Basilicata - A Rugged Terrain

The ‘instep’ of the Italian ‘boot’, Basilicata has little coastline compared to the other southern regions- it has one short coastline on the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west and another on the Gulf of Taranto to the south-east. Set at the southern end of the Apennine mountain range, which runs down the spine of Italy, the region is almost entirely mountainous and the harsh terrain has always made communications difficult. This is a land of farmers and shepherds, who tend their hardy flocks on the stony slopes of the mountains. Until very recent times Basilicata was one of the least developed provinces of Italy, and one of its poorest regions, but the area has become significantly richer over the past years, largely thanks to the recent discovery of oil under the rocks.