one of the four provinces into which the continental part of the kingdom of Naples, or of the Two Sicilies, was formerly divided, but now the name given to 3 out of the 15 provinces of the later division of that country. It is the most southern part of Italy, being bounded north by the province of Basilicata, and surrounded east, west, and south by the Mediterranean. It has an area of 6879 square miles, extending from Cape Spartivento (N. Lat. 37° 56'), to Monte Pollino on the southern border of Basilicata (N. Lat. 40° 0'). The coast line, more than 1500 miles in length, is extremely irregular, and indented with numerous bays; but the mouths of the rivers are rendered inaccessible to all but the smallest craft, by the continual accumulation of silt and the smallness of the tides.

The territory is exceedingly rugged and mountainous, but the summits of the hills are covered with extensive forests of oak, beech, elm, and pine, and towards the coast the branches of the Apennines open up into fertile and well-watered valleys. The Apennines traverse its whole extent, entering the province on the north in a direction S.E. to N.W., but afterwards changing their course into S.W. to N.E.; and including the eastern offshoot which occupies the central district of La Sila, they cover nearly the whole breadth of the peninsula. The elevation of the hills is not so great as in the northern, although greater than those in the central provinces; the most prominent peaks are Monte Sila, in Calabria Citra, 4632 feet, and Monte Aspromonte in Calabria Ultra II. 4110 feet. From the main range numerous small branches run off both to the eastern and western shores. The province is well watered with numerous streams, which in the north and south have a short and rapid course and are easily flooded, but in the central district are longer. On the approach of the unhealthy season, the wealthier inhabitants migrate annually to the lofty table-land of La Sila, where their flocks are fattened in the extensive pastures. The agriculture of Calabria, as that of Naples generally, is in a very rude and barbarous condition, a circumstance which is partly attributable to the extreme fertility of the soil. The principal productions are corn, wine, raw silk, oil of an inferior quality, cotton, manna from the manna-ash, rice, liquorice, and saffron. The horses of Calabria are remarkable for their high spirit and compact form, but their numbers are rapidly diminishing, and they are gradually being supplanted by mules. The other stock consists of sheep, goats, oxen, buffaloes, and pigs. All round the coast are considerable fisheries of the tunny, the sword-fish, the anchovy, and mullet.

The inhabitants of Calabria are a brave, hardy, well-built race, but ignorant and half-civilized. Education is chiefly in the hands of priests, who, as a class, are notoriously ignorant. From the oppressive nature of the excise regulations, the lower classes are greatly addicted to smuggling.

The three provinces into which Calabria is now divided are Calabria Citeriore, Calabria Ulteriore Seconda, and Calabria Ulteriore Prima, being so called from their position relative to Naples, and each of them stretching across the peninsula from sea to sea.

Calabria Citeriore is the most northern of the three provinces, and has an area of 2613 square miles, with a population in 1851 of 435,811. The most elevated parts of this province are in the southern and central districts, which are covered by the vast forests of La Sila, and furnished timber for the navies of antiquity. On account of the wastefulness and improvidence of the government, the forests of the Neapolitan Apennines are gradually becoming less productive; and not only is a large amount of timber destroyed, but the decayed vegetable matter has been allowed to dry up the springs and obstruct the mountain streams so as to cover the table-land with pestilential marshes. Corigliano, in the Adriatic, is the principal depot for the timber felled in the province; it is also the principal seat of the manna trade and liquorice factories. The principal rivers are the Crati, which rises near the high-road on the south of Cosenza, and after a course of 60 miles, falls into the Gulf of Taranto, between Capo Spulico and Capo del Trionto; and the Neto, which rises in the heart of La Sila, and falls into the Adriatic, between Strongoli and Cotrone. The principal towns are, Cosenza, Rossano, Paola, and Castrovillari; and these give name to four arrondissements into which the province is subdivided.

Calabria Ulteriore Seconda, on the south of Calabria Citra, having a coast line from the Punta dell' Alice to the Calipari on the east, and from the Savuto to the mouth of the Messina on the west. Area 2100 square miles. Pop. (1851) 381,147. Its principal trade is in manna and saffron, but at Cantazzaro is a manufactory of silk, and at Mongiana are iron foundries established by the Neapolitan government. At Maida are some seams of coal, antimony, and alabaster, which might be made available for exports. The principal towns, Cantazzaro, Cotrone, Nicastro, and Montereone, give name to the four arrondissements into which the province is divided.

Calabria Ulteriore Prima, the most southerly province of Italy, contains an area of 1250 square miles, with a pop. (1851) of 319,662. On the northern frontier are the mines Lo Stilo, from which the iron is obtained for the government foundries. At the Villa S. Giovanni is a manufactory of silk thread for foreign consumpt, and at Acciarolo a manufactory of soap, but the trade of the province is confined chiefly to raw silk, cotton, fruit, liquorice, wine, brandy, and essential oils. The principal towns are Reggio, Gerace, and Palmi. They are the capitals of the arrondissements which bear their names.