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( Southern Italy)
Southern Italy (Italian Italia Meridionale) generally refers to the southern portion of the continental Italian peninsula historically forming the Kingdom of Naples. It encompasses the modern regions of Basilicata, Campania, Calabria, Apulia and Molise, which lie in Italy's south, and Abruzzo which is located in central Italy. Some would also include the most southern parts of Lazio (Sora, Cassino and Gaeta districts), which historically were part of the southern kingdom. Sicily is sometimes included due to its historical political and cultural connections. The Istituto Nazionale di Statistica (ISTAT) uses the term Southern Italy but excludes Sicily, which it groups with Sardinia as Insular Italy; this is the same grouping used for European parliament elections. The term Mezzogiorno (Midday) includes southern Italy and Insular Italy (Sicily and Sardegna). The term first came into use in the 18th century and is an Italian rendition of meridies (Latin for 'south', because of the sun's position at midday in the northern hemisphere). "Mezzogiorno" was popularised by Giuseppe Garibaldi and the term came into vogue after Italy's unification. It was sometimes associated with notions of poverty, illiteracy, and crime stereotypes of the South that often persist to this day.[4] Southern Italy forms the lower "boot" of the Italian peninsula, containing the ankle (Abruzzo and Molise and southern Lazio), the toe (Calabria), and the heel (Apulia). Separating the two is the Gulf of Taranto, named after the city of Taranto, which sits at the angle between the heel and the boot itself. It is an arm of the Ionian Sea. The rest of the southern third of the Italian peninsula is studded with smaller gulfs and inlets.
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