The Italian People

Italy is a country of 58 million people packed into an area the size of New Mexico, roughly 485 people per square mile. Like New Mexico, most of the population is lives in Italy's major cities with most living in the industrial north. The people of Turin, Genoa, Milan, Venice, Bologna and Florence in the north of Italy are a stark contrast to the people of Naples, Bari and Palermo (on the island of Sicily) in the south of Italy. Somewhere between Rome and Naples there is an imaginary line that separates Italy into two distinctly different populations with Rome bringing together the best of both worlds.

If you're looking for the stereotypical Italian -- the master of hand gestures, the jovial, devil-may-care, live-for-today Italian -- you must head south of Rome. In Naples and in towns and villages throughout southern Italy, you'll find life in a much slower lane, although you wouldn't necessarily know it by the amount of traffic, especially in Naples where vehicles outnumber people almost 2 to 1. Here people still close up shop to enjoy their midday meal with family. At a local attraction, you may have to wait 20 minutes for the cashier to return from coffee break.

In southern Italy you'd do well to learn some Italian since many people do not speak English, especially the older generation. In addition, southern Italians have clung to their sometimes incomprehensible dialects. The Florentines, for example, cannot understand the Neopolitans to save their souls.

Although southern Italy is plagued by high unemployment and therefore experiences significantly more crime than northern Italy especially in major cities, here you will find some of the friendliest people in all of Italy. Their love of life, food and music is intoxicating. Due to the lack of tourists in the south outside of the Amalfi Coast, Pompeii and the Isle of Capri, the people here are far more loving and inviting than their northern neighbors.

Northern Italians can seem icily cool, especially in Milan, the business capital of Italy. People move with purpose and a certain aloofness. The passagiata, which is strangely absent in the south, is ritual in most northern cities. It's a time to meet friends and family, discuss the day's events and put onesself on display, sort of like the Red Carpet on Oscar night.

Some would say that the colder climate of the north makes for less interaction between people and thus a far more insulated society. Yet, northern Italians do have some things in common with their southern bretheren. They, too, are passionate about family, food and music, albeit in a more refined manner.

Most tourism takes place in northern Italy. Thus, with rare exception, most people speak at least a smattering of English. Many have an excellent command of the English language and enjoy practising their English as much as Americans enjoy practising their Italian.

Rome is Italy's melting pot with as many northern influences as southern. Here the people come together to form a population that is both fashion conscious and fun loving, culturally in tune and free of spirit, guardedly relaxed and astutely aware. Romans welcome their visitors with open arms, but never let themselves get too close. Although they do not define Italy, Romans represent the heart and soul of the country.