Lazio
The central Italian region of Lazio, home to Rome and a rich cultural heritage spanning millennia.
Lazio is one of the 20 administrative regions of Italy, situated in the central peninsular section of the country. It has 5,709,444 inhabitants and a GDP of more than €212 billion per year, making it the country's second most populated region and second largest regional economy after Lombardy. The capital of Lazio is Rome, which is also the capital city of Italy.
Quick Facts
- Rivalry name
- Derby d'Italia
- Primary location
- Stadio Giuseppe Meazza (San Siro) & Stadio Olimpico
- First meeting season
- 1928-1929
- Significance
- Historic battles for Serie A titles and European spots
- Key era
- The Grande Inter era vs. The Lazio resurgence
Lore & Background
Lazio was the home of the Etruscan civilization, then stood at the center of the Roman Republic, of the Roman Empire, of the Papal States, of the Kingdom of Italy and of the Italian Republic. The Italian word Lazio descends from the Latin word Latium, the region of the Latins. The emperor Augustus officially united almost all of present-day Italy into a single geo-political entity, Italia, dividing it into eleven regions. After the Gothic conquest of Italy at the end of the fifth century, modern Lazio became part of the Ostrogothic Kingdom. With the Donation of Sutri in 728, the Pope acquired the first territory in the region beyond the Duchy of Rome. Lazio was part of the short-lived Roman Republic, after which it became a puppet state of the First French Republic under the forces of Napoleon Bonaparte. On 20 September 1870 the capture of Rome completed Italian unification, and Lazio was incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy.
Reader's Guide
Lazio comprises a land area of 17,242 km2 and borders Tuscany, Umbria, Marche, Abruzzo, Molise, Campania, and the Tyrrhenian Sea. The region is mainly hilly (56%) and mountainous (26%), with some plains (20%) along the coast and the Tiber valley. The coast is mainly composed of sandy beaches, punctuated by the headlands of Cape Circeo and Gaeta. The Pontine Islands are part of Lazio. The central section is occupied by the Roman Campagna, a vast alluvial plain. The Preapennines of Latium include groups of mountains of volcanic origin: the Volsini, Cimini and Sabatini, with lakes Bolsena, Vico and Bracciano. The Apennines of Latium include the Reatini Mountains with Terminillo (2,213 m). The highest peak is Mount Gorzano (2,458 m) on the border with Abruzzo. The climate along the coast is Mediterranean; towards the interior it is more continental. Rome has the highest number of hours of sunshine among regional capital cities in Italy.
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