Mezzogiorno

Corno Grande

Mezzogiorno, region in Italy roughly coextensive with the former Kingdom of Naples; in current Italian administrative usage, it is a mainland subregion consisting of the southern Italian regions of Abruzzi, Molise, Campania, Puglia, Basilicata, and Calabria and an insular subregion composed of Sicily and Sardinia. Mezzogiorno is the Italian term for “midday” or “noon,” and southern Italy is known as the Mezzogiorno because of the intensity of sunshine there at midday.

The Normans ruled southern Italy between 1130 and 1198 and were succeeded by the German Hohenstaufen. The French Angevins ousted the Hohenstaufen in 1266 and greatly expanded the power of the feudal nobility. Alfonso V of Aragon conquered southern Italy between 1420 and 1442 and established the Dogana della Mene delle Pecore (“Custom of the Sheep”) to levy taxes on sheep and other livestock. The Dogana reduced the number of small farmers and agricultural labourers in southern Italy by favouring the conversion of cropland to pasture.

Southern Italy and Sicily were established as an independent kingdom under the Spanish Bourbons in 1734; only limited reforms were introduced, and most southern Italians were tied to some form of feudal obligation as late as 1786. Small-scale land reform was implemented near Manfredonia in Puglia in 1806 and was followed by a series of projects to reclaim marshland and improve drainage.

The Mezzogiorno continued to be dominated by the owners of large estates after the unification of Italy in 1861, and the social and economic “backwardness” of the south became the subject of the Letteratura Meridionalista (“Southern Literature”) in the late 19th century. Large-scale land reform was not implemented in southern Italy until 1946. The Cassa per il Mezzogiorno, a development fund for the south, was established as a separate ministry of the Italian government in 1950; it received funds from the parliament to invest in the social and economic development of southern Italy, Sicily, and Sardinia. Private investment in the industrial development of the south has been channeled through the Association for the Development of Industry in the Mezzogiorno, which was created in 1946.

Southern Italy is dominated by the Apennine Range, and up to one-half of the land is too steep for any form of cultivation. Coastal plains are generally narrow and poorly drained and are limited to the environs of the cities of Naples and Salerno, Foggia, and Taranto. Malaria was prevalent in the marshy plains well into the 20th century and was not fully eradicated until after World War II. Limestone and other soft rocks susceptible to erosion predominate in the Apennines; centuries of overcutting and overgrazing forests and scrubland have stripped topsoil from the mountains and hills and have left behind a raw landscape of steep slopes and deeply eroded gullies. Annual precipitation rarely exceeds 20 inches (510 mm) and falls almost entirely in torrential winter downpours that further intensify soil erosion. Irrigation and hydroelectric development are limited because most rivers dry up during the summer.

Southern Italy’s population is concentrated in the coastal towns, which have grown at the expense of villages in the Apennines. Rows of small new houses have been built throughout the lowlands reclaimed from marsh. The southern Italian population’s rate of natural increase exceeds that of northern Italy but has been offset in large part by the immigration of workers to industrial centres in northern Italy, France, Switzerland, and Germany.

The standard of living and per capita income of southern Italy lag behind that of northern Italy, and agriculture continues to employ a disproportionately high percentage of the southern work force. Land reform favoured sharecroppers and labourers previously employed on large estates and was accompanied by the creation of agricultural cooperatives and subsidiary rural roads throughout the Mezzogiorno; thousands of new farmhouses also were built. Chief crops in the region include wheat, olives, grapes, peaches, apricots, pears, and various vegetables.

The Cassa ministry invested heavily in reforestation and the expansion and modernization of irrigation, roads, railways, and harbours. Four dozen industrial centres were established with assistance from the Cassa; the European Investment Bank also has subsidized the industrialization of the Mezzogiorno. Economic planners favoured the development of heavy industries: iron, steel, machine tools, agricultural machinery, and petrochemicals have been produced in the industrial triangle of Bari, Brindisi, and Taranto. More diversified industries around Naples have produced textiles and various consumer goods, iron, steel, Olivetti office machinery, Pirelli cables, Alfa Romeo automobiles, and ships. Relatively few industries have been located in the Apennine Range. Tourist facilities are concentrated along the coast. The traditional farmsteads of Apulia, the conical trulli, built of stone from a cylindrical base, attract many sightseers. The historic cave dwellings of Matera province also draw tourists.

Numerous towns in Calabria were settled by Albanians and host celebrations in honour of Skanderbeg, the national hero of Albania. The Primavera albanese, the Albanian springtime, is widely celebrated in Cosenza province. Calabrian dialects preserve a number of Greek words. Apulian cuisine shows Spanish influences and relies heavily on olive oil and fine wines.