[2][3] Its capital is the city of Vibo Valentia and its vehicle licence plate code is VV.

[5] It was first settled by Italic tribe the Sicels and Vibo Valentia was established as a city in the 6th or 7th century, known as Hipponion by the Greeks of Messina and Reggio.

[6] Dionysius I of Syracuse had the city of Hipponion destroyed, and authority of the city subsequently passed to Ancient Carthage, tribe Bruttii, Greek Agathocles of Syracuse, and then the Locrians, before being conquered by ancient Rome in around 230 BCE.

Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor had the town rebuilt in the 13th century, and in 1284 it passed to the Ruffo family.

[6] In June 2010 a dormant volcano was discovered off the coast of the province on the line of the fault that led to the 1905 Calabria earthquake.