Territorial Inequalities in Italy - the Difference Between North and South

Territorial inequalities in Italy - the difference between North and South

Pizza, Leonardo, Michelangelo, pasta... These words are familiar to everybody: they refer to one of the most loved countries of the planet: Italy. Italy is a country which is situated in Southern Europe, its total area is 301,338 km2 and the number of population is 60,157,214. Its capital is Rome. Italy is the world's 18th most developed country with the eighth-highest quality of life index rating in the world. Italy has a global influence in art, fashion, culture and in many other territories. Its GDP per capita is 25 000 $ / year.

Despite this attractive picture that is painted of Italy if we look a little bit closer we notice that in Italy - as in most of the countries of the world - there are rather grave inequalities between the level of development in the Northern and in the Southern part of the country. The Northern region produces 2 times more GDP than the Southern region. The regional inequality between the two parts of Italy has certain reasons: history, geography and the composition of the society.

The historical reason of the difference between the level of development is that in the Northern region capitalism had started to develop and become more and more efficient much earlier than in the South where under the Spanish domain there where feudalism until the middle of the 19th century. In 1861 when the United Italy was born the North was already much more developed than the South. The Southern part (and when I say South I mean the "territory under Rome" - "il territorio sotto Roma") had become similar to an internal colony of the North.

Other than that the two parts have different climate and different geographic situation. Northwards the climate is continental - it is less extreme, there is abundant precipitation, the Alps have a defending role - they defend the plain of the Po from the heavy winds. The presence of the sea regulates the temperature and there are some rivers that replenish the territories. On the other hand southwards there is mediterranean climate: it is much crueler, there is extreme torridity and drought in the summer that has grave effect on the agriculture of the territory. There are hardly any rivers that could better the situation. These conditions assist the growing erosion of the soil. Consequently, the plains southwards are less suitable for agricultural activities - there grow and live mainly animals and plants that tolerate dry weather.

Because of the conditions that are mentioned above the agriculture of the two parts is different. In the North there is arable farming: on the plain of the Po plants that are grown are rice, grain, corn, sugarcane and fruits especially grapes. The agriculture technology is highly developed and mechanized. In the Southern Alps they breed bovine. While in the South there is traditional mediterranean agriculture: they cultivate citruses, grapes (from which they produce vine) and they breed goat and sheep as they have high tolerance level of drought.

As for the industry, Italy is poor in primary raw material apart from the few natural gas establishments on the Plain of the Po. The industry of the North is much more developed than that of the South: in the Alps there are some hydroelectric power stations, the chemical industry (Montedison) is based on the natural gas of the Plain of the Po and there is the "industrial triangle" between Turin, Genoa and Milan that produces the main part of the GDP of the country. The industrial triangle deals with engineering industry, car industry ( FIAT, Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Lamborghini are worldwide-known brands), textile industry, fashion industry ( the product ors of designer clothes such as Gucci, Dolce&Gabbana, Versace, Benetton etc.). The third sector is also developed; tourism is important (Bologna, Pisa, Florence - Tuscany, Venice etc.). Infrastructure and education are also on a high level of development and they invest huge capital in Research and Development.

The cities of Milan and Rome are major European financial and political centres. The Milan metropolitan area has Europe's 4th highest city GDP (nominal), $312 (€241) billion, and the Rome metropolitan area has a GDP of €109 billion. Milan and Rome are also the world's 11th and 18th (respectively) most expensive cities in the world. Milan is Europe's 26th richest city by purchasing power in 2009, with a GDP of $115 billion. Milan has high GDP (per capita), about €35,137 (US$ 52,263), which is 161.6% of the EU average GDP per capita by country, whilst Rome had a 2003 GDP per capita of €29,153 (US$ 37,412), which was second in Italy, (after Milan), and is 134.1% of the EU average GDP per capita by country. Naples, in southern Italy, which is characterized by high levels of unemployment and organized crime, is the world's 91st richest city by purchasing power, with a GDP of $43 billion. (Wikipedia.org)

You can feel the huge difference.

These conditions are the reason why there is relevant migration in the country: internal migration as people from the South escape northwards from unemployment in the hope of better possibilities, higher standard of living; and there is external migration (and it was very common in the past, after the Second World War) as southern inhabitants migrate in the direction of Western Europe such as France, Germany etc. Emigration worsens the situation of the South because the entire qualified workforce flows towards North. In addition to the emigration, immigration is also present. Lots of people arrive to Sicily and Southern Italy from