1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Rome (province)

ROME, a province of modern Italy, co-extensive with the compartimento of Lazio, but really covering a considerably larger area than the ancient Latium, even including Latium adjectum. On the S.E. and E. alone it does not extend so far, the boundary being that between the former papal states and the kingdom of Naples, running from a point S.E. of Terracina along the eastern edge of the Volscian mountains to Ceprano, and thence along the Liris valley. It then runs N.E. through the mountains to Carsoli, being conterminous with the Abruzzi; it then includes part of the ancient Sabine country, reaching the Tiber near the railway station of Fara Sabina, 25 m. N. of Rome. It follows the river for some distance, where it is conterminous with Umbria, and then runs S.W. to the coast, where it is conterminous with the province of Grosseto (Tuscany), thus including a considerable portion of the ancient Etruria. The resident population in 1901 was estimated at 1,196,909 (including Rome itself, 520,196), and the floating population, Italian and foreign, 54,383. In 1907 the total number was calculated at 1,278,000. In 1871 the aggregate population was only 836,704. Emigration rose from 2222 in 1896 to 18,507 in 1906, there being a great rise in 1905, as over all Italy. The economic crisis in the United States in 1907, led, however, to a set-back, many emigrants being obliged to return to Italy for lack of work. Alum is extracted from the mines principally near Tolfa. At Filettino above Subiaco asphaltic rock is obtained, and salt from a rocksalt mine near Corneto Tarquinia. Chemical fertilizers are manufactured by several firms. The main industries of the district are, however, agricultural (see Latium).