Updated on April 15, 2024
The 20 regions of Italy: A guide
Find Italy on an antique map or globe, and you’ll see a boot-shaped peninsula whose coast plunges into the Mediterranean. But take a closer look and you’ll notice that the story of Italy is not just the story of the country we know today, but the story of 20 smaller regions with their own terrain and history.
The modern version of Italy, with its 20 regions, became official only in 1912, more than five decades after the unification of the country and the proclamation of the Italian State. Each of these territories comes with its own capital city (capoluogo di regione) and each differs from the others not only in terms of landscape, but also in terms of history, traditions and, for 5 of them, politics too.
So, let’s hop on a Vespa and take a journey across Italy and its 20 regions.
Capoluogo (capital): Aosta
The smallest and least-populated region of Italy, the Valle d’Aosta nests in the Alps-Mediterranean Euroregion that borders Switzerland and France. French is in fact the second official language, and a variety of the Franco-Provençal dialect is spoken by locals, too. This region is home to two of the highest peaks in Europe: Mont Blanc (4,809 m.) and Monte Rosa (4,634 m.).
Capoluogo: Torino
Home to the historical capital of Italy, before it was moved to Rome, the northern region of Piemonte is the second largest of the country. The most important and longest Italian river (the Po) springs here, and Piemonte also stuns with the peaceful shores of Lake Maggiore. A law dating back to 1990 recognizes five historical languages in the region, in addition to Italian. Barolo and the sparkling Asti are among the wines produced in Piemonte’s fertile hills.
Capoluogo: Genova
Portofino and the Cinque Terre are some of the most recognizable tourist spots in Liguria — if not all of Italy. This coastal region stretches like an eyebrow along the Ligurian Sea. Another highlight is Genova, the capital city, which lends its name to both the pesto alla genovese and the professional football club Genoa.
Capoluogo: Milano
Apart from hosting Fashion Week, the Lombardia region (Lombardy in English) features some of the most scenic places in Italy. You can lose yourself in the central Alps while hiking in the lush Val Camonica and Valtellina. Lakes are a common sight across the region too, including Lake Garda, Lake Maggiore and the majestic Lake Como. Lombardia is the economic powerhouse of Italy and is considered one of the Four Motors of Europe. The region also counts the highest number of UNESCO sites (11) in all of Italy.
Capoluogo: Trento
This region was annexed by Italy in 1919, following the country’s victory over the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the First World War. One of its two provinces, Bolzano, is a trilingual area, where German and Italian are official languages and Ladin is also spoken. The Bolzano province is also known as South Tyrol.
Capoluogo: Venezia
Divided among Alpine peaks, the Po Valley and the Adriatic coast, the Veneto region bursts with history and culture. From the iconic Venetian Carnival to enviable examples of architecture — and from striking ski slopes to exquisite culinary traditions — this region never fails to impress. It’s also the birthplace of several artists (e.g. Vivaldi), painters (e.g. Tiepolo, Canaletto), writers (e.g. Goldoni) and explorers (e.g. Marco Polo).
Capoluogo: Trieste
At the easternmost point of Northern Italy sits Friuli-Venezia Giulia. The territories of the Venezia Giulia, where Trieste is located, were lost after World War II and returned to Italy only in 1954. Due to its close proximity with Slovenia, Slovenian can often be heard in the eastern parts of the region. The Barcolana, the largest sailing competition in the world, takes place in the waters of Trieste.
Capoluogo: Bologna
This territory merges two historical regions: Emilia (in the west) and Romagna (on the Adriatic coast). The capital of Bologna is home to what is considered the oldest university of the Western world, which has been in operation for nearly a millennium. Among the region’s most famous culinary exports are Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, mortadella sausage and Parma ham.
Capoluogo: Firenze
Toscana’s capital city has the vibe of an open-air museum. However, the charm of the region also derives from its hilly and romantic landscapes, perfect for a stroll among vineyards and medieval towns. Toscana (Tuscany in English) is also the birthplace of some of the highest representatives of Italian literature and its language. The Toscano lays at the foundation of Italian as you know it today.
Capoluogo: Ancona
Maria Montessori, known for her didactic approach to education, was born in this hilly region on the Adriatic Sea. Its territory is highly seismic, with nearly 94% of it considered at high risk of earthquake damage. On the plus side, all that seismic activity has led to numerous impressive caves sites; the Frasassi Caves are among the most extensive cave networks in Europe.
Capoluogo: Perugia
At the heart of central Italy, this region nests in the Appennino. Its landscapes are, for the most part, hilly. One of the most influential saints of the Catholic Church, St. Francis, was born in the Umbrian city of Assisi.
Fun fact: in 2004, an asteroid was named after the region.
Capoluogo: L’Aquila
Despite sitting in the center of the country, Abruzzo is considered part of Southern Italy. The region’s capital city is sadly famous for the 2009 earthquake (5.9 on the Richter scale) which razed large swathes of the urban landscape. On a happier note, Abruzzo is also home to three national parks, earning it a reputation as one of Europe’s greenest regions.
Capoluogo: Roma
On the southern border of Tuscany lies Lazio. It shares its territory with a tiny enclave that goes by the name of Vatican City. Lazio’s most recognizable city, Rome, is the region’s capital as well as the capital of the entire country. Cinecittà, a film studio in Rome, is the largest of its kind in Europe; filmmakers of the caliber of Fellini, Rossellini, Leone and Scorsese have all worked at the location.
Capoluogo: Campobasso
Another highly seismic region, Molise is also the least-populated territory of the country. It is also relatively young compared to the rest of the regions in Italy; it was officially recognized only in 1964, after detaching from a historic conglomerate that included Abruzzo, too.
Fun fact: the meridian that designates the time zone in which Italy sits passes through this region and is known as the Termoli-Etna meridian.
Capoluogo: Napoli
After Lombardia, Campania is the second Italian region famous for its UNESCO sites and heritages. These include the Mediterranean diet, Pompei and the Amalfi Coast, among others. The region’s capital, Napoli (Naples in English), is known worldwide as the birthplace of pizza and features a stunning backdrop of the active volcano at Vesuvius. Campania is also home to seven islands. The region’s language, the Napolitano, has no official status in Italy but served as a co-official language (next to Latin) during the Kingdom of Naples.
Capoluogo: Potenza
The region is also known as Lucania and its inhabitants are referred to as lucani. Its territory sits at the very south of Italy, wedged between the heel of Puglia and the boot tip that is Calabria. Despite the topographical richness of the territory, Basilicata remains one of the least developed regions in the country. Matera, also known as the City of Stones, was European Capital of Culture in 2014.
Capoluogo: Bari
Separated from Southeastern Europe by the Mediterranean Sea, this strip of land has been home to plenty of cultures, including the ancient Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and Spanish. Thanks to this long historical record, it is now the Italian region with the most archeological sites. Puglia’s breathtaking coastline is the longest in Italy. Agriculture plays a critical role in the region’s economy, and Puglia accounts for nearly 40% of the country’s olive oil production.
Capoluogo: Catanzaro
In this southern region, there are records of some of the most ancient human settlements in Italy. Calabria is also a center of interest for linguists since three ethnolinguistic minorities cohabit the territory: the Griko people, the Arbëreshë people and some Occitans. These minorities speak, respectively, a variant of Greek, Arbëresh (a language derived from a dialect spoken in southern Albania) and the Occitan language.
Capoluogo: Palermo
Sicily is the biggest Italian island in the Mediterranean, but that’s not the region’s only claim to fame. A land that underwent many conquests, from the Greeks to the Catalans to the Arabs, Sicily reflects its history in a majestic fashion, through a kaleidoscope of architecture, products and language. Etna, the volcano overlooking Catania, is one of the tallest active volcanoes in Europe.
Capoluogo: Cagliari
The second Italian island reigning over the Mediterranean also had a variegated past of conquests. Its territory includes pristine coastlines, a rougher inland and a range of several different ecosystems. Different languages coexist in Sardegna, from Italian to the historic Sardo to an archaic variation of Catalan spoken in Alghero. The island emblem is a white flag with a red cross and four bandaged heads (the “Four Moors”) facing opposite from the hoist.
Squeezing the most relevant facts about Italy’s 20 regions into a single guide is a nearly impossible task. But we hope to have sparked your interest in learning more about each of these territories and their lush culture. If you embark on a journey, physical or digital, across the 20 regions of Italy, you’ll soon understand that each exists in its own historic and cultural lane. These lanes, of course, merge into the incredible patchwork that is Italy, but they never lose their own recognizable identity.
