A region of northwest Italy on the Ligurian Sea. The region is named after an ancient people, the Ligurii, whose presence in the area predated the arrival of peoples who spoke Indo-European languages. The Romans subdued the area in the 2nd century BC, and later (16th-19th century) it was under the control of Genoa. A small section of the coastline surrounding Genoa formed the Ligurian Republic from 1797 until 1815.