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Identity and administration

Metropolitan city of Reggio Calabria and four provinces (Catanzaro, Cosenza, Crotone, Vibo Valentia). Ordinary statute. Three law 482/1999 minorities: Arbëreshë (Italy's largest Albanian community, mainly around Cosenza), Greeks of Calabria in the Aspromonte, Occitans of Guardia Piemontese. Festivals: San Vitaliano in Catanzaro, Madonna della Consolazione in Reggio, Varia di Palmi.

Sections: Geography · History · Population · Languages · Time zone · Public holidays

Catanzaro – capital Catanzaro (seat of the regional government)
Reggio Calabria – Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria (seat of the regional council)
Cosenza – capital Cosenza
Crotone – capital Crotone (province created in 1992)
Vibo Valentia – capital Vibo Valentia (province created in 1992)

Statute and minorities

Calabria is a region with an ordinary statute and an institutional peculiarity: the regional government sits in Catanzaro and the regional council in Reggio Calabria. Law 482/1999 protects three minorities: the Arbëreshë, present in over thirty municipalities mainly in the province of Cosenza (Lungro, seat of the Byzantine-rite eparchy, San Demetrio Corone, Civita, Frascineto, Spezzano Albanese, Santa Sofia d'Epiro, Vaccarizzo, San Cosmo) and in the Crotone and Catanzaro areas; the Greeks of Calabria (Grecanici) of the Aspromonte area (Bova, Bova Marina, Condofuri with Gallicianò, Roghudi, Roccaforte del Greco) and some districts of Reggio; the Occitans of Guardia Piemontese, descended from Piedmontese Waldensians. Calabrian dialects divide between the northern type (Cosenza area) and the extreme southern type, close to Sicilian.

Catanzaro: San Vitaliano, 16 July
Reggio Calabria: Madonna della Consolazione, second Sunday of September, with the procession of the painting from the Eremo to the cathedral
Cosenza: Madonna del Pilerio, 12 February; Crotone: Madonna di Capo Colonna, with the procession of the icon from the cathedral to the Capo Colonna sanctuary
Vibo Valentia: San Leoluca, 1 March
Palmi: Varia di Palmi, last Sunday of August, shoulder-borne structure listed as UNESCO intangible heritage since 2013
Civita, Lungro, San Demetrio: Byzantine-rite Easter and Vallje (Arbëreshë dances on the Tuesday after Easter); Bova: summer Greek-Calabrian festivals

Population

Regional figurePeriod: Jan 1, 2025Validsample unknown

Source: ISTAT – Popolazione residente al 1° gennaio (dataflow 22_289, DCIS_POPRES1)

1,834,646people