Basilicata ( or ), also known as
Lucania, is a region in the south of
Italy, bordering on
Campania to the west,
Apulia (
Puglia) to the north and east, and
Calabria to the south, having one short southwestern coastline on the
Tyrrhenian Sea between
Campania in the northwest and
Calabria in the southwest, and a longer one to the southeast on the
Gulf of Taranto on the
Ionian Sea between Calabria in the southwest and
Apulia in the northeast. The region can be thought of as the "instep" of Italy, with Calabria functioning as the "toe" and Apulia the "heel". The region covers about and in 2010 had a population slightly under 600,000. The regional capital is
Potenza. The region is divided into two provinces:
Potenza and
Matera. The president of Basilicata is Marcello Pittella.