A region of southeast Italy bordering on the Adriatic Sea, Strait of Otranto, and Gulf of Taranto. Its southern portion forms the heel of the Italian “boot.”
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A region of southeast Italy bordering on the Adriatic Sea, Strait of Otranto, and Gulf of Taranto. Its southern portion forms the heel of the Italian “boot.”
Apulia, region of south-east Italy, modern Puglia. Its dry but fertile soil was excellent for sheep-rearing and Apulian wool was famous. The region was extensively Hellenized. In the late fourth century BC it became subject to Rome and remained loyal against Pyrrhus. In the Punic and Social Wars however many Apulians revolted and Apulia was much devastated in consequence. Wolves were common in the wilder parts.
[ah-POOL-yuh] Located in Italy's southeast section, Apulia (Puglia in Italian) is the wine region lying in the "heel" of Italy's boot-shaped land mass. There are over 260,000 vineyard acres planted with numerous grape varieties in the Apulia region. The primary red grapes are Negroamaro, Primitivo (see zinfandel), malvasia Nera, and uva di troia. The white grape varieties, led by Verdeca, include Bianco d'Alessano, bombino bianco Malvasia Bianca, and trebbiano. The wine output from this area is tremendous and usually competes with sicily for the largest production of Italy's twenty wine regions. The quality of the wines, however, is generally not very high. This is somewhat evidenced by the tiny amount of doc-quality wine produced (less than 2 percent of the region's total production), although many of the region's good wines are not qualified to be DOCs. Apulia's twenty-five DOCs are Aleatico di Puglia, Alezio, Brindisi, Cacc'e mmitte di Lucera, castel del monte, Copertino, Galatina, Gioia del Colle, Gravina, Leverano, Lizzano, Locorotondo, Martina or Martina Franca, Matino, Moscato di Trani, Nardò, Orta Nova, Ostuni, Primitivo di Manduria, Rosso Barletta, Rosso Canosa or Canasium, Rosso di Cerignola, salice salentino, San Severo, and Squinzano. Much of this region's wine production is further processed into vermouth or other apéritif-type wine.
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| Map highlighting the location of Puglia in Italy | |
| Capital | Bari |
|---|---|
| President | Nichi Vendola (PRC-Union) |
| Provinces | Bari Brindisi Foggia Lecce Taranto |
| Comuni | 258 |
| Area | 19,366 km² |
| - Ranked | 7th (6.4 %) |
| Population ({{{population_as_of}}}) | |
| - Total | 4,071,518 |
| - Ranked | 7th (7.0 %) |
| - Density | 210/km² |
Apulia (Italian: Puglia ['puʎːa]) is a region in southeastern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its southern portion known as Salento, a peninsula, forms the heel of the Italian "boot". 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.
Apulia 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. Other important centers are Alberobello, Andria, Barletta, Canosa, Conversano, Francavilla Fontana, Gallipoli, Gioia del Colle, Gravina in Puglia, Grottaglie, Manfredonia, Martina Franca, Mattinata, Molfetta, Monopoli, Ostuni, Otranto, Palo del Colle, Santa Maria di Leuca, San Giovanni Rotondo, San Vito dei Normanni, Trani, Lizzano, Taranto, Bari, Lecce, Manduria, Leverano.
Apulia is divided into six provinces:
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 tourism are increasingly replacing agriculture as the main resources of the region.
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 Italic peoples. Later, the Greeks expanded until reaching the area of Taranto and the Salento.
Apulia was an important area for the ancient 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 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 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. After the fall of the latter's heir, Manfred, under the Angevine and Aragonese/Spanish dominations Apulia became largely dominated by a small number of powerful landowners (Baroni). The coast was occupied at times by the Turks and by the 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 Greek, Arab, Norman, and Pisan influences. Universities are located in Bari, Lecce and Foggia.
The official national language (since 1861) is Italian. However, as a consequence of its deep and colorful 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" and "Salentino" are spoken. In isolated pockets of the Southern part of Salento, a dialect of modern Greek called "Griko",[1] 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"[2] 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 Romans during the 3rd century BC (see Punic Wars).
| Regions of Italy | |
|---|---|
| Abruzzo · Aosta Valley · Apulia · Basilicata · Calabria · Campania · Emilia-Romagna · Friuli-Venezia Giulia · Lazio · Liguria · Lombardy · Marche · Molise · Piedmont · Sardinia · Sicily · Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol · Tuscany · Umbria · Veneto | |
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