Abstract
This paper provides the fi rst ever diachronic homogenous estimates of literacy rates in the Italian provinces during the period 1821-1911, by gender. The estimates exploit the age structure information reported in the population censuses of 1881 and 1911 to back cast literacy rates to the early 19th century. Territorial differences were already huge in the aftermath of the Napoleonic wars, with Southern regions registering extremely low levels and essentially no change before the uni cation of 1861. Furthermore, the early rise of literacy rates for Northern women suggests a dimension of the North-South gap that signifi cantly the political uni cation of the country.
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