Italy's Geographic Challenge

RANE explains that Italy's main geographic challenge is to preserve its unity despite strong regional identities.
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[@MrDarthRex]

The main thing for Italy is too keep working on bridging the gaps between North and South and to remember the main ethnic identity being based off of Roman culture being more important than regional/city-state identity. Rome was what made Italy what it is and its greatness (though the city-states in the Middle Ages and Renaissance achieved a lot also), the North and the South have to come together to always embrace that. I'm Southern Italian descent but I always put my Roman Italian ethnic heritage before my grandfather's regional identity being from the Mezzogiorno in Puglia.

[@ArmandoBellagio]

+Feokew smith Yes, in the South there were Greeks, but also Arabs, French, Spanish, Germanic tribes at some points, depending on the regions. Also in the North you had different points. So most Italians are probably not of pure Roman decent.

[@ArmandoBellagio]

***** Aha, well I don't know all about that you are telling. Yes, the South was Greek. Also Naples was founded by the Greeks like Nice in France. That doesn't mean all the people there nowadays are of Greek decent. You know there came many groups after that and I don't mean the immigrants of today, but you also had the North African Moors in Sicily, the Normans, the Vandals. Puglia is close to Greece and was Greek once, but you also had the Vikings there. There are still Greek minorities there, but also Albanian and I guess other Italians. And the name Italy comes from the Italic people. So it was a bit offensive what you said with the pigs I think. In the North of Italy there had many Germanic tribes, that's why you can find many blondes there, also a few in the South, but not as many. P.S. I also noticed the swastika on your profile pic.

[@ntnntl96]

In Apulia, only the city of Taranto was a greek colony, the rest of Apulia was inhabited since ancient time by the Illyrians who were later Romanized. In fact even today every city and town in Apulia speaks its own romance language. Only in the southern part of Apulia there is a small village where people speak a dialect of Albanian, and few villages where people speak a greek dialect. While in the northern part there are two villages where people speak a Franco-Provençal dialect. But all these Albanian, Greek, and French-Provencal villages in Apulia were founded only in the late Middle Ages by immigrants who settled in Apulia. However, after the fall of the Roman Empire, there have been several foreign dominations in Puglia, which however did not affect much on language and ethnic composition of the Apulians. For example, the Arabs conquered only the cities of Taranto and Bari for about twenty years. And twenty years are nothing. Sorry for my english!! :D

[@Imperatore7777]

Hello come to our Italicroots forum.

[@MrDarthRex]

@Tom Smit Don't forget Apulia was also colonized and mixed by different Italic groups including Romans and Etruscans when Rome took over Italy, which was a good thing for Italians. Bari was actually a Roman seaport for a big chunk of ancient Rome's history. Also, the Arabs and North Africans inhabited different parts of Italy at different times after the fall of Rome and the rise of Islam including Matera. There was plenty of intermingling going on. Trust me, I know this because I did a DNA test for my mom with results varying from central Italy to the Middle East on my mom's Italian side.

[@returingfavour]

Why these Balkan folks always take over the conversations... Serbia Kosovo who the fuck cares? This video was about Italy so please stay on the topic...

[@christianabbate8073]

Imperatore7777 tanto ci riprenderemo Fiume Così a caso

[@michaelbarry8666]

I wish these videos were longer , it goes to fast I enjoy them very much thank you

[@zanzao-1ps318]

5th most powerful military in Europe and the 4th greatest economy in Europe!!!FOR THE GLORY OF ROME!!!!!

[@Emilechen]

today Italian military are better than Germany, during NATO military drills Italy always win against Germany,

[@allleppo8087]

@Unknown User Dude the last war was 79 years ago and I doubt that Italy didn't changed at all

[@fllama]

Yeah lockdown not too good now 😂 Roman Empire my ass

[@norandomstuff]

@@Emilechen because nato doesn't allow Germany to have a big army because you know why.

[@TheCombustiongeek]

I am Italian and sadly, I totally agree. Not even austerity was able to push governments to enforce necessary changes on our economy, and the actually center-left majority has little hope to do it, given its ideological roots. Let's see what happens, in the meantime, I will enjoy all the great things Italy has to offer!

[@federicosbetta1368]

I do not understand this logic, France's regions have fiscal federalism, Germany, Canada, Russia and USA are federal countries, where in the USA there are state militias that train themself in the woods in case the central governament becomes a dictatorship, the UK is the union of three kingdoms and a principality that have different national sportive selections... but if italians want more regional autonomy good lord it's a threat to everithing and everyone and the raise of fascism (I don't even see the connections by the way they were very centralists)... well I guess we must be very special.

[@montgomeryj.p.9848]

Federico Sbetta non vogliono mettere il federalismo fiscale perché sennò il sud affonda e Roma pure, perciò continuano a derubarci

[@elijahclubb4097]

Wales mate

[@TheBespectacledN00b]

Technically the UK is a Union of two Kingdoms (England and Scotland), one Principality (Wales) and one province (Northern Ireland).

[@Gauntlet1212]

I really like the videos here. very informative and bring light on some present situations.

[@GeographicScholar]

Nice. Thank you. I'm looking forward to it. I like those Geographic Challenge segments. As someone who likes the subject of geography, and as someone who recently received a Bachelor's degree in Geography, I can appreciate the value of these videos.

[@Tasilva82]

Hi, I speak Brazilian Portuguese and I have tried to learn Latin American Spanish. When reading it, it's for sure not difficult to understand about 80% of it. Because we live in São Paulo, we have no exposer whatsoever to the Spanish language. I have been to Chile after studying Spanish a bit and I got surprised of how little I could understand of the spoken language. They could not understand my Portuguese as well. So I basically had to rely on English to communicate there. I have always found way easier to study English than Spanish. However, Italian language, because of the phonetic similarities with Brazilian Portuguese in São Paulo Brazil (lots of Italians immigrants came to my region in the 19th and 20th centuries influencing our accent) I could understand it much better when I went to Italy than I understood Spanish when I went to Chile. I am an English teacher here in Brazil btw.

[@marvitmia]

I'm Italian. I really enjoy Strat-for. Been following this Channel very avidly for the past few months. Always right & straight to the point. They are doing an amazing Job!

[@GeographicScholar]

When I think about the north-south divide in Italy, it reminds me, somewhat, of the north-south divide in the USA. The USA was nearly torn apart in the Civil War, between the north and the South. The northern USA, like northern Italy, is the traditional industrial center. Torino is to Italy what Detroit is to the USA, automobiles. The southeastern USA, like southern Italy, was traditionally agricultural.

[@jurijklanjscek7733]

In the 19. century, all of european diplomacy was finalised towards maintaining a substantial "balance of powers". Piemonte (kingdom of Sardinia) wanted expansion and eventually the leading role in Italian unification. France needed a strong ally in the mediterranean. The State of the Church was weak, Naples was in decline. The political ability of Cavour, the military skills of Garibaldi and a great support from the people (plebiscites and so on) made the unification possible.

[@alexmerc1255]

really well done. perfect summary

[@JohnvKampen]

@A. Bauer: it's a good recap of the situation. The analysis is correct. A lot of the high school students in Europe can learn from this. Believe it or not, but not so few aren't able to point to Madrid, Rome, Berlin on a wallmap!

[@GeographicScholar]

Slovenia is next door to Italy, and has decent bilateral relations with Italy. Italy also supported Slovenia becoming a member of the EU and NATO.

[@yoonseosong9839]

Can someone explain to me what is the actual geographic challenge? It's gonna be a question on my quiz but couldn't understand properly in this video😫

[@vxzdefffasfv2790]

which software map you use?

[@GeographicScholar]

When is the next Geographic Challenge coming? Those are among my favorites.

[@lorenzoappe8761]

BELLISSIMO VIDEO, GRAZIE!

[@lucalombardo8467]

The best country

[@fllama]

Lockdown 😂

[@norandomstuff]

*Coronavirus:allow me to introduce myself*

[@The_Italian_Kane]

@@fllama at least, we didn't have that crazy guy, Trump

[@Sr68720]

why do people always want to keep splitting up? how far you want to go, independently governing city's, so we get millions of Vatican city size states?

[@thefirstprimariscatosicari6870]

Sr68720 The problem is that one of the Golden Ages of Italy was exactly when it was divided in thousands of Comuni with the size of the Vatican, all united in a UEish confederacy, the Confederacy of Italian Comuni. They kicked the ass of the HRE army of Friedrich Barbarossa (that also is it's Italian nickname, not is real one) at Legnano and four of the Italian Comuni, the Maritimes Republics, were the controllers of all trade of the Mediterranean.

[@Aaron-su4ex]

Smaller Governments, more Freedom

[@alessandromorter2242]

Before the risorgimento (Italy’s reunification) there where parts of the south that where more industrially developed then the north. When the north was conquered the south’s industry was forcefully brought up north.

[@anghinetti]

The Republic of San Marino and Vatican City do not exist within Italy's territory. They simply are sovereign states who share that particular peninsular with the Republic of Italy.

[@anghinetti]

?

[@swissdave9489]

San Marino and Vatican City do exist within Italy's territory = San Marino and Vatican City are sovereign states who share that particular peninsular with the Republic of Italy

[@anghinetti]

Vatican City and San Marino do not exist WITHIN Italy's territory. They are SURROUNDED by territory which is a part of the Republic of Italy; the same way as (say) Switzerland and Austria are surrounded by territory of other countries and not within any of those countries. I trust that clarifies for you the situation.

[@swissdave9489]

le due frasi vogliono dire esattamente la stessa cosa

[@anghinetti]

?

[@soldier716]

Plauged with problems or not, I am pursing my Italian citizenship, jus sanguinis in hopes of moving there.

[@joederocco9321]

serious

[@Mumintrol]

Jesse JamesV Enjoy poverty.

[@soldier716]

The Eagle Mapper That's nothing new to me

[@Foc4ccin4]

+The Eagle Mapper North of Italy ain't so poor, if you listened the video you'd know.

[@alexrm82]

+The Eagle Mapper Listen the video and just learn something. Italy has strong differences between its Northern and Southern territories. If you go to the North, you find a GDP pro capita value at the same level of Germany or other Northern European Countries. Milan is the 3d-4th economic center in Europe. Poor territories, unfortunately, exist but they are located in the South. So, it depends in which part of Italy you move to. That's the challenge the video talks about, to fix the North-South gap.

[@politicalchanel]

The same way Italy formed, so too did Germany, forming the various federal "lands" today, Spain was united around Castilia, with Catalonia, andalusia etc. being added, Poland was reformed after WWI from bits taken by Rusians, Germans and Austro-Hungary, Romania formed from Moldavia, Wallachia and Transylvania, Czechoslovakia formed due to Czechs and Slovaks being similar ethno-linguistically, and the same logic to a great extent was pursued in Yugoslavia...

[@politicalchanel]

The general idea is that certain people (ethnicities) were "brothers" and as such should form a single country. While the opposite was the case for multi-ethnic empires. In that case, everyone suffered to some extent from despotism, but it felt like a particularly great insult to people that were a different ethnicity from the one where the elite came from to be ruled by "foreigners". By your logic, there wouldn't be... Spain, Germany, the UK... heck, maybe even Romania or Poland.

[@jurijklanjscek7733]

So true. But also many Italians couldn't point New York, Los Angeles or Miami. In fact, many don't even know Slovenia is their eastern neighbour!

[@AlessandroConti_78]

actually the industrial triangle is between Milano Torino and Genova,not Venezia!

[@pompei1968]

thanks to the money they stole from the south

[@thefirstprimariscatosicari6870]

KtK Not so much. When the South was annexed it was already less developed than the North.

[@jurijklanjscek7733]

Certainly northern regions are sick and tired, but only 10 to 15% of their population really wants secession. The majority of Italians want to stay together and solve other problems, such as political corruption.

[@theamici]

the European history lesson was unnecessary, besides the more recent history. What you !could've! mentioned is the geosocial threat that comes from being so close to Africa, and the lack of political control over Sicily (underground economy and mafia) which is a much greater threat I would think to the country's stability than its historical divides.

[@RANENetwork]

Friday!

[@EnhancedNightmare]

I think that this info should be taught in school. Sadly mostly of that I knew not from school but from Italian friends. But I don't have social ties to every part of the world and then STRATFOR comes :)

[@GeographicScholar]

Geographic illiteracy is a big issue, not just in Europe, but in the USA, where I live. I know that Slovenia borders Italy, Austria, and Croatia. However, most Americans that I know haven't even heard of such a place as Slovenia, or that it was once part of former Yugoslavia.

[@mlccrl]

Sintesi: Vocetta suadente espone ultrarapida sintesi della storia di Italia e alla fine sputa sentenze sulla nostra identità nazionale. Tipico video pieno di supponenza anglosassone. Dio stramaledica gli inglesi !

[@DBGabriele]

Prima di tutto, il titolo non e' "Storia italiana", ma "La sfida geografica (geo-politica) dell'Italia". Ha detto: - E' un paese con gli appennini e le alpi che fanno da bariera naturale, - Al nord ci sono le aziende, - al sud e' un ambiente piu' rulare-economia agricola, - e' stato il centro dell'impero romano, - dopo l'impero e' sta per tempo divisa in tanti piccoli regni, - data la sua posizione privilegiata e' stata terra di conquista per molti popoli, dai tedeschi, agli spagnoli ai francesi, - la crisi economica ha reso il tutto piu' complicato. Ora dimmi dove e' la supponenza inglese in queste poche frasi.

[@lelouchvibritannia9624]

P E R F I D A AL B I O N E

[@GeographicScholar]

All the reason to watch this video. You learn some things. Geography is an important subject to learn. That is why I started my channel.

[@smellycathome]

I require Lithuania's geographical challenge.

[@afpossebrazda]

I demand Principality of Sealand's Geographic Challenge!

[@ghost-jw3ml]

What I'd Italy and Germany united earlier..

[@politicalchanel]

What Klanjscek said is probably true, but I would answer with more general statements about European politics and mentality in the 19th century. The 19th century was the time nationalism developed and become an important historical force. Things like ethno-linguistic similarities at that time had a much stronger role than any economic strategic or even logical reasons for bringing together certain territories.

[@ciskogonza]

Holy shit I just learned something.......

[@RAMverma111]

can you make the video of india's geographic challenge

[@D3C3n50r]

GOOD job Stratfor is not the only source for geographic knowledge then right?

[@VTBbank]

Is Slovenia some kind of important geopolitical or economic factor, that Italians should be aware of it ?

[@kubaniski]

What's wrong with separation? People should be able to govern themselves among their peers and for their interests. Granted that secession is not always for the best, but gonglomerating into ever larger states is certainly worse. The constant competition between European nation, states, and even cities is what med Europeans so dynamic compared to the stagnating giants like China and Rome.

[@Peristerygr]

He has a video for Venezuela "proud American"!

[@vincentfarace4494]

Time of king of Sicily Rogers (Normans) Sicily was the most prosperous country in Europe.

[@barbatvs8959]

The coolest ancient European language is from this land. DEUS VULT.

[@jurijklanjscek7733]

Only Suedtirol (Trentino Alto Adige). The rest of northern Italy has very different cultural origins, and gravitates on the main cities Milano, Torino, Genova, Venezia. Except some decades of austrian domination in past centuries, there's almost nothing in common.

[@Nonamearisto]

They used to rule the Mediterranean, and now they're reduced to that. *cries for my grandfather's homeland.*

[@sothasil6605]

Nonamearisto Still better than the rest of Europe...

[@yodorob]

Another geographic challenge: Any future large-scale eruption of Vesuvius or Campi Flegrei (both right around Naples) or of Colli Albani outside Rome. Could put many other parts of Europe in danger as well if the eruption is large enough!

[@jurijklanjscek7733]

Italy's main challenge is not "preserving its integrity", but solving the great problem of political corruption, organized crime (mafia) and the presence of fascist-nostalgics in some parties. Italy's not going to split or divide into regional states; instead, we could become EU's "colony" for cheap agricultural products and summer holidays.

[@PeterCorless]

"Irredentism" -- Italia Irredenta -- "Unreclaimed Italy." It was the concept that wherever Italian was spoken was part of the Italian nation. All part of European nationalism in latter-half of 19th Century Europe. (Germany was likewise scattered into dozens of smaller states.) When Italy unified under Garibaldi, it could compete as a Great Power. But it was still behind the curve, developmentally. Regionalism and corruption continue to plague it. Video needs 1-2+ min to explain modern issues.

[@KINGONE6XIV]

Rome will rise again one day

[@louisxvioffrance990]

What makes you say that?

[@creeper201]

but italy=/= rome

[@KINGONE6XIV]

Italian Stallion west and east

[@creeper201]

hm

[@creeper201]

Italy=/=rome

[@djunior874]

Why is there a geographic challenge for freaking Kyrgystan but not the UK!!!!!

[@miiiikku]

Nationalism united many countries in the late 19th century, but what is keeping them together now.

[@Whispers_of_Madness]

You should do the Byzantine Empire :b

[@miiiikku]

Why was Italy united in the first place? Strong regional identities, mafia, development gap between north and south all point towards lack of stability and lack of willingness for nation of Italy to exist. Why didn´t Italian states just stay independent?

[@angelabender8132]

miiiikku l'unione fa la forza No?

[@FranciscoKGuerreiro]

And Portugal...???? Come onnnnn... -.-

[@KA1blow]

Just a note: your map is wrong.. North Kosovo is shown as serbian part while it is kosovo part.. check it out..

[@zdravko7958]

no no no you are wrong....

[@KA1blow]

+Funnyname nope im not ..

[@zdravko7958]

The Dardans yes you are....

[@KA1blow]

Nope

[@zdravko7958]

The Dardans I soory but yes

[@DaniboyBR2]

Its for every english-speaking person, most of them dont know much of european history to start with.

[@jurijklanjscek7733]

Varie esperienze personali, ovviamente con Italiani non friulani o veneti. Prova a chiedere tu stesso a 10 persone a caso, vedrai che almeno 5 non sanno elencare gli stati che confinano con l'Italia.

[@bluebeard2]

No problem. I'll do it for you. Micronations aren't able to exercise effective sovereignty because they lack a capacity to project power. Refer to Minerva (annexed by Tonga) as an example.

[@Adam-kt7ho]

"Slowvenia"

[@bharattank1115]

Could be one of the best geography of European nation, beautiful coastal region in centre of Mediterranean sea ,Sicily , Sardinia, Corsica, why I am not born on Italian sea side ? Heavenly geography, could be all year nice sunshine weather ?ram ram.😂👌🌹💟🍇🍎🍷🎂

[@INDIGOBLUE555]

Well,actually our southern maritime regions are significantly warmer than the northern plains albeit don't fancy of Caribbeans climate !

[@strechemall]

These videos are good for students of every country, please get over yourself.

[@kubaniski]

They were conquered. Italy is not a signal nation, it is a state.

[@ConradInternational]

Next Geographic Challenge: Vatican City.

[@fllama]

Coronavirus lockdown 😂

[@1Fireskull]

Nationalism is the key to the future of a strong and prosperous Italy.

[@bcharville]

Regionalism.

[@ScarletGameShow]

bcharville why not apartmentism?

[@Nicko741]

Nationalism is the key to be invaded by germans and americans and become one of the USA's whores

[@1Fireskull]

Nicko741 True nationalism is to love one's own nation enough to defend it and to love other nations enough to tell them to mind their own business and stop meddling in our homeland. I live in the internally rotting USA, by the way.

[@Nicko741]

1Fireskull excuse me: are you a native American?

[@lucagheza5322]

*1861

[@wiang11]

so when you live in denmark its educational ? you can ask every twelve year old where the roman empire was . not very informative for a relatively educated european

[@PMMagro]

Rome is also the seat off the Pope, for a long time center of the christianity in the western world.

[@ThreeOfShackles]

Northern Italy may participate in the Germanic Union.

[@nikos12adidas89]

GREECE=ITALY

[@Etherealwhitness]

nikos12 adidas lol... no

[@joemoschetta1541]

italy the best

[@gog_magpie]

bring back the Roman empire, and the Romans glory!!!!

[@notjoevenezuela6436]

Can you do Venezuela? Just kidding, no one gives a crap about Venezuela

[@CarolineOskarsson]

Just like 95 % of the world does not live in the US.

[@carlthereinz2286]

MAMA MIA

[@duduchannel6729]

Ultra Alem

[@Juliniss]

You said that as if the average European was smarter than the average American :D Warning: Objects in mirror might be dumber than they appear.

[@Emperor_Atlantis]

I learned nothing from this video. I expected some in depth content after what felt like an intro, but then the video was already over. I should had checked video length beforehand I guess. Edit: Check Caspian Report for more in depth Geopolitic videos.

[@user-qe3im6px4p]

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ5oo

[@PungaDeGunoi]

"bunga bunga" :D

[@vxzdefffasfv2790]

esri software

[@wanderingcommenter8471]

I like turtles

[@Met4lN1kos]

Magna Graecia , Sicilly are calling for the motherland

[@Met4lN1kos]

Jizldiedizl B there was never one population in Italian peninsula en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ancient_peoples_of_Italy wiki may not be the best but it will give you a view .

[@Met4lN1kos]

Jizldiedizl B did you check the map ? not

[@hellenicmacedonianpatriot2866]

noone cares who is native to a penislula fact is that south italy wasn't latin before you invaded our colones it was greek land and before the greeks there were no cities only the phoniceans went there before us and they used it only as a trade spot south italy as well as sicilly is greek territory and it will become again exept us there were carthaginians and phoneaceans the other two doesn't exist anymore so we take their territory too :) have a nice day ooo and before i forget the pope is a pedophile

[@user-qr8js8nq5z]

Nikos Metalidis they are not

[@Met4lN1kos]

not really colonized you mean took by force because there is no city today with that herritage

[@VTBbank]

So is Bulgaria and Romania. Soon Kosovo will be new EU and NATO member.

[@amyfreeman8247]

Pizza

[@DanielleTinkov]

93% of the world does not live in Europe.

[@lucabralia5125]

and so... it's the same for the united states. India, China, and many more asian countries have more population than the U.S and the continent of europe combined, what are you trying to convey in this message? less people does not equal less importance

[@WillErrante]

ma sti caproni dove li vedi? ahahahaah

[@chasedghost6456]

make clear videos

[@keefeingold]

It is pronounced "Slo-veen-ya" not "Slo-ven-i-a"

[@imperatorodaenathus9329]

No, it's pronounced "Slo-Veen-i-a"

[@albertobellini98]

No, it's pronounced "Por-co-dio"

[@yeadam1]

go iran next time

[@sandrolazovic9626]

Why do they not make serbians geographic challenge? Ooo yeah too much work!

[@user-jb8sk3ze1z]

The Italian Emperor sorry it’s ours now

[@cone17_]

KOSOVO IS SERBIA RECORD THIS

[@user-jb8sk3ze1z]

SERBIAN MAPPING no one cares about balkans this is about Italy.

[@tonypavko1968]

Fabio Cela serbia is world power in bullshit stories

[@78KPK]

Proud to be Tuscan and European. Italy is only a peninsula.

[@user-qr8js8nq5z]

Francesco Guasconi Puoi pure andartene.I toscani hanno anelato all'Unitá(Machiavelli ti dice nulla?)

[@78KPK]

00000 00000 i toscani hanno fatto tante cose ma per favore non ci addossare anche la responsabilità dell'unificazione italiana.

[@user-qr8js8nq5z]

*****​ I toscani la volevano.Non è qualcosa di cui vergognarsi anzi

[@Distress.]

Francesco Guasconi pretty sure it's is own nation too

[@zanzao-1ps318]

Francesco Guasconi "Only" a peninsula?!

[@jurijklanjscek7733]

No. Slovenia is now part of NATO and EU.

[@wiang11]

these videos are goog for american high school students but for the average european ? hhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmm

[@m.m.1301]

1:42 Italy's main problem are the fascists

[@m.m.1301]

Io non ho niente di cui vergognarmi