How Italy Became the Most Divided Country in Europe

[@lelamyers1418]

It's fun how much further North this line would be without Rome. Like it has to curve just to take Rome into account.

[@LucaPasini2]

Actually the most useful way to divide Italy would be between north, centre and south, as it's shown in the map at 25:30. The north includes all the Po Valley and surrounding areas, and besides being the wealthiest part it's also culturally and linguistically distinct from the rest of the country: the regional languages that to little extent are still spoken there besides Italian have more in common with Occitan and French than with Standard Italian. The centre is culturally closer to the south but in a better economic situation, driven by Rome and Florence, and then there's the "real south".

[@timogul]

Conversely, if it dipped slightly further south to cover Naples too, "southern Italy" would be in even worse shape.

[@MarketsDriveTheWorld]

Guy that's where all the tax money goes.......

[@azael1474]

What you see it's the historical border of the northern duchies and the roman papal state (Vatican, but much bigger), in contrast with the southern kingdom of Naples which was mostly a single political entity, and the source of several problems as described in the video.

[@razackchrist5096]

@@azael1474 Which problems ?

[@daveswort]

As someone from Sicily who currently lives in Lombardy, I can confirm pretty much all of what you said, but there is an element that’s missing: South Italy has plenty of resources of her own, there’s oil, there’s agriculture and if the north has a great potential in Hydro-electric, the south has just as much in solar, wind and geothermal. The “issue if the south”, as it has been known in Italy for decades, has more to do with bad government and wasted potential than it has with the amount of resources (or lack there of). Many governments have tried and spectacularly failed to invest in the development of infrastructure and industries, but corruption, organized crime, and the passivity of the general public have all but guaranteed the those changes would never happen.

[@xmaniac99]

Basilicate is the Kuwait of Europe when it comes to gas extraction.

[@ChicaG-vg7pj]

I wondered about this too. When you can't trust the government to do what they saw or are supposed to do, investment stays in your mattress. TY for stating the experience of someone who's lived it.

[@astronotics531]

According to recent studies, the South is just as developed as the North. It's just that the South has a strong informal economy whose statistics don't reveal the true wealth of Southern Italy. So this whole video is based on the premise of a lack of real economic statistics from Southern Italy.

[@daveswort]

@astronotics531 I have to disagree. The south is objectively poorer than the north, and your average family in the north has a much greater purchasing power than its southern counterpart. That’s not to say there isn’t an informal economy as you stated, but to claim that if we took it into account north and south would be equal wouldn’t be even remotely true. Besides, having a formal employment grants you access to a number of benefits, from mortgages to unemployment and retirement plans, which in on itself makes a huge difference.

[@thebeatnumber]

You forgot to mention the Mafia and 'Ndrangheta

[@nouua6513]

As an Italian, I feel the need to address one of the main and frankly shortsighted mistakes made in this analysis. The absolute economic, social, and judiciary disruption caused by the reintroduction of the Mafia to the south, which has been completely ignored in this video. The allied forces during their invasion in 1943 brought with them the leaders and goons of the Italian American mafia that had been exiled by the fascist government. Their short-term goal was to have a semi familiar group of people to administrate the captured territory in such a fashion to avoid unrest and instability. In the long term, after the end of the war, however such "temporary administrators" weren't arrested and imprisoned but left to do as they please, which allowed them to turn the South of Italy into their criminal underworld. Various family clans then effectively became the oligarchs of the south, and through the establishment of a culture of silence "omertà" they strengthened their positions of power. After 50 years of governmental attempts and a few breakthroughs, the mafia has been weakened, but it still plays a notable role in strangling societal life and economic development in the south.

[@visionist7]

It's amazing how many people don't know about this. It isn't taught in schools here and there are no documentaries or articles or anything. I think it's a completely taboo subject because of American influence. The yanks still have multiple military bases here in the south

[@Maniacility]

I was also disappointed to not see this raised. Very prominent in Silicy, Naples, etc. 90% of Europe’s illegal drugs travel through the Omertà, Gomorra or ‘Ndrangheta

[@slkonnaris8477]

Thank you for your explanation- I had no idea the mafia were exiled by the fascist regime and then invited back by the allies to keep things in order. As a foreigner I don’t like to ask any questions about mafia when I’m visiting italy but it’s information that is very relevant when you want to understand why things are the way they are

[@claudiog.7397]

The story fascism exiled Mafia was made up. It's not true. The fascist regime wasn't able to fight them and eventually they just included the bosses into the local government.

[@CanaleImprobabile]

Complete madness that this point hasn't been talked about in the video. I'm not going to watch it now.

[@fanmovie357]

Its funny how 2500 years ago it was the south that was more developed by the Greek cities in the boot and sicily while the po valley was filled by Gauls.

[@seanmurphy7820]

It's not like at THAT time there was anything relevant north of the Alps.

[@VivaErDuce]

Until few hundred years ago that was the case

[@SoldadoAntiBalas2008]

Slava PIZZA 🍕

[@angamaitesangahyando685]

It's because the Greeks had a lot of Nordic blood back then, but now it's the same case of the Dominican Republic vs Haiti. - Adûnâi

[@lyricofwise6894]

​@@angamaitesangahyando685LMAO WRONG, so many barbarians of Germania trying to steal (THE true cultural appropriation) mediterranean heritage, simply because they didnt have civilization until 476 ad... Ancient Greeks and Italians from the neolithic era all the way to end of antiquity, were by FAR, Anatolian neolithic farmer dna and western hunter gatherer dna admixture. Wheres the Yamnaya dna admixture? Practically nonexistant during most of said time except for the bronze age, they only left a cultural legacy of a language family onto southern europe, not a genetic legacy (their genetic legact didnt last the past iron age, and was at max during the bronze age at 25% only, then got diluted out).

[@maybedumbledore]

Just a clarification here; in southern italy the unemployment rate is so high because unregistered work is much more convenient for both businesses and workers, as a means to evade income and hiring taxes. This makes up a huge part of work "culture" in the south, its not that people are unemployed, its that the work is not registered and therefore doesnt show up in government surveys. In the north, businesses are both bigger (and therefore less affected by these taxes) and regulated more strictly (so more often fined than smaller businesses in the south) Edit: the Italian statistics agency does offer a rough estimate of irregular/unregistered work (diffused mostly in the agricultural sector), but is often inaccrate and unrepresentative of the actual reality on the ground. Excuse the lack of clarity. Misinformation is dangerous these days...

[@R2Sam]

Came here looking for exactly this

[@caezar55]

What you say is true, but having a large black economy is never a good thing. And those unregistered cash in hand jobs likely pay very little. So its relevant to look at the official stats.

[@cigothebrandnewfox]

Unemployment rate takes account of unregistered work. Just like GDP takes account of underground economy. This is obvious because modern states need to be aware of both phenomenons. And is logical, if unregistered work is high, unemployment rate (people looking for a job) is low, because they would have a job, not looking for one.

[@astronotics531]

@@cigothebrandnewfox The informal economy cannot be measured.

[@Tokru86]

@@cigothebrandnewfox Do you even understand how unemployment and unregistered work works? Unemployment rate only ever can take into account what people officially tell the government. And of course everyone who lives off unregistered work is officially unemployed to get benefits. Thats the whole point of unregistered work!

[@elPacho_42]

As someone from Central Italy, i'm so glad you made a video on this topic! It’s hard for me to discuss this with people from the far North or far South because the topic gets people very heated, and because people from the North/South tend to see me as someone from the South/North (so biased). Hope this platform will give me the opportunity to do it (i'm spamming this video to friends and family).

[@BP-of5cp]

We get heated when talking about what to have for lunch. 😂

[@paulandrecarmigniani3083]

I have a hard time believing your fellow Italians speak enough English to und this video 😂

[@suzimonkey345]

The South is the tourist area. I bet a lot of people earn a LOT of money, “cash in hand”, undeclared for tax!

[@BP-of5cp]

@@suzimonkey345 yes, and if no one is giving them a regular job what choice do they have? It's certainly better than asking for government assistance. Also if they get injured in the workplace they're not covered by a proper employer insurance and won't get paid for any sick time, nor paid time off for holidays. They may not be paying tax but they also don't get all the benefits that one gets when working for a firm. So they do what they need to put food on the table. I know a number of friends who had to do that. My family was very lucky and they were all able to get regular jobs.

[@andreerfabbro]

@@suzimonkey345It’s a lot only if you count them with your fingers. Statistically it’s a minority. Tourism is an industry where business owners usually thrive in spite of the territory

[@ADDoingIt]

As an American who was taught very little about demographics and geography of other countries I would like to say thank you for these videos. You have vastly changed my world view over the years, thank you RealLifeLore!

[@SoldadoAntiBalas2008]

Lets Go BRANDON 🇨🇳

[@33d672]

Rare American W? Good job!

[@IGBBBBBBB]

Start playing paradox games. Your knowledge on old world (+ new world based on the game) will explode.

[@FastGuy1]

Thats on you. Im relatively young, from the U.S and I know more history than my entire geography class combined. You just gotta do the work yourself

[@ADDoingIt]

@@FastGuy1 sorry, you're right. I forgot I am responsible for the United States education system and social studies curriculum.

[@matteohasa4450]

As an Italian, i'm happy my country got a detailed video by you. Keep it with the good content

[@mahdiKhanBey1314]

Because there is a mafia in Italy and the reason for that is American influence in Italy.

[@aexetanius]

Art thou from the prosperous domain or the humble quarter of Italia?

[@checksum256]

Ho esultato quando ho visto l'Italia hahah

[@marcusbrown188]

As an Italian American I am happy buying lemon juice from Sicily

[@Perkelenaattori]

Be happy. If he made a video about Finland it would be about 7 minutes long. 😄

[@cjc2]

I visited Naples, The Amalfi Coast and Pompeii about 30 years ago and was so impressed with the beauty of the region. Our tour guide even pointed out that the reason you see men, young and old sitting outside is due to high rates of unemployment. I thought Naples was interesting. It reminded me of 1970s NY, mixed with a middle eastern city. I would love to go back to visit.

[@bababababababa6124]

I can’t even mock Italy whatsoever, their “poor” southern region would still be the wealthiest part of my country by far 😂🇳🇬💔

[@mnm5165]

This is so real. I’m originally from Egypt, I would kill to live in Italy’s “poor” region

[@sh0gun570]

real

[@nealrigga6969]

@@mnm5165Western people will never understand what real poor is like, they should pay us a visit in Africa Latin America or South Asia

[@FuTuIRe]

@@mnm5165 i saw somewhere that you can buy a house in very rural areas for 1$ but i think you need to live and work there, i thought that i have seen it in a yt vid

[@tombo416]

People in the West could never understand real poverty. They should pay us a visit in Latin America, Africa or South Asia to see it for real

[@black-snow]

RealLifeLore in a nutshell: can grow crops + has navigable rivers = rich

[@pranav210591]

India has exactly same situation as Italy, with a plain riverine north and a rugged south. The development story is reversed though. North has high corruption and poverty, while south has better infrastructure and human development.

[@realcanadian67]

It is true, though.

[@msergio0293]

Thanks

[@alexis1156]

Yea, nope, the major reason is honestly because people in the south are lazy parasites living on and abusing welfare. Geographical disadvantages can be overcome, we are not living in the stone ages, the problem is mentality, and as an Italian you can definitely see a stark difference in mentality between the south and the north. As pran pointed out, india's north has a big advantage yet the south is more developed, the problem is corruption and lazyness, just like in Italy. But people don't want to admit that because then you're being offensive and politically incorrect. I mean, there is a reason why we call them "terroni" in a somewhat dispregiative manner.

[@alexis1156]

Yea, nope, the major reason is honestly because people in the south are lazy parasites living on and abusing welfare. Geographical disadvantages can be overcome, we are not living in the stone ages, the problem is mentality, and as an Italian you can definitely see a stark difference in mentality between the south and the north. As pran pointed out, india's north has a big advantage yet the south is more developed, the problem is corruption and lazyness, just like in Italy. But people don't want to admit that because then you're being offensive, and don't care about fefees. I mean, there is a reason why we call them "terroni" in a somewhat dispregiative manner.

[@umcaraqualquer3640]

By the way, Italy's poorest and least developed region was a higher HDI and 3 times the GPD per capita of Brazil's most developed region 👍

[@matteocercaci5320]

Brazil's cost of living is far less than southern Italy's. Unfair comparison.

[@umcaraqualquer3640]

@matteocercaci5320 And yet Southern Italy's still got over 3 times the purchasing power parity ACCOUNTING for cost of living. Why is that? 🤔

[@marcolucca6241]

More than Sao Paulo? I don't think so. The city here is considered like the new York of south America. Or is it just a myth?

[@umcaraqualquer3640]

@@marcolucca6241 Sim, mais do que São Paulo capital. A Sicília tem o IDH exatamente igual, e o PIB per Capita 2,5x maior. E a comparação com NY, como sempre, é vira-latismo. Nenhum dos 2 indicadores passa perto de NY 🤣

[@paulohenriquesantos6505]

O idh da Sicília n é maior do q o do estado de SP.

[@lokitus]

Northern Italy was also dominated by a foreign power for centuries: the Austrians. One factor missing from this analysis is the extent of Enlightenment thought and the effects of Napoleonic administrative, infrastructural, and legal reforms.

[@Ricky911_]

Absolutely. The region shown at 20:43, with the highest literacy rate, is also the region (Kingdom at the time) that unified Italy. Enlightenment came to Austria and France, with Austria holding onto Veneto until the 1860s (I can't remember what years exactly). During the Napoleonic wars, on the other hand, Lombardy and Piedmont were, for a long time, puppet states of Napoleon. The ideas of enlightenment, industrialisation and, most importantly, nationalism all came thanks to Napoleon. Napoleon is the literal reason for the unification of Germany and Italy. However, while it was Eastern Germany (Prussia) that pushed for unification, Southern Italy never really had this nationalist idea of a greater Italy as the North did. As I mentioned in another comment, the problem with this video is it mostly takes charts and stats available in English and doesn't fully dive deep into Italian culture and history

[@meder07]

True. Corruption Index would have been interesting to correlate also

[@SoldadoAntiBalas2008]

Slava PIZZA 🍕 Heroyam MAFIOSO Italiano 🦾

[@angamaitesangahyando685]

Everyone is trying to omit the topic of biology. Like in the Dominican Republic vs Haiti. - Adûnâi

[@Nick77ab2]

It was only in passing that he mentioned foreign powers, probably due to the "in a nutshell" aspect of this video. I assume it'd be an hour long if he went into the tangential's of the other aspects he decided not to focus on.

[@nirorbach8046]

As once a tourist, I can highly recommend visiting the south of Italy. It has wonderful warm beaches to bathe in. It has a magical genuine agricultural tradition and scenery, which yields delicious foods. Also there are magical (even if neglected) townlets. Also the views of the volcanos is beautiful and impressive. If one just tolerate the awful public transportation...

[@Th3nox13]

A pretty cool place is Alberonello in Puglia! Its a place with really dope house things we call "i Trulli". Altough i really dont recommend to only come for those since its not worth a flight.

[@quailgaming4242]

​@Th3nox13 Its name is actually Alberobello. I've been there a couple of times.

[@Th3nox13]

@@quailgaming4242 oh yeah right, my bad, i misspelled it. But yeah, it is Alberobello!

[@maily8388]

I just recently been in Naples which was very filthy, mosquitoes, 🦟 so many graffitis. Pasta was undercooked. Except Positano was beautiful.

[@you2be839]

Yeah, it looks nice, that's what I always thought about that region too! Plenty of other regions, and even whole countries, can only dream about looking as nice as southern Italy!! And if I could only choose to live or do tourism in either southern Italy or, eg UAE... it's a fairly easy choice!!

[@mattonthemoon225]

Lazio (the italian region where Rome is) is richer than south only because of Rome. Rome is rich only because it's the capital. I mean, without these two conditions, the line would be in the Tuscany.

[@a.r.m.yfanbts4903]

se avessi sudiato di piu conosceresti tarquinia ,cerveteri, veio , la parte sud del lazio fove grazie a esuli greci naque roma ecc

[@mattonthemoon225]

@@a.r.m.yfanbts4903 cosa c'entra? Qui si parla di ricchezza odierna mica di 2500 anni fa.

[@krim7]

If you squint, you can almost see the borders of the Papal States as the dividing line

[@Ricky911_]

Part of the Southern border of the Papal State was the same as the modern region of Lazio. You can see the border because it is, in fact, still there. It's just a different region instead of a different country 😂

[@riccardomallardo7779]

​@@Ricky911_kinda, most of the modern day province of Latina was part of Campania, the majority of Ciociaria region, Sora, Cassino and Gaeta including Ventotene

[@alternativmann]

Maybe my beloved island of Sardegna is poor, but Sardinia is one of the most gorgeous Mediterranean islands. 💙🇮🇹

[@anthonypan205]

unfortunately, gorgeous = undeveloped = poor. Making it nice to visit but bad place to live

[@pabarabanu]

@@anthonypan205 Undeveloped doesn't mean unlivable. Once you visit Sardinia you would definitely like to move there, trust me

[@SoldadoAntiBalas2008]

Slava PIZZA 🍕 Geroyam Spagetti 🍲

[@MarketsDriveTheWorld]

Those sheeps aren't working hard enough 😤😤

[@cavulocappoccio7690]

@@anthonypan205 Not so bad for many people, but you gotta enjoy slow and industrious country life and have a good relationship with the sun. It's not a place with many money, but it's also a place where you don't need so much, there's a different relation with the landscape and with resources. It's not a mystery why many Sardinans aren't very fond of tourists and fear for that same gorgeous landscape to be ruined to accomodate them, as happened in many places.

[@lilo2271]

As someone from Calabria who moved to Turin for college, I was so happy so see buses come every 10 minutes instead of every 3 hours. Public transport is exhausting in the south, Italy has no minimus wage so (at least where I lived) they could pay you 2/3€ per hour and there wasn’t even a college that had the course I wanted to take, in fact we only have 3 universities in the whole region (campuses with many departments of course) but still is overall very hard to live there if you’re not ready to settle for less

[@arthurmorgan8496]

As a bulgarian who loves geography, history, and geopolitics, I have to say that this video is very well made. A similar situation can be observed in my country as well. However, here it is the opposite. The South is richer and more developed than the North, which could mainly be explained because of a better road infrastructure and more highways in the South.

[@slavchomarinov9909]

More highways linking to ports*

[@Voyant]

which can probably be explained by better geography

[@الفيلسوفةالصومالية]

What is the average salary in the south and north, my brother, in your country?

[@RC_ALB]

In Albania the South is significantly richer than the north. The reasons for this are mainly political though. Our leaders favor the south because most of their voters are from there. They made the south a tourists paradise, and the north is poor and bland.

[@elijoki99]

I almost made a comment saying "I wish they'd make an Assassin's Creed game based on Italy someday". The younger me slapped me with a nostalgia hit like no other to make sure that I won't make that mistake.

[@SaeedMobayed]

The Ezio trilogy is the best of the series. Ubisoft lost their ways and will soon be declared bankrupt and bought out, unfortunately.

[@lesscrement1448]

They should make another one tbf, with modern technology it would be sick

[@SaeedMobayed]

They would ruin the dialogue.and the characters. So much of what is said is not considered appropriate for "modern audiences". Same with characters. Plus we really can't trust Ubisoft in 2024. It's best we go back to the authentic masterpiece and play it without having it ruined in our minds.

[@OniGarro]

They should do it about the Vendicosi/Beati Paoli in Sicily 🤩

[@lesscrement1448]

@@OniGarro Or better yet, they could do it during the roman empire

[@smartdumb274]

Have you ever done a video like this on the US South? I couldn't find one but it would be so interesting! I love how you incorporate economic, social and geographic history into a complete picture of the present day. Thank you for your work!

[@xpendabull]

“What do we call this volcano?” “What about Volcano?” Edit: I'm aware the word volcano comes from that particular volcano.

[@funghi2606]

It’s the Word Vulcano that come from it 😉

[@leggendario93]

that's where the word comes from my dude

[@alexialu4224]

That's where the word volcano comes from. Volcano was seen by the Romans as the chimney of Volcan's furnace, the roman God of fire.

[@1LPMx1]

It's like the word geyser which comes from Geysir in Iceland.

[@kaisaplews1407]

hahah dumb lame joke you didnt even bothered to research what that word means and why its called like that...

[@Acelum]

Asolo, featured at 6:43, is a hidden gem of Italy often called the ‘City of a Hundred Horizons’ for its breathtaking views and serene atmosphere. Nestled in the Veneto region, this enchanting town has inspired poets, writers, and artists for centuries, including Robert Browning and Eleonora Duse. Its cobblestone streets, historic villas, and charming piazzas are a testament to its rich history and cultural significance. If you ever find yourself in northern Italy, don’t miss the chance to explore Asolo. It’s a place where time seems to stand still, offering beauty and inspiration at every turn.

[@angelicaeagles9627]

If you're ever in Italy, especially if you're visiting lake Iseo, pay a visit to a small mountain village called Zone, it's home to the biggest erosion pyramids in Central-South Europe, it's my hometown and it's breathtaking with some of the best views of the lake ❤

[@1l0vepunk]

Was there for a Marky Ramone gig.

[@lokibau]

e sticazzi ndo ce lo metti?

[@pumalibre5926]

I live there 😊

[@pumalibre5926]

​@@lokibau Rosica in silenzio ritardato

[@piersp38]

Italy = Putting together Germany and Greece you obtained Italy

[@preparedgalaxy872]

Well, exactly lol.

[@jakehshsh2955]

Smart😂

[@spaniardsrmoors6817]

Even southern is way ahead of Greece.

[@gianlucacosta7566]

You say bullshit

[@omeka8842]

buth both despise itali so no

[@Dumbledore6969x]

We’re hoping to visit next year, glad to be learning more about Italy 🇮🇹

[@dragosi8980]

As a romanian, I have to agree. I've recently been to Sicilia after going many times to different areas of northen Italy, and I was shocked by how bad everything looked. No joke Catania looks far worse than any city in Romania with similiar population. I think the averge standard of living in urban Romania is better, and we are in eastern Europe...

[@seanmurphy7820]

I lived in Catania and I'll tell you: c'è da mettersi le mani nei capelli per quanto è disastrata quella città.

[@SoldadoAntiBalas2008]

Hungarians : Make GOULASH Great Again 👀

[@angamaitesangahyando685]

It's because it's effectively the Africa of Europe. (Unless Tunisia is more civilised lmao) - Adûnâi

[@carlovignati421]

Because It Is, southern Italy Is worse than most parts of western Europe

[@Giuseppe_1994]

The descendants of Sicilian immigrants in America have white privilege.

[@intersezioni]

Since October of this year, Italy has become the fourth largest exporter in the world, surpassing Japan and South Korea, as well as being the second largest industrial power in Europe after Germany.

[@Robert_4444]

thanks to the north, not the south

[@frank_zapping]

Yeah but our roads suck, everything is going bad because the wealth from north must cover the needs of the whole country 😢

[@joostbankert4250]

Hey mate, I just did some research for the past 3 hours to factcheck if this is true and Italy is not the fourth largest exporter and at least also not fifth. Text i copy+pasted from Italian financial website article (took me some time to find because there wasn’t a single international financial organization with export stats or article with explanation): 2 October 2024 IN CREDIT MANAGEMENT, EXPORT DEBT COLLECTION, NEWS The year 2024 is emerging as particularly favorable for Italian exports, which have demonstrated a remarkable ability to consolidate. This conclusion comes from analyses by the Edison Foundation, recently highlighted in the Italian press, which indicate that Italy has managed to position itself among the world’s leading exporters, surpassing several global competitors. Specifically, data from the World Trade Organization (WTO) for the first half of 2024 confirm Italy’s sixth-place ranking in global export standings, with export values reaching $670 billion (equivalent to €626 billion according to ISTAT). By adjusting the evaluation parameters, Italy could even be reconsidered as the fourth-largest exporter globally. The Edison Foundation points out that, by excluding the Netherlands from the ranking-given that a significant portion of their exports consists of goods in transit rather than genuine exports of locally produced goods-Italy would move up to the fifth position, right after China, the United States, Germany, and Japan. This result places Italy ahead of South Korea, which had overtaken it in 2010. Italy could climb even further up the ranks by excluding automobile exports, which account for a substantial share (10-15%) of the exports of countries such as Germany, South Korea, and Japan but make up only 3% of global trade. In this scenario, Italy would rise to fourth place among the world’s top exporters, thanks to its diverse product mix spanning a wide range of productive sectors. Excluding cars, Italian exports reached $657 billion in 2024, surpassing Japan’s exports, which stood at $607 billion.

[@spaniardsrmoors6817]

@@frank_zapping Italy's infrastructure is close to that of any country in north Europe according to stats.

[@marcolucca6241]

​@@frank_zappingbasta non andare a votare al prossimo referendum

[@Granditamias]

Round 11 of asking Real Life Lore to do a showcase video for the country of Peru. It’s had a rocky but fascinating geopolitical history that needs an in-depth video.

[@p.c8281]

15:36 funny how the development banana just avoids France

[@wernerlindorfer3693]

Funny yes, but its just not accurate to exclude Paris and the surround metropolitan area

[@Hession0Drasha]

Nah it includes lile, paris, strasbourg, lyon and marseile.

[@tombo416]

⁠@@wernerlindorfer3693I don’t think that banana thing was suggesting that Paris isn’t significant, it’s just that Paris is fairly isolated and out-of-the-way from the Blue Banana region. There really isn’t much in between Paris and the Belgian border, except for some smaller cities like Reims

[@SoldadoAntiBalas2008]

Slava BAGUETTE 🥖 Geroyam Escargod 🤯

[@megalonoobiacinc4863]

its a bulging banana, it has space for France as well

[@sebhoeven2374]

As a graduate in political science and a history professor, I agree with what was said in the video. A perfect and accurate description, but it gives little consideration to the economic policies implemented in Southern regions from the post-war period onwards. Beyond the water crisis, the main issue in the South is a lack of infrastructure (airports, railways, highways, ports), which hinders serious industrial development. Efforts were made to create large industries (some of which still exist today), but they turned out to be so-called "cathedrals in the desert." The South still hungers for infrastructure today.

[@yts70r135]

thanks!

[@giacomoneri1782]

Exactly. Lack of infrastructure is the main issue for industrial developement. Even though the whole of Italy industries suffers from overregulation, at least northern industries have access to solid logistics. Like in Lombardia you would find hi speed hi capacity railways connecting with all of Europe and six lanes highways, in Sicilia you still have one way alternating rail lines, low speed diesel locomotives, disastrous highways that are barely safe enough for cars, and only connecting coast cities, leaving most of the region isolated from big arteries, only connected by rural roads. Though, i must say, industrial developement is only one factor, and it mostly accounts for financial numbers. It doesn't really equates with better living standards. In fact, slower living in the south actually translates into less stress and more happiness for those living in the south, and the high cost of housing in the north by itself evens out the salary differences. Also, the north is pretty tight in personal freedoms, on little mistake can cost dearly, while in the south people can be more spontaneous without having law enforcement constantly breathing on their necks. It ranges from things like smoke ban in Milan, no cars older than 2010 in Turin, no barbecue in Bologna, to "don't be an outright gangster" in Palermo. About the water crisis, i feel like it's propaganda, something journalists from big northern firms came up with to scare tourists away from the south and redirect them to the north. Newspaper makes it look like people in southern Italy drinks once a week cause it rains once in a decade, making it look like it's Liberia and kids have to walk ten miles with buckets on their heads. In reality, there's obviously problems with the public infrastructures, but people who had to deal with it since forever came up with solutions. Most people have private wells and don't even realize when they shut down the water supply, and everyone else just got big tanks that are more than capable to avoid shortages when the occasional shutdowns happens. But the thing is, nobody struggles for water, but people reading newspapers avoids going to the south in fear they might be dying of thirst.

[@3730hem]

The South receives plenty of money to build infrastructures but criminal organisations and local politicians and administrators manage to access that money and use it for their own businesses and interests hence the whole southern region lack infrastructures. Mafia in Sicily, camorra in Campania, 'ndrangheta in Calabria, Sacra Corona Unita in Puglia and many more other criminal organisations rule the south, that's where the underdevelopment primarily come from.

[@friedrichjaeger367]

Yeah, the only problem being every time the government dumps tax dollars in the south to foster development it somehow always manages to disappear into oblivion

[@WouterVerbruggen]

I've heard several Italians about how Italy is basically several countries in a trenchcoat pretending to be one. Mind tho, I think all of them were from the North!

[@MirkoskjiVero]

Well, italy wanted (had) to jump into the Nation-state bandwagon when all the other colonialists found out what the new fashion could be. Except it only worked well for countries that were into slave trade and invasions. So in the long run it proved ineffective for Italy, which was stronger as an agglomeration of different cultures and governing styles, and united by differences more than similarities.

[@Dr.Sortospino]

I still don’t understand why southern Italian in USA are not considered Latinos, since it was part of Spain until 1961..

[@leonardobertuzzi3042]

​@@Dr.Sortospino 1861, they where already Italy when the major migrations happened. Also while controlled by Spain they did not have a Spanish culture

[@Dr.Sortospino]

@ tell me that you don’t know.nothing about Sicily without telling me that you don’t know nothing about Sicily. Sicilian language is VERY close to spanish for how is structured. That’s why you northern don’t understand a flying f@ck when a Sicilian speaks. Sicily was dominated by Spain waaaay longer that has been Italian . Saying what you are saying is like to say that alto Adige is not German .

[@ricardoferral4553]

“Latino” is used to describe people and countries from Latin America, so that term wouldn’t fit. Further, “Hispanic” wouldn’t fit either, because it typically describes people and countries that speak Spanish. So Mexicans are Hispanic and Latinos, Brazilians are Latinos but not Hispanics, and Spaniards are Hispanics but not Latinos. In short, southern Italians don’t fit either of those two categories

[@AdiNikiVem]

I've recently been to Naples and the south of italy and I couldn't help wonder why the development was so stark compared to the north. Love that ReallifeLore chose to make a video on this!

[@Jkev24]

Green energy companies probably could revitalize the South I think. Solar and wind energy could really benefit from the climate in southern Italy and there's likely a lot of available space for solar and wind farms because of the lack of development down there. Now, connecting everything to the grid likely will be tough due to the infrastructure, but I think it would be worth it, especially since Southern Italy likely could essentially be a huge energy source during winter months due to the sun being out nearly all year long.

[@spaniardsrmoors6817]

Amalfi coast is in the south, Taoromina, Sicily, Puglia, so many more what are they like? As beautiful, modern as any in the Lakes of the North and any country in the world. It's far from stark.

[@giacomoneri1782]

​​@@Jkev24 I seriously hope not. Replacing grapes with panels and olives with windmills would destroy the main industry in those regions, and they're an enviromental disaster as well. Unfortunately some are planning that, probably to feed databases in the north, but it's a disaster for the economy and the enviroment of those places. Big companies would gain a lot from it, but the locals would just be stripped of their land and forced to emigrate. What would be worth i think it's investing more on railways and logistics in general.

[@Jkev24]

@giacomoneri1782 I was thinking implementing in areas that were currently unused and the windmills would be offshore.

[@SpaceEngineerErich]

I lived near Catania, Sicily from 18-21. I joked with my friends and family that it was a second world country. A mix of very old and very new. My apartment had many modern amenities that were better than American and the internet was cheap and fast. But just down the road were ruins and old buildings. The drainage system of the city was antiquated and roads flooded all the time. Plus the water out of the tap was nonpotable. So I rented a watercooler from the base and got a monthly delivery of water jugs.

[@Jpthecool1800]

0:25- Sardinia: “Can I into Major Italian Highway?” Italian Mainland: “No.”

[@andyfletchxr]

*when your brain moves faster than your fingers*

[@zch7491]

​@@andyfletchxr I don't think it's a typo... they're going for country ball speak

[@alexties6933]

Sardinia has highways, italy has two types of highways: superstrade who are roads with 2+ lanes in every direction and a speedlimit of 110, and autostrade who are roads with 2+ lanes per direction and a speedlimit of 130. Superstrade are free and operated by the government and autostrade are (almost always) paid and operated by private companies. Sardegna has i think 5-6 superstrade but no autostrade

[@SoldadoAntiBalas2008]

Slava 🍕 Heroyam MAFIOSO Italiano 🦾

[@SoldadoAntiBalas2008]

Slava PIZZA 🍕

[@princeofchetarria5375]

I find it interesting that a lot of the geographic differences between the north and south of Italy are very similar to those of India, but the inequality is inverted with the poorest parts of India being in the north and the south generally having higher HDI

[@Pancelotti]

I don't know If It the same In India but In Italy you could say there Is this kind of basically racism between the two halves

[@brunolima7402]

Turns out people in Southern Italy are far more approachable and friendly. As a visitor, i've enjoyed Southern Italy way more than in the North so there are many positive aspects about the South when compared with the North.

[@sebastiansanzini7840]

Yeah man are so approachable and friendly, even when you insult them they keep them friendliness only to stab you in the back as soon as you give them the choice. In the North we are sometimes more closer then Germans but at least we're loyal.

[@MACYNET323]

Population density in north Italy is dramatic high

[@anglishbookcraft1516]

As someone who’s been living in southern Italy for 6 years at this point. I think the obvious answer is that the south is where the elderly live. Everyone young moves to the north as soon as they reach college age. The only ones that stay usually don’t go to college and work rural jobs. All the new ideas and young blood leave. Only those who like the way things are hang around. But hey, I like the low prices.

[@lyricofwise6894]

​@@anglishbookcraft1516 good mention, one of the reasons that only compounds further disparity

[@VivaErDuce]

@@anglishbookcraft1516 the south is much younger, Naples is the youngest municipality in Italy

[@banmadabon]

@@VivaErDuce because the drug trade is profitable there

[@lokibau]

@@VivaErDuce ma co sto nick da cojone ndo ti presenti? 🙃🙃🙃 🤡🤡🤡

[@simoneradici5676]

That's a symptom, not a couse

[@AntiNihilist]

The Blue Banana ❌️ Holy Roman Empire✅️

[@ThunderboxMusic]

Yeah he was trying to make a connection between religious worship attendance and prosperity but…. that prosperity was brought in part because of church attenders!

[@PierSilver]

@@ThunderboxMusic and yet, now in southern europe the religiousnes of a region is inversely correlated with its wealth.

[@riccardorizzo3728]

@@PierSilver I mean, it's like that all over the world right now

[@ThunderboxMusic]

@@PierSilver Because rich people don't realize how much they need Jesus!

[@FictionHubZA]

Holy Roman Banana

[@DosDosDosDosDos787]

As a indian the so called "poor" side of italy is still richer than most regions in india we need to catch up fast 😢🇮🇳❤️🇮🇹

[@visionist7]

India has the potential to be the world's richest country but like all countries with potential - including Italy - it will sadly never happen in our lifetimes

[@magatamass]

From a tourist point of view, the South has always been way more interesting to me.

[@silvialand]

And it is historically and culturally very very rich

[@BP-of5cp]

It is. Even those from North Italy think so. No matter what they say about the South, they end up booking their summer holidays in the south or even buying their second home there.

[@randomdeath9207]

Why North Italy is Rich and South Italy is "Poor" - Name before its changed Edit- *Chill grammar police, I'm sorry, Don't beat me with your baton*

[@Zlen_1]

Lmfao true

[@castleanthrax1833]

It's*

[@Electronicmadness123]

@@castleanthrax1833same thing

[@salvatoreregalbuto5444]

@@randomdeath9207 Because Italy doesn’t care about any region thats not a major city. My fathers village Cornelle 2 hours from Rome didnt have electricity until 2011. Everyone in the town moved to America.

[@GreatLiteShark]

This channel is corny af

[@Valaens]

Southern Italian who works in the North here. Loved the video.

[@pharelon]

The Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire, which dominated southern Italy during its time, cannot be regarded as a foreign power ruling parts of the region. They considered themselves-and indeed were-Romans, despite being Greek in culture and language. Furthermore, southern Italy had a long history of Greek colonies and populations since antiquity, so it’s unclear why the Byzantines would be seen as a foreign presence.

[@Nefferious]

Because they weren't Italian. Roman≠Italian

[@Giuseppe_1994]

They’re arab

[@angamaitesangahyando685]

Why do modern people detest the word "Byzantine"? I never understood why it triggers them. - Adûnâi

[@razackchrist5096]

@@Giuseppe_1994 No.

[@fartknockerR17]

@@angamaitesangahyando685 Because it wasn't widely used until the 1600 or 1700s (memory bad). A german historian invented it.

[@thefedezboy]

16:34 🇦🇹🇮🇹it's important to keep in mind that Metternich had a clear desire to keep italy disunited, since an italian identity and vulgar language had been developing for a while. napoleon's ideas Did end up creating a desire in the italian people to unite, some consider the start of the risorgimento to be the letter of the king of naples (one of napoleon's generals) letter before being deposed by the austrians, to finally unite against the external enemies. All of which would motivate him to downplay the mere possibility of italians as a people

[@zhcultivator]

I hope Southern Italy can become as economically prosperous as say Singapore in the future.

[@bloxoss]

As someone who has family in the Bari-area, I'd argue both regions are well developed places to visit and the economic divide is less noticeable than it was a few decades back. The stigma between the two has gone down drastically.

[@Pancelotti]

Forza Bari

[@leonardomargiotta5772]

Puglia and Campania are exceptions, I don't think people from Calabria and Basilicata would say the same, the divide has never gone away

[@EnocksonFerrall]

My main concern is how to survive all of these financial and political crisis, especially in light of the US political power scuffle. The government has really called things more difficult for its citizens, and we can't sit back and bear all the consequences of the bad governance.

[@Jessicas.4207]

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[@AvivaAgnes]

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[@AvivaAgnes]

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[@Cynthiajoy2050]

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[@Cynthiajoy2050]

Started with 10 000 due to fear & now I'm re-investing 83k

[@Jin88866]

I'd like to say that Southern Italy had almost no railways because they had ships which were more efficient and faster than trains given the difficult terrain in the South. Why would you develop railways when you have ports and can navigate between all major cities with no obstacles like Mountains and rivers?

[@simoneradici5676]

I agree but unfortunatly there is a direct connection between railway and industrial development in the XIX century.

[@Hikaeme-od3zq]

​@@simoneradici5676 I'll just echo what this guy above said, you got the biggest fleet of the Mediterranean (the Bourbons') WHAT do you need railways for? Plus, it's hard to build railways in southern Italy nowadays too: Southern Italy is made and divided by mountains and hills, the North literally has one of the biggest planes in Europe.

[@inaridefucc8904]

Hi, I'm Neapolitan (southern italian) and I'd like to give my two cents on the issue. No matter whichever explaination you might develop in terms of pratical economic theory, the sad and nauseating truth is that southern Italy is poor simply because it is undoubtly on the of the most corrupted regions in the entire world by a surprisingly large margin. Almost every major politician or person of interest has some kind of connection to the mafia. They take more bribes than paychecks and the infrastructure is awful. Worker's rights are inexistent and unions are, you guessed it, awfully corrupt. Employers reap huge profit margins while keeping employees as poor as possible. While northern italy is redeemed by a more centralized economy based on manifacturing, southern Italy's reliance on turism makes the living conditions of locals unbearably worse, rising costs of living while the beforementioned terminally corrupted infrastructure further enanches the economical divide, since obviously enough it doesn't need to rely on autoctonous consumption. This allows entrepreneurs (which most of the time have connections to the mafia, of course) to pay their employees the bare minimum, often times falsifying contracts for a real pay of about 3 or 4 euros per hour. If I'm not able to develop a substainable career in a few years I'm ready to emigrate to another country for better life prospects, because everything is better than the hell southern italy has become.

[@VivaErDuce]

@@inaridefucc8904 southern Italy is very corrupt but I don't think that it is more than the north or not that much and it cannot be the only factor and things like unions are a nation wide thing, also the wages not growing, and we have some good governance in the south, especially in Campania

[@simoneradici5676]

These are all symptoms, they are not the reasons behind

[@inaridefucc8904]

@simoneradici5676 I'd be glad to learn what you think are the core reasons of the problem

[@MissRed92837]

I am a single female, Swiss, and want to retire in Sardegna. Is it safe to live in Sardegna as a single female? Do you think the locals will try to take advantage of me and charge me more, or do I have to be careful of the mafia?

[@VivaErDuce]

@@MissRed92837 sardinia has always been quite isolated, there has never been strong mafia presence and it's a very safe place in general

[@Leptospirosi]

Infrastructure and Orography is key: in the Roman and Dark Age era, The south of Italy was rich, and the north was poor: this was due to the centere of trade being the Mediterranean, and the rich trades with the middle east. With the Carolingian Empire the epicentre of trade moved into Europe, with the development of France and Germany. The South of Italy starved out, locked out by the advent of the Ottoman Empire, while the North, being closer to the Holy Roman Empire centres and France, become rich, through Venice and Genoa out competing Amalfi and the developing Padus Plane getting traction. The South being Cut off by the Anjoux and kept separated by the Papal State sealed the fate of the two Sicilies, especially once the world trade moved to the Atlantic rather then the Mediterranean. Nowadays, the lack of a bridge between the continent and Sicily, the difficult terrains of Basilicata and Calabria and the isolation of Sardinia make the south helpless, because anything produced in the south is more expensive to trade, despite the artificial creation of state funded factories in the south, unless the Mediterranean becomes prominent again

[@Liberty_Soundwave]

the north was not poor during Roman times

[@dennisweidner288]

Good comment to supplement the video. But you leave out the role of Spain which dominate Sicily and southern Italy for several centuries. Spain had the same negative impact on southern Spain that it has had on Latin America.

[@Leptospirosi]

​@@dennisweidner288 it had, but in general Spain was aligned with the HRE, which made it's influence less Divisive. In general Sicily was more receptive to Aragonaise (not Spanish) rulership, which in exchange made Sicily quite rich as far as it lasted. The Anjoux, and later the Bourbons were much more predatory and treated the south as a Roman province (of Roman times) rather than part of their own territories. The Napoleonic era sealed the fate of the south to where it is now.

[@Leptospirosi]

@dennisweidner288 Spain was not as important for the South as the area was countinuously shifting between the French and the Spanish: constant war was a problem under the spanish domination, but that was true for the richest areas in the north as well during the Italian wars, like the Milanese, held by Spain for almost 2 centuries until it was traded to the Austrians again. Unlike South America, Southern Italy still had a solid background to build upon during the XVI and XVII centuries, and Neaples and Palermo were still among the largest cities in the world. The true decadence was geopolitic and climatic, as the south remained 100% tied to feudal agriculture and was tied to a French latifund model by the Norman's, the AnjouxAragonaises and then the Bourbons. This meant that the South was outcompeted by France itself in terms of volumes, while the many cities in the north with their Communes and then Signorie developed an interlocked trade system which gave birth to a rich economy. When I say "Feudal" is bad, think about what happened to those cities who were locked inside the Papal state after 1600 and how they fell back compared to their brethren who remained independent. Still, the attitude of people is forged on ancestral uses and the 3 centuries of Papal domination was enough to destroy the economy but not enough to actually erase the memory of freedom and individuality, but in the South, where the Comunes never took off, there was no memory to build upon after the Savoy took over, as local people just saw the "Pedmonteises" as another central authority to live under. Veneto was a very poor region after Napoleon destroyed Venice and gave the area to the Hapsburg, but they bounced back because trade with the Bavarian area was easy, and the economies became tied. Romagna and Marche, both gaslighted by the Papal domination, after the Italian Wars, were heavily agricultural societies, and yet they closeness to the other north regions acted like a tractor for their economies along the old Roman road system, but in the South, nothing existed to bridge the economy to Europe. North and South Italy always were two different "nations," and commerce between them was "dammed," by the Papal state, which never allowed their economies to merge. The "encirclement" syndrome of the Pope always acted as a disrupting attitude focusing on keeping the two areas isolated, both politically and economically, and this already from the times of the Lombard Principalities and the Byzantines, set against the Lombard King in the North and the HRE afterwards.

[@darioche85]

south italy is not poor! is simply less rich, poverty is a serious problem regarding other place of the world

[@BillyCain-zy7sl]

Compared to the rest of Western Europe southern Italy is poor, in Eastern Europe it would be average and of course globally it isn't poor at all.

[@kevinjohnson7374]

My wife and I save up every year for one thing only, a nice vacation and we’ve been all over Northern Italy until this fall we finally made it to Naples, the boot and Sicily and we feel hard for it! The people are so amazing, hard working and friendly. The landscape is unbelievable, the food is one of a kind and cost absolutely nothing compared to the rest of Europe and constant action of people living their lives is exhilarating. That said there is a staunch difference in way of life compared to the north, it’s harder to make it in the south with less resources but live seems so much happier their. I will retire abroad someday and southern italy is now my top destination.

[@IolandaPiscina]

They dont have less resoùrces, its' badlly distributeð, 😮😮😮😮😮😮😮

[@aurum_nostrum]

Good luck😂

[@gaia7240]

Do you realize they are faking it to get your money?

[@emanueleroppo8357]

One of the biggest problems of the south is the lack of transports. In the north you can get anywhere in a couple of hours with trains… in that sense, for tourism also, it’s not so complicated to see 4-5 cities in 10 days, idk to what extent that is feasible in the south

[@zacharymatt9907]

Your sponsors are always the greatest. This sponsor came just in time too perfect addition for me to travel to japan

[@MisterMolby]

Please also do the divide between Western Turkey and Eastern Turkey. They are also very very different

[@Abacos27]

"Eastern Turkey"? Do you mean "Kurdistan and Former Armenia"?

[@MisterMolby]

@ Idk the map says Turkey. 🤷‍♂️ Cope

[@SoldadoAntiBalas2008]

East ans West Germany : hold our Kebab 🫔🌯

[@RubRules]

I'm surprised he didnt mention the Mafia at all

[@MarcoMenozziPro]

The mafia matters, but not that much. Mafia wants power not poverty, as seen in the United States.

[@horos02]

@@MarcoMenozziPro Poor people are easier to buy than rich ones. One of the many tactics Mafia uses is to spend an amount of money in a neglected area into something that appears a lot like a road or a church, so with that they do gain the favour of many many people.

[@maraapolide8859]

Still gotta watch the rest of the video (thank you for doing it!!) but had to cheer when I saw my tiny bilingual hometown Merano at 1:05!

[@MillMillerz]

I just saw the clip of Furio talking about how Northern Italy was always more rich than Southern Italy than get this recommended to me lol.

[@marcomaraga4950]

Thank you for these kind of videos. As a north italian, it's sad to see how little tourism there is in southern Italy because there are amazing places there. I hope in a better future for south regions.

[@angelicaeagles9627]

If anyone ever visits the lake region Brescia, especially Lake Iseo, there is a small little mountain village called Zone, it's home to the biggest erosion pyramids in Central-Southern Europe, we also have dinosaur footprints as well as a forest with gnomes carved out of the trees. It's a beautiful, breathtaking village with some of the best sights of the entire lake, if not all the Camonica valley, from all the wonders I've already mentioned to the Trenta Passi and the mountain top of mount Guglielmo ❤

[@cavulocappoccio7690]

Ada chè una gnara dela àl, pensa te!

[@lokibau]

e sticazzi ndo ce lo metti?

[@frank_zapping]

Vengo sempre a Zone a mangiare la pizza 🍕😅 sembra di essere in montagna anche se non è proprio in quota!

[@AndreaTerenziani]

"no country in Europe more divided than Italy" my brother in Christ Bosnia is literally next door

[@har8397]

Videos like this show how clear it is that people look to explain things.Look at a map and pick what they want.Choose the facts that back up their theory.And run with it

[@ryanb9873]

But, Southern Italy unquestionably has the best food, the cheapest most enjoyable wine on Earth, and the island containing the most healthy old people and truly one of the 'blue zones'

[@FunkyRezable]

"Cheapest most enjoyable wine on Earth" As someone from Friuli-Venezia Giulia I disagree.

[@TimonLepidus]

Emilia-Romagna: and that's where you're wrong.

[@marcolucca6241]

​@@TimonLepiduse infatti io che son Lombardo salumi e pasta Emilia, carne Piemonte, il resto fottecazzo

[@SinceramenteTuo]

Nah Romagna's food is the best in Italy

[@ashwinnarasimhan2729]

Between Naples, Sicily, and the Amalfi coast I am surprised that the South isn't getting a somewhat better share of tourism. Milan, Turin, and various resort towns in the Alps in the North are lovely to visit but I would have figured at least Central might be more prevalent too between Rome and Florence.

[@doyouknowreallife]

This country showcases one of the starkest regional economic divides in Europe. The industrialized north, with cities like Milan and Turin, thrives as a global powerhouse for fashion, finance, and manufacturing. Meanwhile, the agricultural south, often called "Mezzogiorno," struggles with higher unemployment and lower GDP. This economic split is known as the "Southern Question" and has shaped Italy's policies and identity for centuries. It's a fascinating example of how geography and history intertwine to influence economies on a national scale.

[@mrJety89]

Looks like southern Italy is getting the "boot"

[@ErrRomanista]

The boot is where i am from (calabria)

[@TheLizardKing1967]

Being closer to Switzerland probably doesn't hurt.

[@pixelmaster98]

more like "closer to everything". I live in southern Germany, and driving to a vacation in Northern italy is feasible. This is not the case for southern Italy, which may explain the tourism gap at least somewhat.

[@MarketsDriveTheWorld]

Switzerland has 10 million people.... More like Germany and France.

[@Tazio_01]

More like the other way around, Switzerland benefits from being close to the biggest industrial region in Europe in terms of added gross value. Check your bias, Italian excellence in the north is surely not dependent on Switzerland, France or Germany.

[@Tazio_01]

@@pixelmaster98 Again, this is another common misconception. Tourism makes up only 6,2% of Italy’s GDP. Northern Italy is an industrial powerhouse, the biggest in Europe by geographic area, we are rich because YOU BUY OUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES. Not because we are near you or because you come to our cities to take a couple pictures.

[@the0ne809]

just like northern Mexico is way wealthier than southern Mexico. It is the location mostly.

[@pallonio]

This is great content! Being sardinian, I always felt the rest of Italy as a different country and I'm not the only one: it is very common to say "Continent" and "Italy" interchangeably.

[@FairyCRat]

First sentence in the video: "There is currently no country in Europe that is more sharply divided into 2 regions than Italy." Ukraine? Cyprus? Belgium? Poland?

[@DBBravo]

Economically that is. Ukraine would still apply but not the others. Belgium doesnt have those sharp economic differences and Cyprus is because of "arbitrary" reasons, that is, active military occupation and conflict. Ukraine was like that before so it still checks out. Its about how a unified country without ongoing hostilities experiences such drastic economic outputs

[@SoldadoAntiBalas2008]

Eastern and Western Germany 😎

[@andyjay729]

All the constituent UK countries, but especially England. Though there it's the opposite from Italy; the South (especially the London metro) is rich and the North is poor.

[@MarketsDriveTheWorld]

​@@andyjay729England is really just London and how much close you are to it, Italy is the entire north with Milan a little better but nothing in comparison to the economic importance London has.

[@okene]

​@@MarketsDriveTheWorldfacts. And even in London, it's about how close to the center you are. Outer zones have worse infrastructure

[@Sacto1654]

And you wonder why there's still a lot of arguments about extending Italy's excellent high-speed rail network south of Naples.

[@MirkoskjiVero]

Since is a for profit endeavour, to develop the high speed network, it will not happen simply because there wouldn't be enough users capable of spending for the ticket. Contrary to several other European countries, transport infrastructures in italy are managed and financed following a private business model. There is the need for an economic viability, that simply isn't there in regions where the average salary is 1200€/month for a full time job under a fake (but legal) contract, when you're lucky.

[@dayros2023]

The network is being expanded from Naples to Bari.

[@MirkoskjiVero]

@@dayros2023 took some time...

[@thedarksideofthemood]

This video is pretty accurate. But I would've appreciated if you talked about other 2 topics: 1. When the Bourbon kingdom was incorporated into the unification of Italy, its treasury "mysteriously" disappeared but there is speculation that it was used to cover the debts of the northern principalities. Furthermore, during that reign the south was developing its trade network in the Mediterranean and its population was slowly improving culturally and economically. Development stopped until the arrival of fascism. 2. After the fall of fascism, the Americans installed mafia leaders in southern cities as mayors and regional presidents and this has irremediably compromised the development of those regions up to the present day. Even today, an emblematic example during Covid, the health minister refuses to address the problem of hospitals in Calabria for fear of mafia repercussions.

[@BlackSalamander439]

I did a roadtrip through Italy (south to north) and it’s crazy how the living standards got gradually better. I come from Poland, a country that isn’t exactly rich, but some places in Italy felt even worse than some of the most ran down towns I’ve seen in Poland.

[@elba6313]

Vorrei ricordare che facciamo parte del G7 , siamo fra i paesi più industrializzati, non mi pare che ci sia la Polonia in queste classifiche

[@fidgetykoala]

​@elba6313I polacchi sono net beneficiary significa che si prendono una grandissima fetta di fondi europei, noi siamo net contributor...I soldi li mettiamo. Poi non mi spingo oltre su che tipo di persone sono, li ho visti in azione all'estero...per piacere. Per non parlare del fatto che hanno l'esercito pronto a colpire i rifugiati. Sono pessimi guarda ancora che parlano.

[@gaia7240]

​I vabbè ma quella ricchezza è posseduta da milionari e anche stranieri quindi non vuol dire niente

[@highallmighty233]

Furio told me everything I needed to know about this.

[@SaeedMobayed]

I 'ate the north

[@Jsantanner]

Was looking for this 😂

[@Hollywood2021]

Columbus would have had a bee on his hat

[@themulattomaker2602]

Even'a today, they put up their nose at us like we're *peasants*

[@SleepPara]

The north of Italy always had the money and power. They punish the south, since hundreds of years. Even today, they put up their noses at us, like we’re peasants. I hate the north.

[@elenalatici9568]

A couple of years ago, the Po. nearly dried up. The rice crop was devastated.

[@HeresTheGenZFlorentineFolks.]

FUN FACTS: The word “Terrone”, created to identify people from southern Italy, was born here in Florence back during the 1600s. Grand Duchy of Tuscany has always been great.

[@omeka8842]

aldooo: eco* terun teruuun teruuuun

[@HeresTheGenZFlorentineFolks.]

@ si esatto😂😂😂

[@giors5329]

Siete peggio dei terroni voi almeno loro sono simpatici, inutili ma simpatici voi siete tanto simpatici quanto utili

[@DorianTheReaper]

I like how the Blue Banana avoids France. That's based AF

[@spaniardsrmoors6817]

Zee banana no like zee France

[@dmac7128]

Interesting contrast. Around 800-700 BCE Italy saw the rise of Greek and Phoenician influenced civilization in the South especially in Sicily through colonization along with Rome in the North, it quickly surpassed anything that existed before and would end up ruling over all of Italy and beyond in the Mediterranean region. The Po valley was crucial to Rome's ascendancy. I am curious to see if the contrasting origins from the period of history has any bearing on the differences between the north and the south.

[@hebusletroll415]

it's crazy the amount of data and the deep analysis you are providing, even as french you provide me with a huge boost to my understanding of a neighbor country. We can clearly see the deep research work, keep up the good stuff flowing ^^

[@egeayvala1799]

saily e sim is truly great

[@zsoltpapp3363]

As a tourist southern italy is so much more interesting to me - except that sadly almost noone speaks english except for some tourist areas, but you can deal with them by hand gestures :)

[@Alexander-rr6yn]

Learn Italian, it might be a challenge but a rewarding one 👍

[@anwarfellahi3673]

You didn't talk about the Italian mafia in the south.

[@andyjay729]

And you don't want to talk about them too loudly in the south, heh.

[@kkonti1113]

Do you really think Mafia has no hands on the wealthiest lands?

[@lokibau]

mafia is more present in the north, being a criminal venture that follows money.

[@nahuel5438]

You didn’t speak about mafia (illegal and criminal economy) that's still 1/3 of the italian economic force. Without it Italy would dominate the mediterranean region

[@PierSilver]

@@nahuel5438 sources? and don't conflate fiscal evasion with mafia.

[@andreagermini8094]

The funny thing is that half of the times that the North gets mentioned in the video, it could easily be replaced by just Lombardy

[@RafaelusOptimus]

I'd encourage antbody visiting italy to visit the south. It's gorgeous, cheap and the people are fantastic. It already gets a lot of local tourists (people from the center or north go there to relax), but a few international tourists wouldn't hurt.

[@maf25]

Are you sure it’s “cheap”? I live in Veneto and Sicily didn’t seem that much cheaper IMHO

[@orazioserraggisindone1015]

​Senza offesa, ma credo tu abbia dovuto troppo vino per paragonarle sotto punto di vista d costo della vi​ta @@maf25

[@molochkali]

I think that the most surprising thing from this vid was that i discovered that FILA comes from Italy lol I just assumed it was a US brand

[@johnlindsay3940]

This is the best channel on KZbin.

[@riccardomarchesini836]

i’d like to add that pianura padana or po valley is the most polluted area in all of europe (this comes from one of its inhabitants)

[@AhaouMero]

Requesting Real Life Lore to produce a showcase video for Peru is in its eleventh round. It deserves a comprehensive documentary because of its turbulent yet intriguing geopolitical past.

[@darenzy]

That's true sadly, having lived in Veneto for almost a decade I can say it's no better than the Balkan, it might even be worse. Although there's distinct difference, here pollution comes mostly from individuals, such as people still using wood/coal to heat their homes. While in Italy most of it comes from traffic and big industries. Smog is almost constantly present, at least around Verona and rarely I could clearly see the mountains beyond lago di Garda and further north towards Trento. 9/10 of thickest fogs I've seen in my life were in northern Italy.

[@MattHatter360]

Yup the Alps and Appennini are a natural shield against wind so the pollution isn't blown away

[@gaia7240]

Yeah that's why I want to move away, I can't literally breathe and I'm from the countryside

[@roby72s]

The south of Italy is poorer then the North, not poor. People in the South live very well indeed.

[@federicodigioia4463]

Very well?? 😂😂 Are you serious? Only southern italian believe they live well and want to stay there, there is literally no normal people from north italy or abroad who would transfer to live in sicily or south in general Probably you are an italian from the South A' Robé, non ce la raccuntá

[@modestacattaruzza7400]

​@@federicodigioia4463what an ignorant statement,and moranic as well.

[@GeorgeKilla]

Yea right , people in the south are the bulk of all italian immigrants in other developed countries , love Italians still , just admit it

[@giacomoneri1782]

​@@federicodigioia4463 E dai, che la differenza di stipendio ti va via solo di affitto. Al sud si vive meglio, in Padania sei povero lo stesso, ma hai gli sbirri pronti a spennarti ogni volta che esci di casa. In più ti respiri il catrame delle industrie, ma guai se hai una macchina del 2009, troppo vecchia, inquini. Pagare, pagaaareee.

[@giacomoneri1782]

​@@GeorgeKilla Just admit "densily populated and heavily industrialized" doesn't translate to better living. It just means more revenue for big companies shareholders. For capitalistic sheer numbers it's better, but standards of living are way better in the south.

[@espvp]

Last summer I visited Florence, Rome and Salermo and it’s neighboring coastal towns, and even though non was the “true north” nor “true south” the difference was palpable.

[@danielefabbro822]

One of the biggest jokes of nature is that despite being surrounded by water in form of seas, the South is also one of the most dry region of Europe. 😑 During times, since the times of ancient Greeks and Romans till today, there was a lot of attempts to bring more water to those regions, without great success. Unless we try to create water out of thin air, there's little to do.

[@jflegias]

You can take salt out of the sea, just need power.

[@visionist7]

@@jflegias nuclear power was banned in Italy in one of our trademark political brainfarts

[@jflegias]

@@visionist7 Yes I know that, I was one of the few voting to restart nuclear power in the referendum. However laws are just made up rules which can be changed with enough effort and we should not be discouraged from trying again

[@mich421]

Theoretically, you can extract water from the air

[@danielefabbro822]

@mich421 I know, condensators right? But the South is simply dry. Technically there will be enough for the needs of the territory, but the process takes lot of time and then you have to filter the water. It would be easier to find an underground source of sweat water... of course, if there are any...

[@TheStickCollector]

You might think it would be the opposite due to being closer to the exit of the Mediterranean.

[@MirkoskjiVero]

Yes, but no. Italy is not allowed to have open, fruitful and mutually advantageous trade relations with the other countries of the mediterranean, mostly because many of them are of a different creed... And if it only tries, bad things (a-la northstream) may happen...

[@simoneradici5676]

Germany economy is bigger then the entire north africa and mediterean middle east combined

[@Evans_best_friend]

Italian here. I live in the region of Marche, and the reason why southern Italy is so underdeveloped is that when Italy achieved union in 1871 there was a proper interest in leaving south Italy behind, because South Italy has so much resources like oil and plenty of agriculture and making it develop would have let southern Italy get all those resources, but since northern Italy had more control over the peninsule and chose to get the resources themself

[@CaHgO]

It's not about geography. It's about the proper or unproper governing of the people/resources, and the actual people.

[@AdmiralDuck1]

They showed my house in the vid? 1:31 !

[@punns643]

Im coming to visit

[@douglaswilkinson5700]

You nailed it. I remember professor at an east coast university wanting to find out why tuition at the university his daughter attended kept going up, up up. He discovered it was administrative bloat. His study was published and the backlash was crazy. Other academics learned to be quiet and just acceot it.

[@salvatoreregalbuto5444]

This is why most southern Italians move to America. My dad came in 1972 from the south.

[@tomp6685]

My mom's side all immigrated to New Jersey from Sicily back in the late 1800s.

[@salvatoreregalbuto5444]

@@tomp6685same my moms side came from edna sicily during the same time

[@LucaPasini2]

That's also why the American stereotype of Italians is heavily inspired by southern Italian culture!

[@jorybrown6714]

Same with my great grandfather after WW1

[@Tonyx.yt.]

​@@LucaPasini2 yes but keep in mind north Italy also experienced large scale emigration,mostly north east, BUT they choose south america instead, 90% of north italians went to south america and 70% of south italians went to north america

[@phlave]

I just paused the video to say: good job pronouncing "Bologna"!

[@6OceanSoul9]

I can't believe you made a half hour video without mentioning corruption and mafia

[@caezar55]

Bear in mind being unemployed in southern Italy doesn't mean you are idle, it might mean you are working in the black economy, cash in hand, and not counted in any stats.

[@Schyz]

The north/south divide also happens in Spain, and there is no volcanic activity in the south of Spain.

[@cloude5415]

As an Italian I can say: great video, but I agree with the other comments that say that this problem isn’t caused solely by the things you mentioned, but by problems in government and other things. I just wanted to say that although Vesuvius isn’t inactive and if it were to erupt it would be catastrophic, it’s dormant and closely monitored so I don’t think it would be an issue to evacuate in the slim chance it actually did erupt