Soriano Calabro is a comune

Comune

In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...

(municipality) in the Province of Vibo Valentia

Province of Vibo Valentia

The Province of Vibo Valentia is a province in the Calabria region of Italy, set up by a national law of 6 March 1992 which came into effect on 1 January 1996, and formerly part of the Province of Catanzaro...

 in the Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 region Calabria

Calabria

Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....

, located about 45 km southwest of Catanzaro and about 15 km southeast of Vibo Valentia

Vibo Valentia

Vibo Valentia is a city and comune in the Calabria region of southern Italy, near the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital of the province of Vibo Valentia, and is an agricultural, commercial and tourist center . There are also several large manufacturing industries, including the tuna district of...

. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,975 and an area of 15.2 km².

Soriano Calabro was founded by a group of monks composed mostly of Syrians and also Egyptians who migrated to the Italian peninsula

Italian Peninsula

The Italian Peninsula or Apennine Peninsula is one of the three large peninsulas of Southern Europe , spanning from the Po Valley in the north to the central Mediterranean Sea in the south. The peninsula's shape gives it the nickname Lo Stivale...

 in the 10th century. The monks were permitted to settle in three different places, in Lazio, Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

 and Calabria

Calabria

Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....

. Those who settled in Calabria founded the town of Soriano Calabro, originally naming it Soriano, which was taken from the name of the country Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

 (سوريا sūryā in Arabic) and hence meant 'Syrian', which at that time in Italian was written as 'Sòriano'.

Soriano Calabro borders the following municipalities: Gerocarne

Gerocarne

Gerocarne is a comune in the Province of Vibo Valentia in the Italian region Calabria, located about 50 km southwest of Catanzaro and about 15 km southeast of Vibo Valentia...

, Pizzoni

Pizzoni

Pizzoni is a comune in the Province of Vibo Valentia in the Italian region Calabria, located about 45 km southwest of Catanzaro and about 15 km southeast of Vibo Valentia....

, Sorianello

Sorianello

Sorianello is a comune in the Province of Vibo Valentia in the Italian region Calabria, located about 45 km southwest of Catanzaro and about 15 km southeast of Vibo Valentia...

, Stefanaconi

Stefanaconi

Stefanaconi is a comune in the Province of Vibo Valentia in the Italian region Calabria, located about 50 km southwest of Catanzaro and about 3 km east of Vibo Valentia...

.