The Mezzogiorno is the area of Italy south of Rome. The word literally means "mid-day" or "noon" in Italian, and is applied in this manner because the Sun is directly above the southern horizon at this time of day (in the Northern Hemisphere).

More specifically, the regions (the name by which secondary political units are officially referred to in Italy) of Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Puglia and Sicily are always reckoned as being part of the Mezzogiorno, and sometimes Abruzzi is included as well since it, like the six above-named regions, was once part of the Kingdom of Naples.

Poverty has been a persistent problem in the agriculture-dominated Mezzogiorno (per capital income there is approximately one-half that of northern Italy), causing much immigration from the area to many other countries, most notably the United States (the vast majority of Italian-Americans trace their ancestry to this part of Italy). Many natives of the Mezzogiorno have also relocated to large northern Italian cities such as Genoa, Milan and Turin.