How Italy Became the Most Divided Country in Europe

Select video clips courtesy of Getty Images

Select video clips courtesy of the AP Archive

Special thanks to MapTiler, OpenStreetMap Contributors, and GEOlayers

[lelamyers]

It's fun how much further North this line would be without Rome. Like it has to curve just to take Rome into account.

[daveswort]

As someone from Sicily who currently lives in Lombardy, I can confirm pretty much all of what you said, but there is an element that’s missing: South Italy has plenty of resources of her own, there’s oil, there’s agriculture and if the north has a great potential in Hydro-electric, the south has just as much in solar, wind and geothermal. The “issue if the south”, as it has been known in Italy for decades, has more to do with bad government and wasted potential than it has with the amount of resources (or lack there of). Many governments have tried and spectacularly failed to invest in the development of infrastructure and industries, but corruption, organized crime, and the passivity of the general public have all but guaranteed the those changes would never happen.

[nouua]

As an Italian, I feel the need to address one of the main and frankly shortsighted mistakes made in this analysis. The absolute economic, social, and judiciary disruption caused by the reintroduction of the Mafia to the south, which has been completely ignored in this video. The allied forces during their invasion in 1943 brought with them the leaders and goons of the Italian American mafia that had been exiled by the fascist government. Their short-term goal was to have a semi familiar group of people to administrate the captured territory in such a fashion to avoid unrest and instability. In the long term, after the end of the war, however such "temporary administrators" weren't arrested and imprisoned but left to do as they please, which allowed them to turn the South of Italy into their criminal underworld. Various family clans then effectively became the oligarchs of the south, and through the establishment of a culture of silence "omertà" they strengthened their positions of power. After 50 years of governmental attempts and a few breakthroughs, the mafia has been weakened, but it still plays a notable role in strangling societal life and economic development in the south.

[maybedumbledore]

Just a clarification here; in southern italy the unemployment rate is so high because unregistered work is much more convenient for both businesses and workers, as a means to evade income and hiring taxes. This makes up a huge part of work "culture" in the south, its not that people are unemployed, its that the work is not registered and therefore doesnt show up in government surveys. In the north, businesses are both bigger (and therefore less affected by these taxes) and regulated more strictly (so more often fined than smaller businesses in the south)

Edit: the Italian statistics agency does offer a rough estimate of irregular/unregistered work (diffused mostly in the agricultural sector), but is often inaccrate and unrepresentative of the actual reality on the ground. Excuse the lack of clarity. Misinformation is dangerous these days...

[fanmovie]

Its funny how 2500 years ago it was the south that was more developed by the Greek cities in the boot and sicily while the po valley was filled by Gauls.

[cjc]

I visited Naples, The Amalfi Coast and Pompeii about 30 years ago and was so impressed with the beauty of the region. Our tour guide even pointed out that the reason you see men, young and old sitting outside is due to high rates of unemployment. I thought Naples was interesting. It reminded me of 1970s NY, mixed with a middle eastern city. I would love to go back to visit.

[elPacho_]

As someone from Central Italy, i'm so glad you made a video on this topic!
It’s hard for me to discuss this with people from the far North or far South because the topic gets people very heated, and because people from the North/South tend to see me as someone from the South/North (so biased). Hope this platform will give me the opportunity to do it (i'm spamming this video to friends and family).

[ADDoingIt]

As an American who was taught very little about demographics and geography of other countries I would like to say thank you for these videos. You have vastly changed my world view over the years, thank you RealLifeLore!

[mattonthemoon]

Lazio (the italian region where Rome is) is richer than south only because of Rome. Rome is rich only because it's the capital. I mean, without these two conditions, the line would be in the Tuscany.

[black-snow]

RealLifeLore in a nutshell: can grow crops + has navigable rivers = rich

[bababababababa]

I can’t even mock Italy whatsoever, their “poor” southern region would still be the wealthiest part of my country by far 😂🇳🇬💔

[rjb]

Because all the snobs live in northern Italy.
When my Mother, whose family came from Augusta, Sicily, first met my son-in-law's Grandmother, who's family came from Campobasso, Molise, Italy, his Grandmother asked where my Moms family came from. When my Mom told her, she reached over, patted her on the hand and said, "That's alright dear". 😆 Campobasso is in southern Italy, northern part. 😆😆

[arthurmorgan]

As a bulgarian who loves geography, history, and geopolitics, I have to say that this video is very well made. A similar situation can be observed in my country as well. However, here it is the opposite. The South is richer and more developed than the North, which could mainly be explained because of a better road infrastructure and more highways in the South.

[lokitus]

Northern Italy was also dominated by a foreign power for centuries: the Austrians. One factor missing from this analysis is the extent of Enlightenment thought and the effects of Napoleonic administrative, infrastructural, and legal reforms.

[AndreaTerenziani]

"no country in Europe more divided than Italy" my brother in Christ Bosnia is literally next door

[matteohasa]

As an Italian, i'm happy my country got a detailed video by you. Keep it with the good content

[baldwinbart]

Maybe my beloved island of Sardegna is poor, but Sardinia is one of the most gorgeous Mediterranean islands. 💙🇮🇹

[smartdumb]

Have you ever done a video like this on the US South? I couldn't find one but it would be so interesting! I love how you incorporate economic, social and geographic history into a complete picture of the present day. Thank you for your work!

[umcaraqualquer]

By the way, Italy's poorest and least developed region was a higher HDI and 3 times the GPD per capita of Brazil's most developed region 👍

[Dumbledorex]

We’re hoping to visit next year, glad to be learning more about Italy 🇮🇹