Dear Readers,
An October assortment of Italian Connections: Address abbreviations for States or Regions in either English or Italian often seem to defy logic, so to be on the safe side when I write to someone in Alabama (AL), Alaska (AK), Arkansas (AR) or Arizona (AZ) I do not use the abbreviated form, likewise Louisiana (LA) which I fear may wind up in California. Maine (ME), Massachusetts (MA), Michigan (MI), Mississippi (MS) and Missouri (MO) also get the full spell from me, as do Hawaii (HI) and Iowa (IA).
Fortunately, most of my letters are headed towards the “Golden State”, California (CA) so this is only a minor inconvenience. Abbreviations for Regions (States) are not commonly used when writing a letter to Italy from the U.S. but those for the Provinces (Counties) are. Italy is divided into twenty regioni (regions), just like the U.S. is divided into fifty states.
Each region of Italy is divided into province (provinces), just like the states of the U.S. are divided into counties.
Each province is made up of comuni (cities or towns) and frazioni (villages or hamlets).
Italy’s 20 Regions (States) are: Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lazio, Liguria, Lombardia, Marche, Molise, Piemonte, Puglia, Sardegna, Sicilia, Toscana, Trentino-Alto Adige, Umbria, Valle d’Aosta, Veneto.
If you are looking for regional cooking information or just for your learning pleasure, here are the abbreviations used and the provinces (counties) in each Region (State):
Abruzzo
CH Chieti AQ L’Aquila PE Pescara TE Teramo
Basilicata
MT Matera PZ Potenza Calabria CZ Catanzaro CS Cosenza KR Crotone VV Vibo Valentia
Campania
AV Avellino BN Benevento CE Caserta NA Napoli SA Salerno
Emilia-Romagna
BO Bologna FE Ferrara FO Forli MO Modena PR Parma PC Piacenza RA Ravenna RE Reggio Emilia RN Rimini
Friuli-Venezia Giulia
GO Gorizia PN Pordenone
Lazio
RF Frosinone LT Latina RI Rieti ROMA Roma VT Viterbo
Liguria
GE Genova IM Imperia SP La Spezia SV Savona
Lombardia BG Bergamo BS Brescia CO Como CR Cremona LC Lecco LO Lodi MN Mantova MI Milano PV Pavia
SO Sondrio VA Varese
Marche
AN Ancona AP Ascoli Piceno MC Macerata PS Pesaro
Molise
CB Campobasso IS Isernia
Piemonte
AL Alessandria AS Asti BI Biella CN Cuneo NO Novara TO Torino VB Verbano-Cusio-Ossola VC Vercelli
Puglia
BA Bari BR Brindisi FG Foggia LE Lecce TA Taranto
Sardegna
CA Cagliari NU Nuoro OR Oristano SS Sassari
Sicilia
AG Agrigento CL Caltanissetta CT Catania EN Enna ME Messina PA Palermo RG Ragusa SR Siracusa TP Trapani
Toscana
AR Arezzo FI Firenze GR Grosseto LI Livorno LU Lucca MS Massa-Carrara PI Pisa PT Pistoia PO Prato SI Siena
Trentino-Alto Adige
BZ Bolzano TN Trento
Umbria
PG Perugia TR Terni
Valle D’Aosta
AO Aosta
Veneto
BL Belluno PD Padova RO Rovigo TV Treviso VE Venezia VR Verona VI Vicenza
***
Napoleone Buonaparte (1769-1821). Many men who “make it big”, often want to re- write their personal history or change their name. Napoleone did not make any radical changes, but although he was born in Italian-speaking Corsica, he later changed his name to the French Bonaparte.
Not that one can blame him, because during this period (1796-1815) Napoleon, then Emperor of France was extending his control over much of Europe through a string of successful military victories. He began his invasion of Italy in 1796 and eventually liberated the autonomous city-states from their various foreign rulers. He politically unified them into the Kingdom of Italy, over which he proclaimed himself king.
Only Sicily and Sardinia were not under Napoleon’s control. The restructuring of Italy into organized regions, provinces and comuni (towns), with certain political responsibilities at the local level, was a Napoleonic creation. Napoleon also initiated the maintenance of vital records for births, marriages, and deaths throughout the kingdom. He detailed which records were to be kept and what information they must include.
He also had special books printed to assist the town sindaco (mayor) in maintaining this information. By 1808, Napoleon controlled virtually all of continental Europe, either directly of through French rule. Only England, protected by the English Channel, kept him from becoming the sovereign of all Europe. Because he couldn’t dominate England militarily, he tried to hurt the British economically by imposing a massive embargo on all British goods. The subjects of his empire, who were the consumers of these goods, began to stand up to Napoleon.
With the help of British troops, they succeeded in overthrowing the French rule. First Spain, then Austria and Russia rebelled. Napoleon’s troops failed miserably in Russia due to bad weather and poor preparations. This defeat encouraged other empires to reclaim their own territories. In 1815, at the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon met his final defeat. Although Napoleon’s reign was short, its effects were far-reaching. We have Napoleon to thank for the existence and consistency of Italy vital records today in the Regions, Provinces and Comuni of Italy.
