Today we are going to talk a little about Southern Italy. Why it is so marked like this.
Remembering people that nothing is generic, nothing can be generalised.
Which are the regions of Southern Italy?
The regions that are considered Southern Italian are Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Puglia, Sardegna and Sicily. All these regions have characteristics in common.
One striking difference between other regions, and something that carries a lot of weight, is that in Southern Italy people are usually more “closed”. We need to take into account that Southern Italy is as if it hadn’t been “contaminated”, it’s as if it were really Italy at its purest, it’s Italy at its roots.
It is a region, for the most part, where globalisation has not yet arrived, where multicultures are not yet so widespread. In the south of Italy it is still very common to find this kind of situation. Does that mean that everyone is like that? Of course not!
Raffles between North and South Italy
Another very common thing that you will see when visiting Italy, is about the issue that there is a feud is between North and South, yes, the feud is more from North to South.
But why is there this feud between North and South?
Let’s say that the real Italy is still in the South, not yet “contaminated”. So the people from the North, according to them, are more educated, organised, “civilised”, and because of that they would be ashamed of the people from the South. But this doesn’t always happen, it is only with a small part of the population.
Moreover, southern Italians are still very attached to traditions and cultures.
One thing that is very common in southern Italy, in country towns, is to find ladies still making pasta fresta, fresh pasta noodles, as it is traditionally done in Italy, something that in the North is a bit harder to see.
Why is the Cost of Living Lower in Southern Italy?
The cost of living in the south of Italy is lower than in the north, because unfortunately there are fewer jobs in the south. This is due to the fact that the north is more industrialised, the regions around Milan and Turin have much more industry than the rest of the country. It is very common to see young people going from the South to the North in search of jobs.
The opportunity for jobs in the northern regions is much greater.
Appreciation To Family And Affection
Another thing is a fact: in the south of Italy there is much more appreciation for family ties, there is much more contact, affection, they really value the family. Of course, all Italians value family, but in the South this is even more intense, as they are more affectionate, attached and receptive. Besides being much easier to make friends in southern regions in relation to the north, remembering that this is relative and depends from person to person.
Industrialisation And Jobs
Northern Italy has a lot of influence from the countries bordering it to the north. We all know that Germany was the heart of the European industrial revolution, and consequently, all the countries close to it were also developing, kind of by “osmosis”.
Based on this assumption, there was a concentration of investment and industrialisation in the central regions of Europe, leaving the external regions a bit behind. Southern Italy ended up suffering from this fact, being further away from France, Switzerland, Austria and also from industrialisation.
One thing that occurs even today is the “brain drain” from the South to the North. People who want a future in companies, better jobs, good financial conditions, end up migrating to the North of Italy. The most developed regions in Northern Italy are Turin, Genoa, Verona, Milan and Parma.
