Salento

Salento Salentu (Salentino) Σαλέντο (Salentino Griko)
Historical Region
Flag Coat of Arms
Salento in red
Country	Italy
Regions	Apulia
Provinces	Taranto, Brindisi, Lecce
Named for	Latin salum “Surrounded by Sea”
Area
• Land	5,856.57 km2 (2,261.23 sq mi)
Population
• Estimate  (2017)	1,785,500
Demonym	Salentini
Time zone	UTC+1
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2

Salento (Salentino: Salentu, Salentino Griko: Σαλέντο), also known as Terra d'Otranto,^[1] is a cultural, historical and geographic region at the southern end of the administrative region of Apulia, in southern Italy. It is a sub-peninsula of the Italian Peninsula, sometimes described as the "heel" of the Italian "boot". It encompasses the entire administrative area of the province of Lecce, a large part of the province of Brindisi and part of that of Taranto.

The peninsula is also known as Terra d'Otranto, and in the past Sallentina. In ancient times it was called variously Calabria or Messapia.