Autonomous region (pop., 2001 prelim.: 595,727), southern Italy.
Roughly divided into a western mountainous region and an eastern section of low hills and wide valleys, its capital is Potenza . Known in ancient times as Lucania, the area was under Lombard League rule in the early Middle Ages. Until the fall of the Swabian Hohenstaufens (1254), it played a significant part in the affairs of southern Italy; later it followed the variable fortunes of the Kingdom of Naples until united with the Kingdom of Italy in 1861. The region suffered severe damage in a disastrous earthquake in 1980. Agriculture is an economic mainstay.