PROVINCE OF LATINA

The 'Province of Latina' (Italian: ''Provincia di Latina'') is a province in the Lazio region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Latina.
It has an area of 2,251 km², and a total population of 519,850 (2005). There are 33 ''comuni'' (singular: ''comune'') in the province [1], see Comuni of the Province of Latina.
The main ''comuni'' by population are:

''Comune''	Population
Latina	112,533
Aprilia	63,265
Terracina	42,669
Formia	36,822
Fondi	35,115
Cisterna di Latina	33,108
Sezze	22,859
Gaeta	21,541
Minturno	18,366
Sabaudia	17,581
Priverno	13,728
Pontinia	13,517
Cori	10,808
Itri	9,238
San Felice Circeo	8,212
Sermoneta	7,083
Sonnino	7,056
Santi Cosma e Damiano	6,678
Monte San Biagio	6,106

Contents

History

Geography

Hill and mountain areas

Agro Pontino

Formia and Gaeta

Pontine Islands

External links

History

The province of Latina was founded on December 18, 1934, encompassing mainly the dried areas of the Agro Pontino previously part of the province of Rome. Apart the Pontine lands, it includes the Aurunci, Lepini and Ausoni mountain ranges, as well as the Pontine islands archipelago. The port of Gaeta and Formia, in the southernmost part of the province, belonged traditionally and linguistically to Campania.

Geography

Although the smallest of the provinces in the Lazio region, the province of Latina includes a variety of geographical and historical areas.

Hill and mountain areas

The mainland area is, in the south- and north-eastern part, mostly occupied by limestone hills and mountains. Ranges include the Lepini, Aurunci and Ausoni. The highest altitude are the 1,533 m of Monte Petrella (Aurunci). The climate is semi-continental with hot summers and cold winters; temperatures rarely fell under 0°C. The mountains are characterized by small medieval settlements (''borghi'') and traditionally live of cattle raising and agriculture; however, these activities saw a marked decline in recent times, and today workers usually commute daily to work in Rome or Latina.
Tourism is an increasing interesting resource, attracted especially by the uncontamined nature and by artistical traces of the Middle Ages (Abbeys of Valvisciolo and Fossanova, where St. Thomas Aquinas died). The main centres of this area are Cori, Sezze and Priverno.

Agro Pontino

The Agro Pontino occupies the plain extending southwards from Aprilia to Terracina, along the Tyrrhenian Sea. Until the 1930s it was covered by unhealthy marshes, which were dried up under Fascist government; the area as subsequently settled by immigrants coming from north-eastern Italy, in newly built cities like Sabaudia or Latina itself. The sole mountain peak is that of Circeo promontory. The climate is mild. The Agro Pontino is the most economically developed part of the province, housing a flourishing agricultural sector and numerous service firms and industries. It also houses much of the water basins of the province, like the coast Lakes of Fogliano, Caprolace and Paola.
Apart the capital, the main cities include Cisterna di Latina, Terracina and Sabaudia, the latter being an important tourist resort.

Formia and Gaeta

Cities rich of ancient and medieval history, Gaeta and Formia were traditionally part of the Kingdom of Naples. They belonged to the Campania region until 1934. Traces of the different cultural milieu can be identified in the costumes and, most of all, in the local dialect, a variant of Neapolitan. Formia and Gaeta constitues a single metropolitan area with an important port (with connection to the Pontine Islands), a station on the main railway line Rome-Naples. Other important centres include Sperlonga and Minturno.

Pontine Islands

Main articles: Pontine Islands

Once mainly used as penitentiaries, the Pontine Islands are now a renowned touristical resort in summer. The only inhabited islands are Ponza and Ventotene

External links

★ Official website