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Latium Lazio
—  Region of Italy  —
Flag Coat of arms
Country	Italy
Capital	Rome
Government
• President	Renata Polverini (PdL)
Area
• Total	17,236 km2 (6,655 sq mi)
Population (31-01-2011)
• Total	5,732,212
• Density	330/km2 (860/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
GDP/ Nominal	€ 174.1[1] billion (2008)
GDP per capita	€ 30,800[2] (2008)
NUTS Region	ITE
Website	www.regione.lazio.it

Lazio (pronounced [ˈlattsjo], Latin: Latium) is one of the 20 administrative regions of Italy, situated in the central peninsular section of the country. With about 5.7 million residents and a GDP of more than 170 billion euros, Lazio is the third most populated and the second richest region of Italy. It includes Rome, capital and largest city of Italy.

Geography[link]

Relief map of Lazio.

Panorama of the Roman Campagna.

Lazio comprises a land area of 17,236 km² (6,655 sq mi) and it has borders with Tuscany, Umbria, and Marche to the north, Abruzzo and Molise to the east, Campania to the south, and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west. The region is mainly flat and hilly, with small mountainous areas in the most eastern and southern districts.

The coast of Lazio is mainly composed of sandy beaches, punctuated by the headlands of Circeo (541 m) and Gaeta (171 m). The Pontine Islands, which are part of Lazio, lie opposite the southern coast. Behind the coastal strip, to the north, lies the Maremma Laziale (the continuation of Tuscan Maremma), a costal plain interrupted at Civitavecchia by the Tolfa Mountains (616 m). The central section of the region is occupied by the Roman Campagna, a vast alluvial plain surrounding the city of Rome, with an area of approximately 2,100 km² (811 sq mi). The southern districts are characterized by the flatlands of Agro Pontino, a once swampy and malarial area, that was reclaimed over the centuries.

The Preapennines of Latium, marked by the Tiber valley and the Liri with the Sacco tributary, include on the right of the Tiber, three groups of mountains of volcanic origin: the Volsini, Cimini and Sabatini, whose largest former craters are occupied by the Bolsena, Vico and Bracciano lakes. To the south of the Tiber, other mountain groups form part of the Preapennines: the Alban Hills, also of volcanic origin, and the calcareous Lepini, Ausoni and Aurunci Mountains. The Apennines of Latium are a continuation of the Apennines of Abruzzo: the Reatini Mountains with Terminillo (2,213 m), Mounts Sabini, Prenestini, Simbruini and Ernici which continue east of the Liri into the Mainarde Mountains. The highest peak is Mount Gorzano (2,458 m) on the border with Abruzzo.

History[link]

See also: History of Italy

The Appian Way (Via Appia), a road connecting Ancient Rome to the southern parts of Italy, remains usable even today.

The Italian word Lazio descends from the Latin word Latium. The name of the region also survives in the tribal designation of the ancient population of Latins, Latini in the Latin language spoken by them and passed on to the city-state of Ancient Rome. Although the demography of ancient Rome was multi-ethnic, including, for example, Etruscans and other Italics besides the Latini, the latter were the dominant constituent. In Roman mythology, the tribe of the Latini took their name from king Latinus. Apart from the mythical derivation of Lazio given by the ancients as the place where Jupiter "lay hid" from his father seeking to kill him, a major modern etymology is that Lazio comes from the Latin word "latus", meaning "wide", expressing the idea of "flat land" meaning the Roman Campagna. Much of Lazio is in fact flat or rolling. The lands originally inhabited by the Latini were extended into the territories of the Samnites, the Marsi, the Hernici, the Aequi, the Aurunci and the Volsci, all surrounding Italic tribes. This larger territory was still called Latium, but it was divided into Latium adiectum or Latium Novum, the added lands or New Latium, and Latium Vetus, or Old Latium, the older, smaller region. The northern border of Lazio was the Tiber river, which divided it from Etruria.

The emperor Augustus officially united almost all of present-day Italy into a single geo-political entity, Italia, dividing it into eleven regions. Lazio – together with the present region of Campania immediately to the southeast of Lazio and the seat of Neapolis – became Region I.

After the Gothic War (535-554) and the Byzantine conquest, this region regained its freedom, because the "Roman Duchy" became the property of the Eastern Emperor. However the long wars against the barbarian Longobards weakened the region, which was seized by the Roman Bishop who already had several properties in those territories.

The strengthening of the religious and ecclesiastical aristocracy led to continuous power struggles between lords and the Roman bishop until the middle of the 16th century. Innocent III tried to strengthen his own territorial power, wishing to assert his authority in the provincial administrations of Tuscia, Campagna and Marittima through the Church's representatives, in order to reduce the power of the Colonna family. Other popes tried to do the same.

During the period when the papacy resided in Avignon, France (1309–1377), the feudal lords' power increased due to the absence of the Pope from Rome. Small communes, and Rome above all, opposed the lords' increasing power, and with Cola di Rienzo, they tried to present themselves as antagonists of the ecclesiastical power. However, between 1353 and 1367, the papacy regained control of Lazio and the rest of the Papal States.

From the middle of the 16th century, the papacy politically unified Lazio with the Papal States^{[citation needed]}, so that these territories became provincial administrations of St. Peter's estate; governors in Viterbo, in Marittima and Campagna, and in Frosinone administered them for the papacy.

After the short-lived Roman Republic (18th century), the region's annexation to France by Napoleon Bonaparte in February 1798, Lazio became again part of the Papal States in October 1799.

On 20 September 1870 the capture of Rome, during the reign of Pope Pius IX, and France's defeat at Sedan, completed Italian unification, and Lazio was incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy.

Economy[link]

Agriculture, crafts, animal husbandry and fishery are the main traditional sources of income. Agriculture is characterized by the cultivation of wine grapes, fruit, vegetables and olives.

Industrial development in Lazio is limited to the areas south of Rome. Communications and - above all - the setting of the border of the Cassa del Mezzogiorno some kilometers south of Rome, have influenced the position of industry, favouring the areas with the best links to Rome and those near the Autostrada del Sole (motorway), especially around Frosinone. Firms are often small to medium in size and operate in the building and building materials (Rome, Civitavecchia), paper (Sora), petrochemical (Gaeta, Rome), textile (Frosinone), engineering (Rieti, Anagni), automobile (Cassino), electronic and electrotechnical (Viterbo) sectors.

Approximately 73% of the working population are employed in the services sector; this is a considerable proportion, but is justified by the presence of Rome, which is the core of public administration, banking, tourism, insurance and other sectors. Many national and multinational corporations, public and private, have their headquarters in Rome (ENI, Enel, Finmeccanica, Alitalia, RAI).

Lazio's limited industrial sector and highly developed service industries allowed the region to well outperform the Italian economy in 2009. The trend is set to continue over the next few years - the region's economy being among the most dynamic in Italy. This year the economy is predicted to grow by 1.3-1.5%, while in 2011 it is expected to expand by between 2-2.2%. These are the fastest rates in Italy and compare to national figures of between 0.8%-1.1% in 2010 and 1.1%-1.3% in 2011.

Demographics[link]

With a population of about 5.7 million, Lazio is the third most populated region of Italy. The overall population density in the region is 332 inhabitants per km². However, the population density widely ranges from almost 800 inhabitants per km² in the highly urbanized Province of Rome to less than 60 inhabitants per km² in the mountainous and rural Province of Rieti. As of January 2010, the Italian national institute of statistics ISTAT estimated that 497,940 foreign-born immigrants live in Lazio, equal to 8.8% of the total regional population.^[3]

Government and politics[link]

Rome is center-left politically oriented by tradition, while the rest of Lazio is center-right oriented. In the 2008 general election, Lazio gave 44.2% of its vote to the centre-right coalition, while the centre-left block took 41.4% of vote.

Administrative divisions[link]

Lazio is divided into five provinces:

See also[link]

• Geography of Italy
• Regions of Italy
• Administrative divisions of Italy

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lazio

• Official Touristic Site of the Regione Lazio (English)
• Official Site of the Regione Lazio (Italian)
• "Lazio". italy-weather-and-maps.com. 2002. http://www.italy-weather-and-maps.com/maps/italy/lazio.gif. 

Coordinates: 41°54′N 12°43′E / 41.9°N 12.717°E / 41.9; 12.717

v t e Lazio Provinces Frosinone Latina Rieti Rome Viterbo Lakes Lake Albano Lake Bolsena Lake Bracciano Lago di Canterno Lago di Caprolace Lago di Fondi Lago di Giulianello Lake Martignano Lake Mezzano Lago dei Monaci Lake Nemi Lago di Posta Fibreno Lago di Rascino Lago di Sabaudia Lago del Salto Lago del Turano Lake Vico Mountains Seven hills of Rome Alban Hills Aurunci Mountains Monti Ausoni Monte Cavo Cimini Hills Monti Ernici Monte Gorzano Monti della Laga Monti Lepini Monti della Meta Monte Petrella Monti Prenestini Monti Sabatini Monte Soratte Monte Terminillo Monti della Tolfa Monti Volsini Monte Cassino Monte Abate Monte Altino Monte Appiolo Maschio dell'Ariano Maschio di Lariano Monte Artemisio Monte Autore Monte Carbonaro Monte Cefalo Cima del Redentore (monti Aurunci) Circeo Monte Crispi Monte Dragone Monte Faggeto Monte Fammera Mont Fogliano Monte Fusco Monte Guadagnolo Monte Lauro in Gaeta Monte Lauzo Le Rave Fosche Monte Livata Mainarde Maschio delle Faete Meta (monte) Monna Monte Caira Monte Cervello Monte Revole Monte Sorgenze Monte Trina Monte Val de' Varri - Monte Faito - Monte San Nicola Monte di Cambio Monte le Pezze Parco regionale urbano Monte Orlando Monte Orso Monte Pizzuto Monte Ruazzo Geographic areas Castelli Romani Ciociaria Pontine marshes Roman Campagna Sabina Tiber Tuscia Politics and government Elections in Lazio List of Presidents of Lazio Ancient Lazio Etruscans Latium Latium adiectum Latial culture Latins (Italic tribe) Sabines Volsci Aequi

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Nihat Kahveci

Nihat playing for Beşiktaş
Personal information
Full name	Nihat Kahveci
Date of birth	(1979-11-23) 23 November 1979 (age 32)
Place of birth	Istanbul, Turkey[1]
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position	Forward
Youth career
1994–1996	Esenler[2]
1996–1997	Beşiktaş
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1997–2002	Beşiktaş	114	(27)
2002–2006	Real Sociedad	133	(58)
2006–2009	Villarreal	62	(18)
2009–2011	Beşiktaş	34	(3)
National team‡
2000–2010	Turkey[3]	69	(19)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18 May 2011. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 23 May 2010

Nihat Kahveci (born 23 November 1979 in Istanbul, Turkey^[1]) is a former Turkish footballer. Nihat played as a Forward.

Biography[link]

Nihat's family name, Kahveci, means "coffee maker." Many people in Turkey adopted the name of their profession as their family name in the early 20th century, suggesting that Nihat's ancestors were in the coffee business. Like most Turkish players, his shirt carries his first name, Nihat, rather than his family name, Kahveci. He married Pınar Kaşgören on 5 July 2003.^[4] Their daughter Selin was born in May 2008.

Club career[link]

Beşiktaş[link]

Nihat is a product of Beşiktaş's youth system and was discovered by Hürser Mustafa Cindir when Nihat played in Beşiktaş in the 1996–97 season. He joined the first team at Beşiktaş in the 1997–98 season when he was just 17, at the time John Toshack was the coach.

Real Sociedad[link]

In January 2002, he was transferred to Real Sociedad in Spain by former Beşiktaş coach Toshack. While at Real Sociedad, Nihat scored 57 goals in 115 appearances. In the 2002–03 season, Nihat scored 23 goals making him the league's joint-second highest scorer for the season behind Roy Makaay (29 goals) and tied with Ronaldo.^[5] Real Sociedad finished 2nd in the league that season, just 2 points behind Real Madrid.^[5] He had a very fruitful strike partnership with Serbian forward Darko Kovačević, such that sports journalist Phil Ball nicknamed the pair "Little and large", in reference to the height difference between them (Nihat's height is 1.75 m and Kovačević's is 1.87 m).^[6]

Nihat has also played in the Champions League with Real Sociedad.

Villarreal[link]

On 16 May 2006, Nihat agreed to join Villarreal CF, on a five-year contract, on a Bosman transfer. Due to his injury problems, he could not make many appearances in his first season, scored once and only featured in 9 matches.^[7] He seemed to catch up form in his second season with 18 goals in the league, helping his club to finish the season as 2nd in La Liga. However, in the 2008–09 season, due to injuries again, Nihat made 19 appearances equalling 764 minutes of playing time but failed to score a single goal.^[8]

Return to Beşiktaş[link]

On 27 June 2009, Nihat returned to the club he started his career at by signing for Beşiktaş J.K..^[9] Return to Turkish football wasn't very fruitful for Nihat. Over two seasons he managed 34 appearances in the league, netting only 3 goals. On April 25, 2011 Nihat and the new Beşiktaş favourite Ricardo Quaresma had spat on the pitch. Nihat was upset at Quaresma for failing to pass the ball and the altercation was broken up by team mates.^[10] On May 18, 2011, Beşiktaş terminated Nihat's contract.

Retirement[link]

After a six months without a club, On January 12, 2012; Kahveci announced his retirement from football with immediate effect. Nihat made a statement on his retirement saying: "I would like to share my decision to put an end to my professional career as a footballer,". After days of retirement, Nihat tells NTV Spor say his retirement was prompted by age limiting his ability on the pitch and admits returning to Besiktas was a mistake and ill-judged, although states there were some beautiful moments.^[11]

International career[link]

Nihat made his international debut against Sweden in October 2000.^[7]

2002 World Cup[link]

In Group C, Nihat made his only appearance as a 79th minute substitute for Yıldıray Baştürk against Costa Rica.^[12] His only other appearance was as a substitute in the 1–0 victory over Japan where he replaced, the goalscorer, Ümit Davala.^[13] Turkey went on to finish in third place with a 3–2 victory over Guus Hiddink's South Korea.^[14]

Euro 2008[link]

In the final match of Euro 2008 Group A, Nihat scored twice in a pivotal match against the Czech Republic. Both teams were level on points, both having beaten Switzerland and lost to Portugal, with exactly the same amount of goals scored and conceded, a win would guarantee a quarter-finals spot whilst a draw would mean penalty-shootouts would be required. The Czechs took a 2–0 lead through a Jan Koller header and a Jaroslav Plašil goal and the score remained 2–0 until the 75th minute, when Arda Turan scored making it 2–1. Nihat's first goal came in the 87th minute; Hamit Altıntop's cross was dropped by Petr Čech allowing Nihat tap the ball into the net. He scored his second goal one minute later; a brilliant, curling strike from outside the box, helping Turkey win the match 3–2.^[15]

Nihat was ruled out of Turkey's semi-final with Germany due to a thigh injury,^[16] which ultimately required surgery and prevented him from playing for Villarreal in the early part of the 2008–09 season.

Career statistics[link]

Club career[link]

As of June 2008

International goals[link]

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	6 October 2001	Stadionul Republican, Chişinău, Moldova	Moldova	0–2	0–3	2002 FIFA World Cup qual.
2.	21 August 2002	Hüseyin Avni Aker Stadium, Trabzon, Turkey	Georgia	3–0	3–0	Friendly
3.	12 October 2002	Gradski Stadium, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia	Macedonia	1–2	1–2	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
4.	7 June 2003	Tehelné pole, Bratislava, Slovakia	Slovakia	0–1	0–1	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
5.	11 June 2003	BJK İnönü Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey	Macedonia	1–1	3–2	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
6.	20 August 2003	Ankara 19 Mayıs Stadium, Ankara, Turkey	Moldova	1–0	2–0	Friendly
7.	24 May 2004	Telstra Dome, Melbourne, Australia	Australia	0–1	0–1	Friendly
8.	9 October 2004	Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey	Kazakhstan	2–0	4–0	2006 FIFA World Cup qual.
9.	13 October 2004	Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark	Denmark	1–1	1–1	2006 FIFA World Cup qual.
10.	26 May 2006	Ruhrstadion, Bochum, Germany	Ghana	1–0	1–1	Friendly
11.	2 June 2006	Trendwork Arena, Sittard, Netherlands	Angola	2–1	3–2	Friendly
12.	6 September 2006	Commerzbank-Arena, Frankfurt, Germany	Malta	1–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
13.	17 November 2007	Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway	Norway	1–2	1–2	UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
14.	21 November 2007	Ali Sami Yen Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1–0	1–0	UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
15.	25 May 2008	Ruhrstadion, Bochum, Germany	Uruguay	2–1	2–3	Friendly
16.	15 June 2008	Stade de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland	Czech Republic	2–2	3–2	Euro 2008
17.	15 June 2008	Stade de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland	Czech Republic	3–2	3–2	Euro 2008
18.	22 May 2010	Red Bull Arena, New Jersey, United States	Czech Republic	2–0	2–1	Friendly
19.	3 September 2010	Astana Arena, Astana, Kazakhstan	Kazakhstan	0–3	0–3	UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
Correct as of 3 September 2010[3]

Honours[link]

• Beşiktaş
  • Turkish Cup: 1997-98, 2010–11
• Turkey
  • FIFA World Cup 2002: 3rd place
  • FIFA Confederations Cup 2003: 3rd place
  • UEFA Euro 2008: Semi Final
• Real Sociedad
  • La Liga: Runner-up 2003
• Villarreal
  • La Liga: Runner-up 2008

References[link]

External links[link]

• FootballDatabase provides Nihat Kahveci's profile and stats
• An editorial piece on the Nihat – Kovacevic partnership by sports writer Phil Ball

Turkey squads v t e Turkey squad – 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship 1 Aktaş 2 Güneş 3 Güldüren 4 Öztürk 5 Özbey 6 Yasin 7 Nihat 8 Dökme 9 Dursun 10 Baştürk 11 Albayrak 12 Küçük 13 Akin 14 Köprülü 15 Uysal 16 Öztonga 17 Nas 18 Ak 19 Yılmaz 20 Akin Coach: Çetiner v t e Turkey squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup Third Place 1 Rüştü 2 Emre Aşık 3 Bülent 4 Fatih Akyel 5 Alpay 6 Arif 7 Okan 8 Tugay 9 Hakan Şükür (c) 10 Baştürk 11 Hasan Şaş 12 Ömer 13 İzzet 14 Tayfur 15 Nihat 16 Ümit Özat 17 İlhan 18 Ergün 19 Abdullah 20 Hakan Ünsal 21 Emre 22 Ümit Davala 23 Zafer Coach: Güneş v t e Turkey squad – 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup Bronze Medal 1 Rüştü 2 F. Sonkaya 3 B.Korkmaz 4 F. Akyel 5 Alpay 6 Ergün P. 7 Serkan 8 Arslan 9 Tuncay 10 Baştürk 11 Nihat 12 Ömer 13 Ahmet 14 Deniz 15 İbrahim 16 Okan 17 Servet 18 Hüseyin 19 Necati 20 Selçuk 21 Toraman 22 Karadeniz 23 Murat Coach: Güneş v t e Turkey squad – UEFA Euro 2008 semi-finalists 1 Rüştü 2 Çetin 3 Balta 4 Gökhan Zan 5 Emre 6 Mehmet Topal 7 Mehmet Aurélio 8 Nihat 9 Semih 10 Karadeniz 11 Metin 12 Zengin 13 E. Güngör 14 Arda 15 E. Aşık 16 Boral 17 Tuncay 18 Kazim-Richards 19 Akman 20 Sabri 21 Erdinç 22 Hamit Altıntop 23 Demirel Coach: Terim