Lazio comprises a land area of 17,242 km2 (6,657 sq mi) and it has borders withTuscany,Umbria, andMarche to the north,Abruzzo andMolise to the east,Campania to the south, and theTyrrhenian Sea to the west. The region is mainly hilly (56%) and mountainous (26%), with some plains (20%) along the coast and the Tiber valley.
The coast of Lazio is mainly composed of sandy beaches, punctuated by the headlands ofCape Circeo (541 m) andGaeta (171 m). ThePontine Islands, which are part of Lazio, are off Lazio's southern coast. Behind the coastal strip, to the north, lies theMaremma Laziale (the continuation of the Tuscan Maremma), a coastal plain interrupted atCivitavecchia by theTolfa Mountains (616 m). The central section of the region is occupied by theRoman Campagna, a vastalluvial plain surrounding the city of Rome, with an area of approximately 2,100 km2 (811 sq mi). The southern districts are characterized by the flatlands ofAgro Pontino, a once swampy andmalarial area, that wasreclaimed over the centuries.
ThePreapennines of Latium, marked by theTiber Valley and theLiri with theSacco tributary, include on the right of the Tiber, three groups of mountains of volcanic origin: theVolsini,Cimini andSabatini, whose largest former craters are occupied by theBolsena,Vico andBracciano lakes. To the south of the Tiber, other mountain groups form part of the Preapennines: theAlban Hills, also of volcanic origin, and the calcareousLepini,Ausoni andAurunci Mountains. The Apennines of Latium are a continuation of the Apennines of Abruzzo: the Reatini Mountains withTerminillo (2,213 m), Mounts Sabini,Prenestini,Simbruini andErnici which continue east of the Liri into theMainarde Mountains. The highest peak is Mount Gorzano (2,458 m) on the border with Abruzzo.
The region'sclimate has considerable variability from area to area. In general, along thecoast, there is aMediterranean climate, the temperature values vary between 9–10 °C (48–50 °F) in January and 24–25 °C (75–77 °F) in July.Towards the interior, the climate is morecontinental and, on the hills, winters are cold and at night, temperatures can be quite frigid.Among the regional capital cities in Italy, Rome is the one with the highest number of hours ofsunshine and days with clear skies during the year.[citation needed]
TheAppian Way (Via Appia), a road connectingAncient Rome to the southern parts of Italy, remains usable even today.
The Italian word Lazio descends from the Latin wordLatium, the region of theLatins,Latini in the Latin language spoken by them and passed on to the Latin city-state ofAncient Rome. Although the demography of ancient Rome wasmulti-ethnic, including, for example, Etruscans, Sabines and otherItalics besides the Latini, the latter were the dominant constituent. InRoman mythology, the tribe of the Latini took their name from KingLatinus. Apart from the mythical derivation of Lazio given by the ancients as the place whereSaturn, ruler of thegolden age in Latium, hid (latuisset)[9] from Jupiter there,[10] a major modern etymology is that Lazio comes from the Latin word "latus", meaning "wide",[11] expressing the idea of "flat land" meaning theRoman Campagna. Much of Lazio is in fact flat or rolling. The lands originally inhabited by the Latini were extended into the territories of theSamnites, theMarsi, theHernici, theAequi, theAurunci and theVolsci, all surrounding Italic tribes. This larger territory was still called Latium, but it was divided intoLatium adiectum or Latium Novum, the added lands or New Latium, and Latium Vetus, or Old Latium, the older, smaller region. The northern border of Lazio was theTiber river, which divided it fromEtruria.
The emperorAugustus officially united almost all of present-day Italy into a single geo-political entity,Italia, dividing it into eleven regions. The part of today's Lazio south of the Tiber river – together with the present region ofCampania immediately to the southeast of Lazio and the seat ofNeapolis – became Region I (Latium et Campania), while modernUpper Lazio became part ofRegio VII – Etruria, and today'sProvince of Rieti joinedRegio IV – Samnium.
The strengthening of the religious and ecclesiastical aristocracy led to continuous power struggles between secular lords (Baroni) and the Pope until the middle of the 16th century.Innocent III tried to strengthen his own territorial power, wishing to assert his authority in the provincial administrations of Tuscia, Campagna and Marittima through the Church's representatives, in order to reduce the power of theColonna family. Other popes tried to do the same. During the period when the papacy resided inAvignon, France (1309–1377), the feudal lords' power increased due to the absence of the Pope from Rome. Small communes, and Rome above all, opposed the lords' increasing power, and withCola di Rienzo, they tried to present themselves as antagonists of the ecclesiastical power. However, between 1353 and 1367, the papacy regained control of Lazio and the rest of thePapal States. From the middle of the 16th century, the papacy politically unified Lazio with the Papal States,[12] so that these territories became provincial administrations of St. Peter's estate; governors inViterbo, in Marittima andCampagna, and inFrosinone administered them for the papacy.
Lazio was part of the short-livedRoman Republic, after which it became apuppet state of theFirst French Republic under the forces ofNapoleon Bonaparte. Lazio was returned to the Papal States in October 1799. In 1809, it was annexed to the French Empire under the name of theDepartment of Tibre, but returned to the Pope's control in 1815.
Agriculture, crafts, animal husbandry and fishery are the main traditional sources of income. Agriculture is characterized by the cultivation of wine grapes, fruit, vegetables and olives. Lazio is the main growing region ofkiwifruit in Italy.
Approximately 73% of the working population are employed in the services sector, which contribute 85.8% of regional GDP; this is a considerable proportion, but is justified by the presence of Rome, which is the core of public administration, media, utility, telecommunication, transport, tourism and other sectors. Many national and multinational corporations, public and private, have their headquarters in Rome (ENI,Italiana Petroli,Enel,Acea,Terna,TIM,Poste italiane,Leonardo,ITA Airways,Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane,RAI).
Lazio's limited industrial sector and highly developed service industries allowed the region to well outperform the Italian economy during the2008 financial crisis and theGreat Recession, but it was strongly affected by theCOVID-19 lockdowns.
Industrial development in Lazio is limited to the areas south of Rome. Communications and – above all – the setting of the border of theCassa del Mezzogiorno some kilometers south of Rome have influenced the position of industry, favouring the areas with the best links to Rome and those near theAutostrada del Sole, especially aroundFrosinone. Additional factor was cheap energy supply fromLatina Nuclear Power Plant andGarigliano Nuclear Power Plant, which are now out of the operation after Italian nuclear energy referendum.
Industry contributes a small part of GDP: its share is 8.9% compared to 25.0% inVeneto and 24.0% inEmilia-Romagna.[15] InRome it is even less with 7%, compared with 12% from tourism. Since a large part of Lazio's GDP is produced by theservice sector, with highvalue added.
Firms are often small to medium in size and operate in the following industries:
ca. 70% of the national sanitary ceramics comes fromCivita Castellana industrial district andGaeta
textile (Valle del Liri). In the district the production relationships are mostly of the subcontractor type, 40% of the companies produce semi-finished and finished products not intended for marketing.
Avio inColleferro has headquarters and make research, development and manufacturing of solid propellant motors and liquid propellant engines for launch vehicles and tactical propulsion systems; boosters forAriane 5 rocket
Satellite services are provided fromTelespazio which headquarters inRome
Thales Alenia Space has 2 locations inRome (Tiburtina and Saccomuro) and makes design and integration of terrestrial observation, navigation and telecommunications satellites
From fruits the most important arekiwifruit (1st place in Italy) andhazel nuts "Nocciola romana". Italy itself is the second largest producer of kiwifruit worldwide and was surpassed only byChina. Infrastructure which has been used for grape growing was easily adapted for kiwifruit cultivation.
Only sheep and buffalo herds are significant nationwide. Both are kept predominantly for milk, which is used in the production ofpecorino romano andmozzarella di bufala cheese. Sheep herds are the 3rd nationwide afterSardinia andSicily. 40% of sheep are bred inprovince of Viterbo.
Vineyards cover 47,884 hectares (118,320 acres) in Lazio. 90% of wines are white. In production of quality wine Lazio has rank 14 of 20 with 190.557 hl.There are 3 DOCG wines:
Tourism in Lazio is a thriving sector especially as regards tourism linked to art and monuments and places of interest in the region (Rome in particular), religious tourism (Vatican City, Rome and the sanctuaries of Lazio), summer seaside tourism especially in upper and lower Lazio (Santa Marinella,Ladispoli,Anzio,Nettuno,Sabaudia,San Felice Circeo,Terracina,Sperlonga,Gaeta) and summer/winter tourism in theski resorts of the Lazio Apennines (Monte Terminillo,Leonessa,Cittareale, Monte Livata, Campo Staffi and Campocatino, Altipiani diArcinazzo). Other points of interest in the region are the area of theRoman Castles, located south-east of the city of Rome, around theAlban Hills, made up of a group of towns and cities, partly in the territory ofLatium Vetus, surrounded by theRoman Campagna. Also the areas aroundLake Bracciano andLake Bolsena, Lazio is home to 14 lakes of volcanic origin.[21] One of the most important archaeological park inItaly isOstia Antica, known as the port of ancient Rome, Ostia was a city of the Latium Vetus, located near the mouth of theTiber river.Civita di Bagnoregio, also known as "the dying city", has become a popular tourist destination in the country.
Lazio has many small and picturesque villages, 25 of them have been selected byI Borghi più belli d'Italia (English:The most beautiful Villages of Italy),[23] a non-profit private association of small Italian towns of strong historical and artistic interest,[24] that was founded on the initiative of the Tourism Council of the National Association of Italian Municipalities.[25]
In 2019 there were 657,855 companies, 10.8% of the national total.
The table below shows the GDP, produced in Lazio at current market prices in 2006,[26] expressed in millions of euros, broken down into the main economic macro-activities:
Macro-economic activity
Product GDP
% sector on regional GDP
% sector on Italian GDP
Agriculture, forestry, fishing
€1,709.3
1.06%
1.84%
Industry in the strict sense
€14,208.2
8.85%
18.30%
Buildings
€6,872.1
4.28%
5.41%
Commerce, repairs, hotels and restaurants, transport and communications
€37,305.5
23.24%
20.54%
Monetary and financial intermediation; real estate and entrepreneurial activities
€45,100.7
28.10%
24.17%
Other service activities
€39,411.8
24.55%
18.97%
VAT, net indirect taxes on products and taxes on imports
With a population of 5,714,882 million (as of 31 December 2021), Lazio is the second-most populated region of Italy.[1] The overall population density in the region is 341 inhabitants per km2. However, the population density widely ranges from almost 800 inhabitants per km2 in the highly urbanizedRome metropolitan area to less than 60 inhabitants per km2 in the mountainous and ruralprovince of Rieti. As of January 2023, the Italian national institute of statistics ISTAT estimated that 615,108 foreign-born immigrants live in Lazio, equal to 11.1% of the total regional population.[28]
Rome iscentre-left politically oriented by tradition, while the rest of Lazio iscentre-right oriented. In the2008 general election, Lazio gave 44.2% of its vote to the centre-right coalition, while the centre-left block took 41.4% of vote. In the2013 general election, Lazio gave 40.7% of its vote to the centre-left block coalition, 29.3% to the centre-right coalition and 20.2 to theFive Star Movement.
Guanciale is used in several sauces.Guanciale is the cut of pork obtained from the cheek of the pig, crossed by lean veins of muscle with a component of valuable fat, of a composition different fromlardo ("back fat") andpancetta ("belly fat"): the consistency is harder thanpancetta and it possesses a more distinctive flavor.Guanciale is salted pork fat, different frombacon, which is smoked. It is a typical product of Lazio,Umbria andAbruzzo. Another important ingredient ispecorino romano cheese.
Vegetables are common,artichokes ("carciofi") being among the most popular:
In the cuisine of Lazio, spices are widely used. Among the most used arelesser cat-mint, called in Rome "mentuccia" (for artichokes and mushrooms),squaw mint, called in Rome "menta romana" (for lamb and tripe),laurel,rosemary,sage,juniper,chili and gratedtruffle.
Although Roman and Lazio cuisine use cheap ingredients like vegetable and pasta, poor people needed a source of protein. Therefore, they used the so-called"quinto quarto" ("fifth quarter"), leftovers from animal carcasses that remained after the sale of prized parts to the wealthy.
Quinto quarto includes tripe (the most valuable part ofreticulum, also called "cuffia", "l'omaso" or "lampredotto"), kidneys (which need to be soaked for a long time in water with lemon to remove urine smell), heart, liver, spleen, sweetbreads (pancreas, thymus and salivary glands), brain, tongue, ox tail, trotters and pajata (intestines of calf, fed only with its mother's milk). The intestines are cleaned and skinned but thechyme (mass of partly digested food) is left inside. Typical dishes of this style are:
The region gives its name to the professionalfootball clubSS Lazio that plays in the ItalianSerie A. The region has two professional clubs in the top flight, the other beingAS Roma, who also play in the highest division of Italian football. Combined, the two have wonfive Italian championships with Roma winning three and Lazio two. The main sports stadium in Lazio isStadio Olimpico in Rome which has housed both teams for a prolonged time and hostsDerby della Capitale between the two clubs. The stadium also hosted the1960 Summer Olympics and the1990 FIFA World Cup final. Outside of Rome the football scene has another club playing in the Serie A, that beingFrosinone.
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