The Regions of Italy: Abruzzo, Aosta Valley, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lazio, Liguria, Lombardy, Marche, Molise, Piedmont, Puglia, Sardinia, Sicily, Trentino-Alto Adige, Tuscany, Umbria, Veneto

The twenty regions of Italy are administrative divisions of the country and in turn each region sub-divides into provinces. Each region has an elected parliament and a regional government headed by the regional president, who is elected directly by the citizens living in the region.



The regions of Italy are very distinctive and often the landscape changes quite dramatically between one region and the next. The people themselves have different dialects and are quite often different in appearance to those in neighbouring regions. But the real reason that each individual Italian region is so unique is the attitude of the people. Italians are totally loyal to their own region, each believing that theirs is better than any other. They love the landscape of their own home and think their region’s climate is the best and steadfastly hang on to every tradition and fragment of culture that is historically theirs.



Food and drink are the biggest differences of all, with people from one region refusing to eat anything from another. Recipes have been handed down for many generations and certain dishes that we have grown to love in England are only eaten in one small corner of Italy and totally unheard of elsewhere. In Italy, these differences in eating habits and tastes are the backbone of many heated and animated discussions.