Calabria is a small underdeveloped region which forms the tip of the Italian peninsula. The population is small at only about 2,012,000 persons and the economy, though growing, is weak. The region is difficult to navigate through the mountains and because of this communication networks and adequate road and rail systems have been hard to establish. Of course, Calabrias troubled history might also help explain the regions slow start to economic accomplishments. Calabria is one of the oldest regions of Italy with the first evidence of human presence in the region dating as far back as 700,000 years BC. Around 3,500 BC the first villages in Calabria sprung up. By the eighth century BC the Greeks had control over the region and it was a very important area for the Magna Grecia. Calabria was later conquered by the Romans in the second century BC. After the fall of the Roman Empire the region fell prey to the Goths, the Byzantines and later the Longobards around the ninth century BC. The Byzantines regained control of the region in the tenth century and expanded the existing monarchy thereby helping reunite the region. The Norman and Swede also took a crack at controlling Calabria around the twelfth century BC. It wouldnt be until 1860 that Calabria would be made whole and become part of the larger region of Italy.
