After the last ice age, stone age hunter-gatherers lived in this area. By about 3,500 BC they had turned to farming and started settling in villages. In the ninth and eighth centuries BC, Greeks began colonising the coastal regions of Calabria, calling the area Magna Graecia. They brought with them their Hellenic civilization and the olives, figs and vines that are cultivated in the province today. By the third century BC, the Greeks were conquered by tribes from northern Italy, including a branch of the Samnites called the Bruttii. They established their sovereignty over present day Calabria and founded new cities, including their own capital "Consentia", now known as Cosenza. After their victory in the Pyrrhic War, the Romans occupied Calabria, and the region remained under their control until the fifth century AD. After the Visigoths overthrew the Romans, there followed an unsettled period for Calabria. However, by the middle of the sixth century, the Byzantine Empire was in control of southern Italy. The city of Catanzaro was founded by the Byzantines during the tenth century. The city, atop a hill above the Gulf of Squilis, was named Katanrzarion or Catasarion as these derive from the Greek words for "terrace" and "under"; terrace farming took place in the province. The city was fortified in 1055 and a castle was constructed; this allowed it to resist French invasion attempts lasting four months in 1528. The area of the plateau of La Sila towards the Ionian Sea was settled by immigrants from Albania in the period 1448–1535. They formed an ethnic minority and created the communities known as Sila Greca.
Geography
The province of Catanzaro is one of the five provinces in the region of Calabria. To the south and east, the province has a coastline on the Ionian Sea, and to the northwest, a coastline on the Tyrrhenian Sea. The Province of Cosenza lies to the north and the Province of Crotone to the east. To the south west lie the provinces of Vibo Valentia and Reggio Calabria. The provincial capital as well as the capital of the region is the city of Catanzaro. The province occupies both sides of the Calabrian Apennines and has a total area of. The central part of the province is the isthmus of Catanzaro, a long narrow valley of, connecting the north and south parts of the coastline, the Gulf of Squillace and the Gulf of Saint Euphemia; it is the narrowest part of the whole Italian peninsula. Other parts of the province are mostly mountainous, with steep sided valleys formed by short rivers. The River Ampollino on the boundary with the Province of Crotone is impounded to form the Ampollino Lake. The eastern part of the province forms part of the high plateau of La Sila, about above sea level, which covers around of territory along the central part of Calabria. The highest point is Botte Donato, which reaches. There are large numbers of lakes surrounded by dense coniferous forests. The province includes much of the Sila National Park, a wild area with rough grassland and forests of pine, oak, beech and fir.
Since 2009, various people have been arrested in the provinces of Catanzaro, Crotone and Reggio Calabria in connection with various crimes; alleged offences include insurance fraud, the sale of bogus degrees, fraud in relation to grants and subsidies, collusion with the Mafia, forgery, irregularities in tendering procedures, extortion, murder, electoral fraud, supply of drugs and intimidation.
