Italy's 20 Regions: Why Marche, Abruzzo and Molise Trip Everyone Up
October 26, 2026 ยท 3 min read
Italy has 20 regions, and its boot shape makes it one of the easiest countries in the world to recognise. Its regions are another story. On our map of Italy's regions, players have answered 2,199 questions since early October 2026, and got 80% right.
That is one of the best scores of any country map on DodoThinks. But the misses are concentrated in a few places, and they tell a clear story.
All 20 regions, hardest first
Each region was asked between 99 and 120 times.
| Region | Capital | Found |
|---|---|---|
| Molise | Campobasso | 59% |
| Marche | Ancona | 60% |
| Abruzzo | L'Aquila | 60% |
| Umbria | Perugia | 66% |
| Friuli Venezia Giulia | Trieste | 73% |
| Emilia-Romagna | Bologna | 76% |
| Basilicata | Potenza | 77% |
| Liguria | Genoa | 78% |
| Trentino-Alto Adige | Trento | 78% |
| Valle d'Aosta | Aosta | 80% |
| Campania | Naples | 82% |
| Calabria | Catanzaro | 82% |
The easiest are Sicily (96%), then Sardinia, Tuscany and Puglia (91% each) and Lombardy (90%). The two big islands are easy for obvious reasons. Puglia is the heel of the boot, and Calabria the toe.
The Adriatic three
The four hardest regions sit together in central Italy: Marche, Abruzzo and Molise along the Adriatic coast, and Umbria inland beside them. And most of their mistakes are with each other:
| Asked for | Clicked instead | Times |
|---|---|---|
| Marche | Abruzzo | 18 |
| Abruzzo | Marche | 14 |
| Molise | Abruzzo | 13 |
| Umbria | Abruzzo | 10 |
| Abruzzo | Umbria | 8 |
| Umbria | Marche | 8 |
The rule to learn: going down the Adriatic coast from Emilia-Romagna, the order is Marche, Abruzzo, Molise, then Puglia. Marche is the northernmost of the three, with Ancona. Abruzzo is the biggest, with the Gran Sasso mountains. Molise is the small one at the bottom.
Umbria is the only region on the peninsula with no coast at all. It sits between Tuscany, Marche and Lazio, the "green heart of Italy". If a region in the middle has no sea, it is Umbria.
Italians have an old joke that "Molise doesn't exist" ("il Molise non esiste"). It is the second-smallest region, and it was part of Abruzzo until 1963. Judging by our data, plenty of players agree.
The north-east and north-west corners
| Asked for | Clicked instead | Times |
|---|---|---|
| Trentino-Alto Adige | Friuli Venezia Giulia | 16 |
| Liguria | Piedmont | 11 |
| Friuli Venezia Giulia | Veneto | 9 |
| Valle d'Aosta | Piedmont | 8 |
| Valle d'Aosta | Friuli Venezia Giulia | 7 |
In the north-east, three regions sit side by side. Trentino-Alto Adige is the mountainous one in the middle of the northern border, touching Austria and Switzerland. Friuli Venezia Giulia is the far north-east corner, touching Austria and Slovenia, with Trieste. Veneto, with Venice, is below both.
In the north-west, Valle d'Aosta is the smallest region of all, a little square in the corner touching France and Switzerland. Piedmont wraps around it. Liguria is the thin arc of coast below Piedmont, with Genoa.
Interesting detail: seven players looking for Valle d'Aosta clicked Friuli Venezia Giulia, at the other end of the Alps. Both are small, mountainous regions with long names on the northern border.
How to learn the 20 regions
- Start with the shape: Sicily and Sardinia, then the toe (Calabria) and heel (Puglia).
- The north, west to east: Valle d'Aosta, Piedmont, Lombardy, Trentino-Alto Adige, Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia, with Liguria and Emilia-Romagna below.
- The middle, west coast: Tuscany, Lazio, Campania. Inland: Umbria. East coast: Marche, Abruzzo, Molise.
- The south: Basilicata between Campania, Puglia and Calabria.
Then play the Italy regions map, which has a round on the regional capitals too. The page is in Italian, but you only need to click the map. In English, our Italian geography games and the Italian regions quiz cover the regions and their capitals.
About this data
These are 2,199 answers on the DodoThinks Italy regions map between 2 October and 26 October 2026.