# Basilicata: 131 towns to search, in two provinces

> Basilicata has 525,281 residents in 131 towns and just two provinces, Potenza and Matera. How that narrows a family search, and how to get there.

URL: https://myitalia.it/roots/in-basilicata
Last updated: 2026-09-11

Basilicata has 525,281 residents spread across 131 towns and only two provinces, Potenza and Matera, so the first question in any family search has just two possible answers.

## 131 towns in two provinces

On the ISTAT estimate for January 1, 2026, Basilicata has 525,281 residents in 131 comuni. Every one of them belongs to the province of Potenza or the province of Matera, the only two the region has.

Only Valle d'Aosta, at 122,554, and Molise, at 285,940, have fewer residents. Divide Basilicata's population by its towns and you get just over 4,000 people per comune, which is our arithmetic, not an ISTAT figure.

That short list is useful. A town name misspelled on a ship's manifest or a baptism record can be matched against 131 names, which is a list you can read in one sitting.

## 2,511,372 nights, and the ones nobody counts

Basilicata recorded 2,511,372 overnight stays in 2024, 0.54% of the national total. A share that small means almost nothing is written in English about the inland towns.

The statistics also miss the people this page is for. Across the South, 38.3% of domestic trips are spent at the homes of relatives or friends, and a night in a cousin's spare room does not reach an accommodation register.

In practice: expect to phone, not to book online, and expect the person who answers to know your family before you have finished the surname.

## From Bari airport: a train, then the FAL

Bari Karol Wojtyla, in Puglia, handled 7,977,881 passengers in 2025, up 9.7% on 2024, and it is the gateway this page works from. A Ferrotramviaria train leaves from a station inside the terminal, joined to arrivals by a 300 meter tunnel, and reaches Bari Centrale in about 17 minutes.

From Bari, Matera is served by the Ferrovie Appulo Lucane, a narrow-gauge network. The 2024-2033 service contract with the Basilicata region sets a direct Bari-Matera time of 1 hour 25 minutes, against 1 hour 42 before, and plans a Sunday service from September 2026.

Both of those are commitments on paper, announced in 2023, not a timetable anyone has ridden. Check the FAL planner and its service notices for your date.

## What this page leaves out

There is no route to the province of Potenza on this page, because no train or bus connection to it is in the data this site has verified. That half of the region needs its own planning, and the regional page is the place to start.

There is no citizenship guidance here either, by editorial rule. The law has been changing since 2025, and the Italian consulate responsible for where you live is the only address that can answer for your case.

See also [Basilicata](/regions/basilicata), [roots travel](/themes/roots-travel), [Matera](/towns/matera), [the capital without a railway](/stories/the-only-capital-without-a-railway) and [how busy Basilicata gets](/how-busy/in-basilicata).

## FAQ

### How many towns are there in Basilicata?

131, split between just two provinces, Potenza and Matera, with 525,281 residents on the ISTAT estimate for January 1, 2026. Only Valle d'Aosta and Molise have fewer people. Dividing one figure by the other gives just over 4,000 residents per town, a calculation rather than a published statistic.

### Which airport do people use for Basilicata?

Bari Karol Wojtyla, in Puglia, is the gateway this page works from: 7,977,881 passengers in 2025. A train from a station inside the terminal reaches Bari Centrale in about 17 minutes, and from Bari the Ferrovie Appulo Lucane narrow-gauge line runs to Matera.

### How long is the train from Bari to Matera?

The 2024-2033 service contract between Basilicata and the Ferrovie Appulo Lucane sets a target of 1 hour 25 minutes for the direct train, against 1 hour 42 before. That is a contractual goal, not a verified timetable, so check the FAL journey planner for your date.

### Does Basilicata get many tourists?

Few. The region recorded 2,511,372 overnight stays in 2024, 0.54% of the Italian total. Across the South, 38.3% of domestic trips are spent at the homes of relatives or friends, and those nights do not appear in accommodation statistics at all.

## Sources

| Fact | Source | Confidence | Valid until |
|---|---|---|---|
| La Basilicata ha 525.281 residenti al 1 gennaio 2026 distribuiti su 131 comuni e due sole province, Potenza e Matera (stima ISTAT) | [ISTAT - Demografia in cifre](https://demo.istat.it/app/?i=POS&l=it); [ISTAT - dataset comunale POSAS 2026](https://demo.istat.it/data/posas/POSAS_2026_it_Comuni.zip) | medium | 2027-03-31 |
| Con 285.940 residenti al 1° gennaio 2026 il Molise e la seconda regione meno popolosa d'Italia, dopo la Valle d'Aosta (122.554) e prima della Basilicata (525.281) | [ISTAT - Demografia in cifre](https://demo.istat.it/app/?i=POS&l=it) | medium | 2027-06-30 |
| Nel 2024 Basilicata ha registrato 2.511.372 presenze turistiche. pari al 0.54% del totale nazionale | [Eurostat](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/api/dissemination/statistics/1.0/data/tour_occ_nin2) | medium | 2027-07-31 |
| Al Sud il 38,3% dei viaggi domestici pernotta da parenti e amici: una fetta del turismo interno verso il Mezzogiorno e' rientro in famiglia, non prenotazione. | [ISTAT, I flussi turistici anno 2024](https://www.istat.it/comunicato-stampa/i-flussi-turistici-anno-2024/) | medium | 2027-07-31 |
| L'aeroporto di Bari Karol Wojtyla (codice IATA BRI) ha registrato 7.977.881 passeggeri nel 2025 (+9,7% sul 2024). | [Assaeroporti](https://data-upload.assaeroporti.com/download-export/2025/12); [ENAC](https://www.enac.gov.it/app/uploads/2024/04/Dati-_di_traffico_2021_220914.pdf) | medium | 2027-06-30 |
| L'aeroporto di Bari-Palese 'Karol Wojtyla' e' collegato a Bari Centrale da un treno Ferrotramviaria che impiega circa 17 minuti; la fermata e' dentro lo scalo, unita all'area arrivi da un tunnel di 300 metri, ed e' attiva dal 2013. | [Ferrotramviaria S.p.A.](https://www.ferrotramviaria.it/web/guest/da-aeroporto) | medium | 2027-06-30 |
| Il collegamento su ferro fra Matera e Bari e' esercito dalle Ferrovie Appulo Lucane; il contratto di servizio Regione Basilicata-FAL 2024-2033 prevede il diretto Matera-Bari in 1 ora e 25 minuti (contro 1 ora e 42), cinque nuovi treni a batteria per il servizio metropolitano di Matera e l'attivazione del servizio domenicale da settembre 2026 | [Regione Basilicata](https://www.regione.basilicata.it/matera-bari-diretto-in-unora-e-25-con-nuovo-contratto-fal-regione/); [Ferrovie Appulo Lucane](https://ferrovieappulolucane.it/); [doc 2](https://ferrovieappulolucane.it/comunic-di-servizio/riduzione-estiva-programma-ferroviario_27072026_1116) | medium | 2027-03-31 |

## Image

https://media.myitalia.it/media/region.basilicata.1600.jpg
Author: Benjamin Smith. License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maratea_-_View_from_Camino_San_Biagio_-_03.jpg

## Other languages

- it: https://myitalia.it/it/roots/in-basilicata.md
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