REGIONS
Mere administrative districts of the central state during the Kingdom of Italy, Regions were granted political autonomy by the 1948 Constitution of the Italian Republic. The original draft list comprised the Salento region (which was eventually included in the Apulia), Friuli and Venezia Giulia were separated regions and Basilicata was named Lucania. Abruzzo and Molise were different region in the first draft, they were later merged into Abruzzo e Molise, and separated again in 1963. Nevertheless, the actual implementation of regional autonomy was postponed until the first Regional Elections of 1970.
Regions acquired a significant level of autonomy following a constitutional reform in 2001 (brought about by a centre-left government and confirmed by popular referendum), granting them with residual policy competence. A further federalist reform was proposed by the regionalist party Lega Nord and in 2005, the centre-right government led by Silvio Berlusconi proposed a new reform of the Constitution that would have greatly increased the power of regions. In June 2006 the proposals, which had been particularly associated with Lega Nord, and seen by some as leading the way to a federal state, were rejected in a referendum by 61.7% to 38.3%.[2] The results varied considerably from one region to another, ranging to 55.3% in favour in Veneto to 82% against in Calabria.[2]
Colombian Coffee-Growers Axis (Spanish: Eje Cafetero), also known as Coffee Triangle (Spanish: Triángulo del Café) is a part of the Colombian Paisa Region which is famous for growing and production of a majority of the Colombian coffee, considered by some as the best coffee in the world. There are three departments in the area: Caldas, Quindío and Risaralda. These departments are among the smallest departments in Colombia with a total combined area of 13873 km² (5356 mi²), about 1.2% of the Colombian territory.
Provence (French pronunciation: [pʁɔvɑ̃s]; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. The traditional region of Provence comprises the départements of Var, Vaucluse, Bouches-du-Rhône, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Alpes-Maritimes and parts of Hautes-Alpes. The Romans formed this region into their Gallia Transalpina, the first Roman provincia outside the Alps. From thus, it derives its name today.
Abruzzo (pronounced [aˈbruttso]) is a region in Italy, its western border lying less than 50 miles (80 km) due east of Rome. Abruzzo borders the region of Marche to the north, Lazio to the west and south-west, Molise to the south-east, and the Adriatic Sea to the east. Although it is geographically more of a central than southern region, ISTAT (the Italian statistical authority) considers it part of Southern Italy, a vestige of Abruzzo’s historic association with the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
