Basilicata

Basilicata, also known by its ancient name Lucania, is an administrative region in Southern Italy, bordering on Campania to the west, Apulia to the north and east, and Calabria to the south. It has two coastlines: a 30-kilometre stretch on the Gulf of Policastro (Tyrrhenian Sea) between Campania and Calabria, and a longer coastline along the Gulf of Taranto (Ionian Sea) between Calabria and Apulia. The region can be thought of as "the arch" of "the boot" of Italy, with Calabria functioning as "the toe" and Apulia "the heel".

In ancient times, part of its territory (then known as Lucania and inhabited by Lucanians, an ancient Italic population) belonged to Magna Graecia, subject to coastal Greek colonies (including Sybaris). Later the region was conquered by the ancient Romans. It was then conquered by the Byzantines, and then by the Normans around the year 1000 with the Hauteville family. Their presence explains the persistence of the Gallo-Italic linguistic enclaves of Basilicata. The area was later dominated by the Aragonese and by the Spanish. Subsequently, it became part of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, before annexation to the unified Kingdom of Italy (proclaimed in 1861) after the 1860 .

Basilicata has a population of 525,281 in an area of 10,073.32 km (3,889.33 sq mi). The regional capital is Potenza. The region comprises the province of Potenza and the province of Matera. Its inhabitants are generally known as Lucanians (Italian: lucani), and to a lesser extent as basilicatesi or by other more rare terms.