Calabria

Calabria (Italian pronunciation: [kaˈlaːbrja]; Calàbbria in Calabrian, Calavría in Calabrian Greek, Καλαβρία in Greek, Kalavrì in Arbëresh), known in antiquity as Bruttium or formerly as Italia, is a region in Southern Italy, forming the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula.

The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro, while its most populated city and the seat of the Calabrian Regional Council is Reggio.

It is bordered to the north by the region of Basilicata, to the west by the Tyrrhenian Sea, and to the east by the Ionian Sea. The region covers 15,080 km² (5,822 sq mi) and has a population of just under 2 million. The demonym of Calabria in English is Calabrian.

In ancient times Calabria was referred to as "Italy". The Romans later extended the name to cover Southern Italy and then the entire peninsula. Whereas the name Calabria was used to refer to the peninsula of Salento (also known as the "heel" of Italy).

Geography

The region is a long and narrow peninsula which stretches from north to south for 248 km (154 mi), with a maximum width of 110 km (68 mi). Some 42% of Calabria's area, corresponding to 15,080 km², is mountainous, 49% is hilly, while plains occupy only 9% of the region's territory. It is surrounded by the Ionian and Tyrrhenian seas. It is separated from Sicily by the Strait of Messina, where the narrowest point between Capo Peloro in Sicily and Punta Pezzo in Calabria is only 3.2 km (2 mi).

Calabrian wine

Calabrian wine (Italian: Vino Calabrese) is Italian wine from the Calabria region of southern Italy. Over 90% of the region's wine production is red wine, with a large portion made from the Gaglioppo grape. Calabria has 12 Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) regions but only 4% of the yearly production is classified as DOC wine. The region is one of Italy's most rural and least industrialized with per capita income less than half of the national average. Following World War II, many of Calabria's inhabitants emigrated to the United States and Argentina. Those left behind have been slow to develop a vibrant wine industry with only the red wines of Cirò garnering much international attention. Today Calabrian wines are mostly produced to high alcohol levels and sold to co-operatives who transfer the wines to the northern Italian wine regions to use as blending component. There are no Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) regions but 12 Indicazione Geografica Tipica (IGT) designations.

Italian cruiser Calabria

Calabria was a small protected cruiser built for the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) in the 1890s, intended for service in Italy's overseas empire. She was laid down in 1892, launched in 1894, and completed in 1897, and was armed with a main battery of four 15-centimeter (5.9 in) and four 12 cm (4.7 in) guns. Calabria spent significant periods abroad, ranging from deployments to Chinese, North American, and Australian waters, in addition to periods in Italy's East African empire. She saw action during the Italo-Turkish War in 1912 in the Red Sea, primarily bombarding Turkish ports in the area. Calabria was reclassified as a gunboat in 1921, reduced to a training ship in 1924, and sold for scrap at the end of the year.

Design

Calabria was designed by the Chief Engineer, Edoardo Masdea, and was intended for overseas service. She had a steel hull sheathed with wood and zinc to protect it from fouling during lengthy deployments abroad. The hull was 76 meters (249 ft) long between perpendiculars and 81 m (266 ft) long overall. It had a beam of 12.71 m (41.7 ft) and a draft of 5.05 m (16.6 ft). Her normal displacement was 2,453 metric tons (2,414 long tons; 2,704 short tons) but increased to 2,660 t (2,620 long tons; 2,930 short tons) at full load. Calabria had a crew of between 214 and 254 officers and enlisted crew.