Apulia

Apulia is a region bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Otranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its southern portion known as Salento, a peninsula, forms the heel of the Italian "boot." The region is comprised of 7,469 square miles and its population is about 4,032,000 residents. It is neighboring to Greece and Albania, across the Adriatic and Ionian. The region extends as far north as Monte Gargano, and was the scene of the last stages in the second Punic War.

Bari is the capital of the region, which is divided into the provinces of Bari, Brindisi, Foggia, Lecce, and Taranto. Apulia is mostly a plain; its low coast, however, is broken by the mountainous Gargano Peninsula in the north, and there are mountains in the north central part of the region.

The official national language (since 1861) is Italian. However, as a consequence of its deep and colorful history, other historical languages have been spoken in this region for centuries. In the northern sections, a dialect of the Neapolitan language called "northern Pugliese" is spoken. In the southern part of the region, a dialect of the Sicilian language called "Salentino" is spoken. In isolated pockets of the Southern part of Salento, a hybrid Greek language called "Griko" is spoken by just a few thousand people. A rare dialect of the Franco-Provençal language called "Faetar" is spoken in two isolated towns in the Province of Foggia. In a couple of small villages, the "Arbëreshë" dialect of the Albanian language has been spoken since a wave of refugees settled there in the 15th century by a very tiny community (couple of thousands nowadays). The Messapic language formerly spoken in the region was extinct by the 1st century BC due to the romanisation of the area which took place after the definitive conquest of the region by the Romans during the 3rd century BC.

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