Latina is the capital of the province of Latina in the Lazio region, in central italy. The city has about 115,426 inhabitants and is thus the second largest city of the region. It was founded in 1932 under the name Littoria when the area surrounding it, which had been a swamp since Antiquity, was drained. Latina was founded by Benito Mussolini on June 30, 1932 as "Littoria", named for the fascio littorio. The city was inaugurated on December 18 of the same year. Littoria was populated with settlers coming mainly from Friuli and Veneto, who formed the so-called Venetian-Pontine community (today surviving only in some peripherical boroughs). The edifices and the monuments, mainly in rationalist style, were designed by famous architects and artists such as Marcello Piacentini, Angiolo Mazzoni and Duilio Cambellotti. In 1934 it became a provincial capital and, after World War II, renamed Latina in 1946. With the arrival of other people mostly from Lazio itself, the original Venetian-like dialect was increasingly substituted by a form of Romanesco dialect. The city coat of arms (see infobox, right) is a blue shield with a stylized drawing of the City Hall Clock Tower in the middle, standing on a field of green, and flanked by two stalks of wheat tied at the base with a red ribbon engraved with the motto "LATINA OLIM PALUS" ("Latina, once a swamp") in Latin. The shield is surmounted by a mural crown. The arms combine the three colors of the Flag of italy (red, white, and green) with the "Azzurro Savoia" (the blue of the House of Savoy).