Latium

From Free net encyclopedia

For the football club, see S.S. Lazio

**Regione Lazio**
Image:Latium.png

Capital	Rome
President	Piero Marrazzo (The Union)
Provinces	Frosinone Latina Rieti Rome Viterbo
Municipalities	377
Area	17,208 km²
- Ranked	9th (5.7 %)
Population (2003 est.) - Total - Ranked - Density	5,145,805 3rd (9.0 %) 299/km²
Image:Italy Regions Latium 220px.png
Map highlighting the location of Lazio in Italy

Latium (Lazio in Italian) is a region of central Italy, bordered by Tuscany, Umbria, Abruzzo, Molise, Campania and the Tyrrhenian Sea. It comprises 5 provinces: Rome, Viterbo, Latina, Frosinone, and Rieti. The regional capital is Rome; the current President of the Region is Piero Marrazzo (center-left, elected 2005).

1 Etymology
2 History
3 Notable cities
4 External links

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Etymology

The name of the region also survives in the tribal designation of the ancient population of Latins, from whom the Romans originated. In Roman mythology, the shadowy king Latinus allegedly gave his name to the region. Modern linguists postulate origins in a Proto-Indo-European language (PIE) root *stela- (to spread, extend), expressing the idea of "flat land" (in contrast to the local Sabine high country). But the name may originate from an earlier, non Indo-European one. See the Online Etymological Dictionary. Since Latium is respected more as a designation for ancient Rome, it is not used as a label on maps or globes.

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History

The Latins founded a group of small settlements that united against the Etruscans and Samnites, and which came under Roman dominance in 338 BC. Rome granted all Latins Roman citizenship after the Social War in 90 BC.

Latium has great importance for history, art, architecture, archaeology, religion, and culture in general. The immense patrimony of the city of Rome forms only a part of the treasures spread over the hundreds of towns, villages, abbeys, churches, monuments, and other sites of the region.

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Notable cities

Rome (Roma) (pop. 2,546,807), capital city of the region, and of the country
Anzio, birthplace of Nero, site of Allied landings in World War II
Cassino, site of famous monastery and fierce World War II battle
Castel Gandolfo, summer residence of the Pope
Cerveteri, site of one of the two best preserved Etruscan necropoli in Italy
Civitavecchia, the region's principal port
Frascati city of the wine, well known in central-western Europe
Frosinone (pop. 45,128), capital city of the Frosinone province (pop. 477,950)
Latina (pop. 108,711), capital city of the Latina province (pop. 489,599)
Nettuno, site of Allied landings in the Second World War, site of the American Cemetery and Memorial, site of Saint Maria Goretti's Shrine
Ostia, the ancient Roman port of Rome
Rieti (pop. 41,394), capital city of the Rieti province (pop. 151,000)
Tarquinia, site of the other of the two best preserved Etruscan necropoli in Italy
Tivoli, site of Hadrian's Villa
Viterbo (pop. 60,387), capital city of the Viterbo province (pop. 285,254)