Northern Italy Vs Southern Italy: They Feel Like Different Countries

Añadido: 2026-05-28

[00:00:02]Italian on chapu. What is it? Italian on chapu. I can never remember.

[00:00:10]That was the first one of the first things I learned. One of the first phrases I learned when I came to Italy.

[00:00:17]So, it just shows you how much of a significant thing is the divide between north and south in Italy. It's everywhere. It's one of the first things you learn about, one of the first things people from Italy talk to you about, the great divide. So, in this video, I'm going to give you my perspective on the differences between north and south Italy from a Brit who's been in Italy for 25 years, who's half Spanish as well. So, I think I look at it from quite a unique perspective. Now, disclaimer here. Yeah, I'm not saying one is better than the other. I'm talking from experience. After having I've been lucky enough to travel all throughout Italy. I'm based in the north of Italy and I have been for 25 years but with my work I've traveled throughout all of it the whole of Italy and I know many people in the north and the south. Now I read recently uh that Italy is the country in Europe with the biggest difference between north and south. The DNA of the people in the north is completely different to the the DNA from the people in the south. I'll link the source in the description or if anyone disagrees with that then let me know in the comments. because you read a lot of stuff these days. But I read it and I can believe it as well because like in Britain we have a big difference between the north and the south. Well, especially Scotland and England and in Spain and in Germany, in other European countries, in France, there's a divide.

[00:01:37]The divide is not as big as this because the DNA of the people in those countries is the same. Whereas in Italy, it's different.

[00:01:43]So, we need to go back all the way to 1861 when Mr. Gary Baldi unified the nations, unified the north and the south. This isn't a history lesson by the way. Uh, and the two Italies became one.

[00:01:59]But the story is very different because the south of Italy was part of Spain.

[00:02:04]I know there's dyas and Naples as well.

[00:02:08]And the north of Italy at the time of unification was under Austrian rule. The north of Italy has been part of Spain as well, but it was mostly under Austrian rule at the time of unification. So if anyone's ever been to Austria and Spain, then I think you'll you'll definitely agree that those countries are two very different countries culturally, politically, anything. There's nothing similar about Austria and Spain.

[00:02:35]So that is why we have big differences between the north and the south of Italy. Now, as I'm an economist, let's start from the basics. The economy and industry between the north and south.

[00:02:46]Well, the north is really the financial industrial hub of Italy. Places like Milan and Turin are massive uh manufacturing or were they still are but massive manufacturing places and finance whereas the south the economy is driven around agriculture and tourism and generally speaking the GDP per capita is a lot higher in the north than it is in the south. unemployment all those indicators that I talk about in other videos uh are all better or they all are seem better in the north of Italy than they are in the south of now the culture and the pace of life now northern Italy uh has a big emphasis on uh being punctual being you know it's more formal there's a big emphasis on efficiency and adhering to schedules and within you know if you if you organize a meeting in northern Italy then a 15-minute delay is accepted anything more is really uh being rude.

[00:03:45]Whereas in south of Italy, the pace of life is a much slower pace of life where uh you know people generally are more relaxed. Social interactions are highly prioritized.

[00:04:01]Uh in fact it's if you go for if you go to if you go for lunch in a southern Italian's house, he will invite you for dinner as well. You have to stay there to sleep the night even. They're very hospitable. Uh so I would say the main difference is that uh yeah the pace of life is a lot more social in the south of Italy. Uh put my head out here a little bit. I would say that in the north obviously it's more corporate and capitalistlike and in the south it's more social and anarchic like. Uh another huge difference is obviously the geography and the climate. Um, the north of Italy is just below the the Alps, you know, the the mountains of the Alps. And the climate, I wouldn't regard the climate as being Mediterranean. It has a different type of climate. The summers are very warm and humid and the winters are very cold and humid as well.

[00:04:52]And you'll often find in the summer the highest the cities with the highest temperature are almost always in the north of Italy.

[00:05:01]um purely because of the humidity. In fact, today is it's the end of Maine.

[00:05:06]It's 36 degrees here. Uh but because we're on a high latitude, um the sun doesn't hit you as much. Let me see if I if I can translate this.

[00:05:17]Like for example, in northern Italy, I never wear any sun cream. Whereas if I'm south, if I'm in the south of Italy, I will always wear sun cream because uh you know the sun, you're on a further further latitude, you know, further south on a latitude. So the sun hits you more.

[00:05:33]And conversely so, in the winter, Northern Italy has towns that are freezing. I've always said that with the town I live in, it's colder than Scotland than it is in in winter. It's colder than it is in Scotland in winter.

[00:05:47]And in uh southern Italy, obviously, the the summers are a lot milder.

[00:05:53]very very rarely goes below zero in the southern you know the southern places like Sicily and Naples because they're on the coast as well so they're protected by the sea so the climate and geography is a very different and obviously the north of Italy is better connected to the to to Europe you know Milan to Munich is maybe for 5 hours in the car uh another interesting fact as well is that where I am in I'm in Lombardia I'm probably just as close to I'm closer to Amsterdam than I am to Kata Ana or Palmo right in the north the south of Italy.

[00:06:26]So the north north of Italy is a lot better connected to Europe and because the climate is different. The cuisine is different as well. The southern Italy uh southern Italy has a very Mediterranean cuisine. You know fresh vegetables, fish, um legumes. Whereas northern Italy because of the colder climate has uh more rice based dishes. They have a thing called penta which is like a corn.

[00:06:51]I think Poland I've only ever seen it in Italy. It was like like a substitute for potatoes or cornbased uh it's more healthy heartily foods.

[00:07:00]There's also a big difference uh in the dialects or the languages that northern and Italians northern southern Italians speak. The northern dialects are they have a lot more I know no one's gonna be happy when I say this, but I think there's a lot of French words in there.

[00:07:16]A lot of French sound and vowels in there. Uh and also they have a lot of um you know history with Kelts with the Lombards, the Longobards who came down from Northern Europe. So uh and in contrast to that southern Italy has a lot of Arabic and Spanish influence influences and Greek influences.

[00:07:38]So I think it's by you know you it's not by chance that I find myself at home here. you know, Scottish and Spanish.

[00:07:45]When I'm in southern Italy, you know, I feel I feel connected to the people there. And obviously northern Italy, I do as well. So anyway, anyway, guys, that's it. Wrapping up the video. Those are the main differences that I see between north and south southern Italy after being here for 25 years.

[00:08:03]Uh, as you can see, you know, it's a huge melting pot. The DNA of the people are very different. The northern Italians are a lot more northern European and the southern southern Italians are a lot more Spanish and Arabic.

[00:08:19]That's the way it is. And also as well, I forgot to add that if you include Sardinia in the DNA analysis, then it's even more different cuz DNA the Sardinas have got their own special DNA.

[00:08:31]So summing it up, one is not better than the other. They both have their differences. They both have their pros and their cons.

[00:08:40]And I wouldn't change living in northern Italy and being able to ch to travel throughout the whole of Italy for anything.

[00:08:49]Anyway guys, thanks for watching till the end. Again, please like and subscribe if you like this video. If you didn't like it, give it a thumbs down.

[00:08:57]I'm a Brit and I've been in Italy for 25 years. YouTube thinks you might like this video here. Ciao for now.