Taranto
This article is about the city of Taranto in Italy. For other meanings, see Taranto (disambiguation).
Taranto [taˈrɛnt] (Italian Taranto [ˈtaːranto] 
, Tàrdə in the local dialect Tarandíne, Ancient Greek Τάρας, Latin Tarentum) is the capital of the eponymous province of Taranto and is located in Puglia (southern Italy), on the Gulf of Taranto in the Ionian Sea. Taranto has a population of 195,227 (as of 31 December 2019). Taranto, once founded by Greek settlers, is the city of the two seas and the swing bridge, whose ancient center is the Isola del Borgo Antico (with the Castello Aragonese), about 34 hectares in size, which separates the Mediterranean Sea (Mar Grande) from a lagoon (Mar Piccolo) located behind the island.
Taranto, together with Pilone, district of Ostuni (BR) and Santa Maria di Leuca (LE), occupies an important position in the Salento. Taranto is a large commercial port with steel industry, a refinery, petrochemical and cement plants, a shipyard and a naval base.
The province of the same name consists of 29 municipalities. Its inhabitants are mainly employed in agriculture, fishing, shellfish farming (about 30,000 tons per year) and industry (chemical, food, textile, wood, glass, ceramics). Tarandíne, a dialect of Italian, is spoken in Taranto and the northern part of the province of the same name.
City breakdown
Taranto is divided into six municipal districts:
| No. | Municipality | Area | Population | Density | Neighbourhood (Rioni) |
| I | Paolo VI | 55,05 | 40.254 | 731 | Paolo VI |
| II | Tamburi - Lido Azzurro | 37,85 | 18.300 | 483 | Tamburi, Croce, Lido Azzurro |
| III | Città Vecchia - Borgo | 2,36 | 2.745 | 1163 | Città Vecchia, Borgo |
| IV | Tre Carrare - Solito | 15,93 | 48.934 | 560 | Tre Carrare-Battisti, Solito, Corvisea |
| V | Montegranaro - Salinella | 16,34 | 48.123 | 2333 | Salinella, Italia-Montegranaro |
| VI | Talsano - San Vito - Lama | 85,34 | 36.756 | 407 | Talsano, San Vito, Lama |
|
| Taranto | 217,87 | 195.112 | 656 |
The town hall, the Palazzo di Città
Mythology
According to mythology, the founding of Taranto dates back to about 1200 years before the founding of Rome, when the demigod Taras, son of Neptune, established a settlement near the present city, at the mouth of the river Tara.
