Apulia
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{{coor title dms|41|0|31|N|16|30|46|E|type:adm1st(4071518)|region:IT}}
{{Infobox Region of Italy |
name = Apulia |
fullname = Regione Puglia |
isocode = |
capital = [[Bari]] |
status = [[Regions of Italy|Region]] |
governor = [[Nichi Vendola]]<br />(''[[Communist Refoundation Party|PRC]]''-''[[The Union (political coalition)|Union]]'') |
zone = [[South Italy]] |
province = [[Province of Bari|Bari]]<br />[[Province of Brindisi|Brindisi]]<br />[[Province of Foggia|Foggia]]<br />[[Province of Lecce|Lecce]]<br />[[Province of Taranto|Taranto]]<br />[[Province of Barletta-Andria-Trani|Barletta-Andria-Trani]] |
municipality = 258 |
arearank = 7th |
area = 19,366 |
areapercent = 6.4 |
language = [[Italian language|Italian]], [[Salentino]], [[Pugliese]]|
population_as_of = 2007 est.|
populationrank = 7th |
population = 4,072,839 |
populationpercent = 7.0 |
populationdensity = 210 |
coatofarms = [[Image:Flag of Puglia.png|220px|border]] |
map = [[Image:Italy Regions Apulia Map.png]] |
}}
{{dablink|This article is about the Italian region. For the [[Portugal|Portuguese]] town, see [[Apúlia]].}}
'''Apulia''' ([[Italian language|Italian]]: '''''Puglia''''' ['pu{{IPA|ʎː}}a]) is a region in southeastern [[Italy]] bordering the [[Adriatic Sea]] in the east, the [[Ionian Sea]] to the southeast, and the [[Strait of Otranto|Strait of Òtranto]] and [[Gulf of Taranto]] in the south. Its southern portion known as [[Salento]], a peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises 19,345 km² (7,469 square miles), and its population is about 4 million. It is bordered by the other Italian regions of [[Molise]] to the north, [[Campania]] to the west, and [[Basilicata]] to the southwest. It neighbors [[Greece]] and [[Albania]], across the Ionian and Adriatic Seas, respectively. The region extends as far north as [[Monte Gargano]], and was the scene of the last stages in the [[Second Punic War]].
==Geography==
Puglia is mostly a plain (see [[Tavoliere delle Puglie]]); its low coast, however, is broken by the mountainous Gargano Peninsula in the north, and there are mountains in the north central part of the region. <br/>
Apulia is divided into six provinces:
[[Image:Apulia Provinces.png|400px]]
*[[Province of Bari]]
*[[Province of Barletta-Andria-Trani]]
*[[Province of Brindisi]]
*[[Province of Foggia]]
*[[Province of Lecce]]
*[[Province of Taranto]]
==History==
[[image:Castel Del Monte June1997.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Castel del Monte]], built in [[Andria]] by [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II]].]]
[[Image:Brindisi by Piri Reis.jpg|thumb|right|200px|An ancient map of [[Brindisi]] by the Ottoman-Turkish admiral [[Piri Reis]](XVI century).]]
In ancient times only the northern part of the region was called Apulia; the southern peninsula was known as [[Calabria]], a name later used to designate the "[[toe]]" of the Italian "[[boot]]."
One of the richest in Italy for archeological findings, the region was settled from the 1st millennium BC by several Illyric and [[Ancient Italic peoples|Italic]] peoples. Later, the [[Greeks]] expanded until reaching the area of [[Taranto]] and the [[Salento]]. In the fifth and fourth centuries BC, the Greek settlement at [[Taras]] produced a distinctive style of pottery ([[Apulian vase painting]]).
Apulia was an important area for the ancient [[ancient Rome|Romans]], who conquered it in the 4th century BC but also suffered a crushing defeat here in the [[battle of Cannae]] against [[Hannibal]]. However, after the Carthaginians left the region, the Romans captured the ports of Brindisi and Taranto, and established dominion over the region. During the Imperial age Apulia was a flourishing area for production of grain and oil, becoming the most important exporter to the Eastern provinces.
After the fall of Rome, Apulia was held successively by the [[Goths]], the [[Lombards]] and, from the 6th century onwards, the [[Byzantines]]. Bari became the capital of a province that extended to modern Basilicata, and was ruled by a [[catepan of Italy|catepano]] (governor), hence the name of [[Capitanata]] of the Barese neighbourhood. From 800 on Saracen domination in the area was intermittent, but Apulia was mostly under Byzantine authority until the 11th century, when the [[Italo-Normans|Normans]] conquered it with relative ease.
[[Robert Guiscard]] set up the duchy of Apulia in 1059. After the Norman conquest of [[Sicily]] in the late 11th century, [[Palermo]] replaced Melfi (just west of present day Apulia) as the center of Norman power, and Apulia became a mere province, first of the [[Kingdom of Sicily]], then of the [[Kingdom of Naples]]. From the late 12th to early 13th centuries, Apulia was a favorite residence of the [[Hohenstaufen]] emperors, notably [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II]]. After the fall of the latter's heir, [[Manfred of Sicily|Manfred]], under the [[Angevine]] and [[Aragonese]]/Spanish dominations Apulia became largely dominated by a small number of powerful landowners (''Baroni''). In [[1734]] there were the [[battle of Bitonto]], a Spanish victory over Austrian forces. The coast was occupied at times by the [[Ottoman Empire|Turks]] and by the [[Republic of Venice|Venetians]]. The French also controlled the region in 1806-1815, resulting in the abolition of feudalism and the reformation of the justice system.
Liberation movements began to spread in the 1820s. In 1861, with the fall of [[Two Sicilies]], the region joined [[Italy]]. Social and agrarian reforms that had proceeded slowly from the 19th century accelerated in the mid-20th century.
The characteristic Apulian architecture of the 11th–13th centuries reflects [[Architecture of Ancient Greece|Greek]], [[Arab]], [[Norman architecture|Norman]], and [[Pisa]]n influences. Universities are located in Bari, Lecce and Foggia.
==Economy==
Farming was the chief occupation, but industry has expanded rapidly. Farm products include olives, grapes, cereals, almonds, figs, tobacco, and livestock (sheep, pigs, cattle, and goats). Manufactured products include refined petroleum, chemicals, cement, iron and steel, processed food, plastics, and wine. Fishing is pursued in the Adriatic and in the Gulf of Taranto. The scarcity of water has long been an acute problem in Apulia, and it is necessary to carry drinking water by aqueduct across the Apennines from the [[Sele River]] in Campania. Services and mass tourism are increasingly replacing agriculture as the main resources of the region, so Puglia is often called "Florida of Italy".
== Politics ==
{{Main|Politics of Apulia}}
Apulia is traditionally a right wing region; despite this at the 2005 regional elections a Communist, [[Nichi Vendola]], was elected as the region's President. At the [[Italian general election, 2006|April 2006 elections]], Apulia gave about 51.54% of its votes to [[Silvio Berlusconi]], and at the [[Italian general election, 2008|April 2008 election]] apulians gave about 47% of their votes to the [[People of Freedom]]-led coalition, eleven points more than to the [[Democratic Party]]-led coalition.
== Demographics ==
Population has stood at 4 million since the early 1990s; a drop in the birth rate during the 80s, once among the highest in Italy, has taken the region almost to zero growth.
[[Image:Bari02.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Bari]] harbour by night]]
[[Image:Tremiti 00.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Tremiti Islands]], part of the [[Province of Foggia]]]]
[[Image:Swing Bridge Taranto.jpg|thumb|Swing bridge of [[Taranto]]]]
[[Image:Santa croce.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Santa Croce's Basilica in [[Lecce]]]]
[[Image:Otranto dal bastione dei Pelasgi.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Otranto]] seen from Bastione dei Pelasgi]]
[[Image:Ostuni.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Typical Pugliese rural houses in [[Ostuni]], ''the white city'']]
Towns of Apulia with a population of 50,000 or more:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Comune
! Population (2007 est.)
|-
| [[Bari]]
| 323,856
|-
| [[Taranto]]
| 195,964
|-
| [[Foggia]]
| 153,402
|-
| [[Andria]]
| 98,594
|-
| [[Lecce]]
| 94,210
|-
| [[Barletta]]
| 93,431
|-
| [[Brindisi]]
| 90,175
|-
| [[Altamura]]
| 68,062
|-
| [[Molfetta]]
| 59,859
|-
| [[Cerignola]]
| 58,147
|-
| [[Manfredonia]]
| 57,237
|-
| [[Bitonto]]
| 56,420
|-
| [[San Severo]]
| 55,632
|-
| [[Bisceglie]]
| 53,956
|-
| [[Trani]]
| 53,550
|}
==Language==
The official national language (since 1861) is [[Italian Language|Italian]]. However, as a consequence of its long and varied history, other historical languages have been spoken in this region for centuries. In the northern and central sections, some dialect of the [[Neapolitan language]] are spoken: for example the [[Barese]], spoken in the zone of [[Bari]] or [[Foggiano]] near [[Foggia]]. In the southern part of the region, dialects of the [[Sicilian language]] called [[Tarantino language|Tarantino]] and [[Salentino dialect|Salentino]] are spoken. In isolated pockets of the Southern part of [[Salento]], a dialect of modern Greek called [[Griko]],<ref>[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ell Ethnologue report for language code:ell<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> is spoken by just a few thousand people. A rare dialect of the [[Franco-Provençal language]] called [[Faetar]] is spoken in two isolated towns in the [[Province of Foggia]]. In a couple of villages, the [[Arbëreshë]]<ref>[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=aae Ethnologue report for language code:aae<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> dialect of the [[Albanian language]] has been spoken since a wave of refugees settled there in the [[15th century]] by a very small community. The [[Messapic language]] formerly spoken in the region was extinct by the [[1st century BC]] due to the [[Romanization]]/[[Latinization]] of this area which took place after the definitive conquest of the region by the [[Ancient Rome |Romans]] during the [[3rd century BC]] (see [[Punic Wars]]).
==Citations==
{{quoted|Now that I have traversed the regions of Old Italy as far as Metapontium, I must speak of those that border on them. And Iapygia borders on them. The Greeks call it Messapia, also, but the natives, dividing it into two parts, call one part (that about the Iapygian Cape) the country of the Salentini, and the other the country of the Calabri. Above these latter, on the north, are the Peucetii and also those people who in the Greek language are called Daunii, but the natives give the name Apulia to the whole country that comes after that of the Calabri, though some of them, particularly the Peucetii, are called Poedicli also.|Strabo|''(Geography - VI, 3, 1)''}}
==References==
{{reflist|1}}
==See also==
*[[Capitanata]]
*[[Tavoliere delle Puglie]]
*[[Gargano]]
*[[Gravina in Puglia]]
*[[Salento]]
*[[Terra d'Otranto]]
*[[Murgia]]
*[[Trullo]]
==External links==
* [http://www.viaggiareinpuglia.it/hp/en Official Tourism website]
* [http://www.regione.puglia.it/ Official website]
* [http://www.legambientepuglia.it Environmental League Puglia] {{it icon}}
* [http://www.webvisionitaly.com/category.php?id=251&ref_genre=&ref_item=354 Puglia Video: Art-Endless Treasures]
{{Regions of Italy}}
[[Category:Apulia| ]]
[[Category:NUTS 2 statistical regions of the European Union]]
[[Category:Wine regions of Italy]]
{{Link FA|it}}
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