Latina (Italian pronunciation: [laˈtiːna]) is the capital of the province of Latina in the Lazio region, in central Italy. As of 2011, the city has 115,895 inhabitants and is thus the second-largest city of the region, after the national capital Rome. It was founded in 1932 under the fascist administration, as Littoria, when the area surrounding it, which had been a swamp since antiquity, was drained.
Latina was founded by Benito Mussolini on 30 June 1932 as Littoria, named for the fascio littorio. The city was inaugurated on 18 December of the same year. Littoria was populated with settlers coming mainly from Friuli and Veneto, who formed the so-called Venetian-Pontine community (today surviving only in some peripherical boroughs). The edifices and the monuments, mainly in rationalist style, were designed by famous architects and artists such as Marcello Piacentini, Angiolo Mazzoni and Duilio Cambellotti.
In 1934 it became a provincial capital and, after World War II, renamed Latina in 1946. With the arrival of other people mostly from Lazio itself, the original Venetian-like dialect was increasingly substituted by a form of Romanesco dialect.
Lazio (pronounced [ˈlattsjo], Latin: Latium) is one of the 20 administrative regions of Italy, situated in the central peninsular section of the country. With about 5.889 million residents and a GDP of more than 170 billion euros, Lazio is the second most populated region of Italy (being approximately the same in population as Campania), and has the second largest economy of the nation. Its capital is Rome, capital and largest city of Italy.
Lazio comprises a land area of 17,236 km2 (6,655 sq mi) and it has borders with Tuscany, Umbria, and Marche to the north, Abruzzo and Molise to the east, Campania to the south, and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west. The region is mainly flat and hilly, with small mountainous areas in the most eastern and southern districts.
The coast of Lazio is mainly composed of sandy beaches, punctuated by the headlands of Circeo (541 m) and Gaeta (171 m). The Pontine Islands, which are part of Lazio, lie opposite the southern coast. Behind the coastal strip, to the north, lies the Maremma Laziale (the continuation of Tuscan Maremma), a coastal plain interrupted at Civitavecchia by the Tolfa Mountains (616 m). The central section of the region is occupied by the Roman Campagna, a vast alluvial plain surrounding the city of Rome, with an area of approximately 2,100 km2 (811 sq mi). The southern districts are characterized by the flatlands of Agro Pontino, a once swampy and malarial area, that was reclaimed over the centuries.
Lazio is a region of Italy in which Rome is located.
Lazio may also refer to: