Molise
Molise
Moliš (Slavomolisano) | |
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Coat of arms | |
| Coordinates: 41°41′59″N 14°36′40″E / 41.6997°N 14.6111°E | |
| Country | Italy |
| Capital | Campobasso |
| Government | |
| • President | Francesco Roberti (FI) |
| Area | |
• Total | 4,460.65 km2 (1,722.27 sq mi) |
| Population (2025) | |
• Total | 287,966 |
| • Density | 64.5570/km2 (167.202/sq mi) |
| Demonym(s) | English: Molisan Italian: Molisano (man) Italian: Molisana (woman) |
| GDP | |
| • Total | €6.452 billion (2021) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| ISO 3166 code | IT-67 |
| HDI (2021) | 0.874 very high · 15th of 21 |
| NUTS Region | ITF |
| Website | www.regione.molise.it |
Molise (UK: /mɒˈliːzeɪ/ mol-EE-zay, US: /ˈmoʊlizeɪ, moʊˈliːzeɪ/ MOH-lee-zay, moh-LEE-zay;Italian: [moˈliːze]) is an administrative region of Italy that covers 4,460.65 km2 (1,722 sq mi), thus being the second smallest region in the country after Aosta Valley; it is located in southern Italy, and has a population of 287,966 as of 2025. Its regional capital is Campobasso, which is also the capital of the Province of Campobasso, one of the two provinces that make up Molise. The other one is the Province of Isernia.
The region was born in 1963 from the division with Abruzzo, with which it formed the region of Abruzzi e Molise.
Molise's small size and relative obscurity led it to become the subject of a popular meme "Molise doesn't exist".