CALABRIA - Geography and history
Calabria is situated at the very bottom of the Italian peninsula, to which it is connected by the Monte Pollino massif, while on the east, south and west it is surrounded by the Ionian and Tyrrhenian seas. The region is a long and narrow peninsula which stretches from north to south for 248 km, with a maximum width of 110 km. Some 42% of Calabria's area, corresponding to 15 081 km2, is mountainous, 49% is hilly, while plains occupy only 9% of the region's territory.
The climate is influenced by the mountainous and hilly relief of the region: cold in the area of Monte Pollino, temperate with a very limited temperature range in the area of Aspromonte, while the Sila and Serre massifs ensure greater humidity on the Tyrrhenian coast and a drier climate on the Ionian coast.
The underlying foundation of the region is crystalline and supports a surface of colloidal clays which tend to be washed away by water that cannot penetrate the deeper strata.
Failure to exploit tourism potential and available labour
With its pollution-free mountains in the Sila, Aspromonte and Pollino ranges and its 716 km of coastline and magnificent beaches, Calabria is one of Italy's regions most suited for tourism. Its tourist appeal could be one of the region's primary resources but its natural attractions, albeit essential, are not enough in themselves to boost tourist appeal, which is inevitably linked to proper and efficient infrastructure.
There have been noted improvements in this area in the last years but in spite of these efforts and in spite of its outstanding geographic location, Calabria has not managed to achieve the position it deserves.
In Calabria there were around 186 000 people actively seeking employment in 2002, of which almost one fifth were young people (under 25 years of age), looking for their first job. This vast pool of available labour is confronted by an economic structure and especially an employment market which seems to offer such remote possibilities of work that any effort is discouraged, and this has obvious repercussions on local incomes and on the social and economic well-being of the region.
The region of Calabria is divided into five provinces: Catanzaro, where the regional capital is located, Cosenza, Crotone, Vibo Valentia and Reggio di Calabria.
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