Ask WT: Itaily, Italamb, and the dividing line.

 

 WT: Before the split, Italy had a massive population of rodent, and rodent-related mammals. When the rise of the 'Rat Rasp", and the anti-rodent sentiment following it that would ultimately lead to the "Great Rodent Exile" occurred, there were simply too many rodents for the rest of Itaily to exile to another place. Too many rodents were willing to stand their ground and defend their homelands. The fact that the city of Roar was a major rodent epicenter, and that Ratican City was so important to the religious rodents living there is what ended up cementing it as the dividing line between rodents and the rest of Itaily's mammals. Thus the Ratican line between North Itaily and South Itailamb was established in an effort to prevent all out war between the two factions, splitting the city of Roar in half, ala east and west Germany in our world.

Today, relations between both provinces remain cold, however, they have each opened up to limited tourism from the other side, softening the long-standing ban on rodents entering the south and non-rodents traveling north.