To make sense of the geographic divisions of Italy, consider this:
If we compared Italy to the United States as a country, I would liken the “regions” of Italy to the states in the U.S. Within these regions are provinces (sort of like counties) and within the provinces are the “comunes,” which are equal to English townships or municipalities. Knowing the “regions” of Italy will help you understand the country better, not only geographically, but culturally as well.
There are 20 regions in Italy. This trip we visited four regions: Lazio (Rome), Veneto (Venice, Murano, Burano), Toscana (Siena and other hilltowns), and Lombardia (the northern Lakes region where my family is from).
Below is a map of Italy showing where we went.
