REGION W GEOGRAFII I POLITYCE WŁOSKIEJ
CONCEPT OF REGION IN ITALIAN GEOGRAPGY AND POLITICS

Summary/Abstract: The regional structure of Italy has remained unchanged for over two millennia since thetime of Octavian August, who divided the country into 11 regions. This happeneddespite the fact that after the fall of the Roman Empire, the territory was incorporatedinto many separate political units whose borders changed many times. This situation wasnot conducive to the development of the national Italian identity and most of theresidents of the country identified themselves with their own regions. Their existence inthe collective consciousness meant that the concepts of the united Italian state thatappeared in the nineteenth century assumed the autonomy of the regions. This idea,however, remained in the sphere of theoretical considerations until the end of WorldWar II and the establishment of the Italian Republic. Its Constitution assumed that theRepublic would be a state pursuing the idea of regionalism, which was to constitute acompromise between supporters of the unitary status quo and federalists. The articlepresents the concepts developed in Italy regarding the region and regionalism in thecontext of the development of the internal structure of the state. The background for theconsiderations are the theoretical principles of regional geography.

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