Southern Italy is the European area with the lowest employment percentages: in Apulia, Sicily, Campania and Calabria, less than 50% of the people aged between 20 and 64 had a job in 2018. This is largely due to the low participation of women in the workforce, as slightly more than 30% of the women are employed, compared to a national and European average of 53.1% and 67.4%, respectively. In southern Italy, which contains eight cohesion areas (Sicily, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Puglia, Abruzzo and Basilicata), a public-private partnership known as SMEI Italy serves as a catalyst for private investment and supports economic growth and employment creation. Over €1 billion in finance has been catalyzed in these eight locations to far, supporting almost 5 000 SMEs and small mid-caps. Per capita GDP by region Today, Abruzzo it is the richest of the regions of Southern Italy, while Calabria appears as the poorest. {| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: right" |+ Southern Italy regions by GDP per capita(in euros, at current market prices) |- ! data-sort-type="number"|Rank !! Region !! 2017 !! % of nationwide average |- | 12 || align="left" | | 25,000 | 86.51 |- | 14 || align="left" | | 21,400 | 74.05 |- | 15 || align="left" | | 20,900 | 72.32 |- | 16 || align="left" | | 20,100 | 69.55 |- | 17 || align="left" | | 18,700 | 64.71 |- | 18 || align="left" | | 18,500 | 64.01 |- | 19 || align="left" | | 17,700 | 61.25 |- | 20 || align="left" | | 17,400 | 60.21 |- | — || align="left" | |28,900 |100.00|- |} Culture The regions of Southern Italy were exposed to some different historical influences than the rest of the peninsula, starting most notably with Greek colonisation. Greek influence in the South was dominant until Latinisation was completed by the time of the Roman Principate. Greek influences returned by the late Roman Empire, especially following the reconquests of Justinian and the Byzantine Empire. Sicily, a distinctive Norman-Arab-Byzantine culture throughout the Middle Ages, was captured by Muslims and turned into an Emirate for a period, and elements of Arab culture were introduced via Sicily to Italy and Europe. The rest of the mainland was subject to a struggle of power among the Byzantines, Lombards, and Franks. In addition, the Venetians established outposts as trade with Byzantium and the Near East increased. Until the Norman