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Italy united only fairly recently, the north and south have significant linguistic, economic, cultural and historical differences.

A linguistic continuum exists across the peninsula, with the north closer to french and the south having strong influences from Greek and Arabic. A Sicilian and Venetian may be unable to understand each other. Sardinian could be considered it's own language.

North Italy is wealthy and urbanized, the south is poorer and more rural.

North Italy was for long periods broken into many small states, republics and monarchies, long part of the Holy Roman empire and influenced by the germans and french. South Italy has more often been united, frequently under foreign rule.

The north south divide could be placed around Rome, and that city might well be independent.

Were there any historical ideas to split the nation, perhaps after one of the world wars or the monarchy referendum? Are there any plausible scenarios in the 20th century which could have given this result?

Where are borders and capitals likely? I'd imagine an independent papal state on the Tiber with Rome as capital, a state to the north with Milan as capital, and a state to the south including Sicily and Sardinia. The largest city in south Italy, and a historic capital, is Naples, but that city won't be very central.

Are San Marino and Malta more or less likely to retain their independence than OTL?

Federations or unitary states?

Are there likely names other than North and South Italy? The kingdom of Naples or Sicily, or the two or three Sicilies all make a certain amount of sense, but will irritate non-Neapolitans / Sicilians. Lombardy might make sense for the north.

OTL Italy is considered one of the 'Big 4' European nations, and is a fairly significant regional power for it's population, economy, military, and control of important straights. North Italy would inherit much of the population and economy, the south would retain influence over the straights. Would either be likely to be considered a 'Big 4'?
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