill commanding the Pontine plain. T ...

Climate

Latina has a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

''Csa'') like most of southern Italy.

In popular culture

The Italian film '' My Brother Is an Only Child'' is set in Latina. The Amazon web series ''Prisma'' follows the coming of age of a group of teenagers from Latina.

Notable residents

* Manuela Arcuri, actress * Tiziano Ferro, pop singer * Antonio Pennacchi, writer * Karin Proia, actress *

Ilaria Spada Ilaria Spada (born 27 February 1981 in Latina, Latium, Italy), is an Italian actress and showgirl, born in the Pontine Marshes district to an Italian father and a Sicilian- Tunisian mother. Spada participated as anchorwoman in Zecchino d'oro ...

, actress * Sara Zanier, actress, model *

Elena Santarelli Elena Santarelli (born 18 August 1981) is an Italian model, television personality and actress. Life and career Born in Latina, the niece of footballer Ubaldo Righetti, Santarelli started her career as a model, and she made her television debu ...

, actress, model, TV presenter * Debora Salvalaggio, actress, model, showgirl *

Eugenio Cappuccio Eugenio is an Italian and Spanish masculine given name deriving from the Greek ' Eugene'. The name is Eugénio in Portuguese and Eugênio in Brazilian Portuguese. The name's translated literal meaning is well born, or of noble status. Similar de ...

, film director *

Mattia Perin Mattia Perin (; born 10 November 1992) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Juventus. He also represented the Italy national team. He began his career with Genoa in 2010, and, aside from two season-long loa ...

, football goalkeeper * :it:Calcutta (cantante), Edoardo d'Erme, musician, composer

International relations

Twin towns / Sister cities

Latina is twinned with: * Palos de la Frontera, Huelva, Andalusia, Spain *

Farroupilha Farroupilha is a city in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, in the Serra Gaúcha between the cities of Bento Gonçalves and Caxias do Sul. The city's total area is 359.3 km2. Farroupilha has 73,061 residents (2020 estimate). Farroupilha hosts a ...

, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil *

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liv ...

, Wirral, Merseyside, England

Gallery

File:Sanmarcolatina.jpg, St. Mark's Cathedral File:Fontana in Piazza Prefettura.jpg, The fountain in Piazza Libertà File:Borgo Sabotino church 3.jpg, The church of Borgo Sabotino File:Torre Pontina.jpg,

Torre Pontina Torre Pontina is a skyscraper in Latina, the tallest building in the city and one of the highest residential towers in Italy. The foundation of the building was laid in 2007. The building is near the Latinafiori Shopping Center. See also * L ...

, the tallest building in the city and the 11th tallest in Italy

References

External links

Official website
* {{Authority control Cities and towns in Lazio Planned cities in Italy Italian fascist architecture Populated places established in 1932