Melpignano (
Griko
Griko, sometimes spelled Grico, is the dialect of Italiot Greek spoken by Griko people in Salento (province of Lecce) and (also called Grecanic) in Calabria. Some Greek linguists consider it to be a Modern Greek dialect and often call it ( el, ...
: ;
Salentino: ) is a small town and ''
comune
The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...
'' in the province of
Lecce in
Apulia
it, Pugliese
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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 re ...
. It is one of the nine towns of
Grecìa Salentina
Grecìa Salentina (Griko for " Salentine Greece") is an area in the peninsula of Salento in southern Italy, near the town of Lecce which is inhabited by the Griko people, an ethnic Greek minority in southern Italy who speak Griko, a variant of ...
. Melpignano has a population of 2,209 inhabitants (called Melpignanesi) and an area of , thus showing a population density of 202,1 inhabitants per square kilometer. The comune rises above sea level.
There are 84 industrial firms employing 474 people who are the 60,69% of the total of the workers. There are 50 service firms employing 165 people who are the 21,13% of the total of the workers. There are also 39 firms employing 89 people who are the 11,40% of the total of the workers. There are also 23 administrative offices employing 53 workers who are the 6,79% of the total of the workers.
The people of Melpignano, alongside Italian, also speak
Griko
Griko, sometimes spelled Grico, is the dialect of Italiot Greek spoken by Griko people in Salento (province of Lecce) and (also called Grecanic) in Calabria. Some Greek linguists consider it to be a Modern Greek dialect and often call it ( el, ...
, a Greek dialect. The language, folklore, traditions and history of Calimera, like those of the eight other cities in the area called "Salentine Greece", reveal significant Greek influences over the course of time, presumably from the time of the Byzantine control, or even the ancient
Magna Graecia
Magna Graecia (, ; , , grc, Μεγάλη Ἑλλάς, ', it, Magna Grecia) was the name given by the Romans to the coastal areas of Southern Italy in the present-day Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania and Sicily; these re ...
colonisation in the 8th century BCE.
References
Grecìa Salentina
Localities of Salento
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