Piedmont (Italian Italian ( italiano , or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 60 million people in Italy, and by a total of around 70 million in the world. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four official languages. It is also the official language of San Marino, as well as the primary language of Vatican City. Standard Italian, adopted by the: Piemonte; Piedmontese Piedmontese , (in Piedmontese: Piemontèis) is a Romance language spoken by over 2 million people in Piedmont, northwest Italy. It is geographically and linguistically included in the Northern Italian group (with Lombard, Emiliano-Romagnolo, Ligurian, and Venetian). It is part of the wider western group of Romance languages, including French, and Occitan Occitan , known also as Lenga d'òc or Langue d'oc (native name: occitan [utsiˈta], lenga d'òc [ˈleŋɡɔˈðɔ(k)]; native nickname: la lenga nòstra i.e. "our [own] language") is a Romance language spoken in Occitania, that is, Southern France, the Occitan Valleys of Italy, Monaco and in the Aran Valley of Spain. It is also spoken: Piemont; French French is a Romance language spoken, around the world, by more than 100 million people as a first language (mother tongue), by 190 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 54 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France, where the language: Piémont) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy The Regions of Italy are the first-level administrative divisions of the state. There are twenty regions, five of them are constitutionally given a broader amount of autonomy granted by special statutes. It has an area of 25,399 km² and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital is Turin Turin is a major city as well as a business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 (November 2008) while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 1.7 million inhabitants;. The main local dialect is Piedmontese Piedmontese , (in Piedmontese: Piemontèis) is a Romance language spoken by over 2 million people in Piedmont, northwest Italy. It is geographically and linguistically included in the Northern Italian group (with Lombard, Emiliano-Romagnolo, Ligurian, and Venetian). It is part of the wider western group of Romance languages, including French,. Occitan Occitan , known also as Lenga d'òc or Langue d'oc (native name: occitan [utsiˈta], lenga d'òc [ˈleŋɡɔˈðɔ(k)]; native nickname: la lenga nòstra i.e. "our [own] language") is a Romance language spoken in Occitania, that is, Southern France, the Occitan Valleys of Italy, Monaco and in the Aran Valley of Spain. It is also spoken is also spoken by a minority in the so called Occitan Valleys. Franco-Provençal Franco-Provençal or Arpitan or Romand (in Switzerland) (Vernacular: francoprovençâl, arpitan, patouès; Italian: francoprovenzale, arpitano, dialetto, patoà; French: francoprovençal, arpitan, patois) is a Romance language with several distinct dialects that form a linguistic sub-group separate from Langue d'Oïl and Langue d'Oc. The name is also spoken by another minority in the alpine heights of the Province of Turin. The name Piemonte is a contraction of the Italian "Ai piedi del monte", meaning "At the foot of the mountain".^{[citation needed]}

Geography

Piedmont is surrounded on three sides by the Alps The Alps is the name for one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east; through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany; to France in the west, including the Monviso (Mont Vis), where the Po The Po is a river that flows either 652 km (405 mi) or 682 km (424 mi) – considering the length of the Maira River, a right bank tributary – eastward across northern Italy, from a spring seeping from a stony hillside at Pian del Re, a flat place at the head of the Val Po under the northwest face of Monviso (in the Cottian Alps) through a delta rises, and the Monte Rosa. It borders with France France (pronounced /ˈfræns/ or /ˈfrɑːns/; French: [fʁɑ̃s]), officially the French Republic (French: République française, pronounced: [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the, Switzerland Switzerland (German: die Schweiz French: la Suisse, Italian: Svizzera, Romansh: Svizra, officially the Swiss Confederation is a landlocked alpine country of roughly 7.7 million people (2009) in Western Europe with an area of 41,285 km². Switzerland is a federal republic consisting of 26 states, called cantons. Bern is the seat of the federal and the Italian regions of Lombardy Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region. The official language, as in the rest of Italy, is Italian, though the traditional local languages are the various dialects of Lombard (Western Lombard and Eastern, Liguria Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and food, Emilia-Romagna Emilia-Romagna is an administrative region of Northern Italy comprising the two historic regions of Emilia and Romagna. The capital is Bologna; it has an area of 20,124 km² and about 4.3 million inhabitants and Aosta Valley The Aosta Valley is a mountainous autonomous region in north-western Italy. It is bordered by France to the west, Switzerland to the north and the region of Piedmont to the south and east. The Geography of Piedmont is that of a territory predominantly mountainous, 43.3%, but with extensive areas of hills which represent 30.3% of the territory, and of plains (26.4%). Piedmont is the second largest of the 20 administrative regions of Italy Italy /ˈɪtəli/ (Italian: Italia), officially the Italian Republic (Italian: Repubblica Italiana), is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia. The, after Sicily Sicily is an autonomous region of Italy. Of all the regions of Italy, Sicily covers the largest land area at 25,708 square kilometres (9,926 sq mi) and currently has just over five million inhabitants. It is also the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. In addition, several much smaller islands surrounding it are also considered to be part of. It is broadly contiguous with the upper part of the drainage basin of the river Po which rises from the slopes of Monviso in the west of the region and is Italy’s largest river. The Po collects all the waters provided within the semicircle of mountains (Alps The Alps is the name for one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east; through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany; to France in the west and Apennines The Apennines or Apennine Mountains is a mountain range stretching c. 1,200 km from the north to the south of Italy along its east coast, traversing the entire peninsula, and forming the backbone of the country. The range characteristically consists of limestone and related sedimentary strata believed to have been uplifted near the end of the) which surround the region on three sides. From the highest peaks the land slopes down to hilly areas, (not always, though, sometimes there is a brusque transition from the mountains to the plains) and then to the upper, and then the lower the great Padan Plain The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain is a major geographical feature of Italy. It extends approximately 650 km (400 mi) in an east-west direction, including its Venetic extension not actually related to the Po river; it runs from the Western Alps to the Adriatic Sea. The flatlands of Veneto and Friuli are often considered apart. The boundary between the first and the second is characterised by risorgive, springs typical of the pianura padana which supply fresh water both to the rivers and to a dense network of irrigation canals. The countryside, then, is very varied: one passes from the rugged peaks of the massifs of Monte Rosa and of Gran Paradiso (national park), to the damp rice paddies of the Vercellese and Novarese; from the gentle hillsides of the Langhe and of Montferrat Montferrat is part of the region of Piedmont in Northern Italy. It comprises roughly (and its extent has varied over time) the modern provinces of Alessandria and Asti. Montferrat is one of the most important wine districts of Italy. It also has a strong literary tradition, including the 18th century Asti-born poet and dramatist Vittorio Alfieri to the plains, often polluted and studded with a mixture of farms and industrial concerns. The percentage of the territory which is a protected area Protected areas are locations which receive protection because of their environmental, cultural or similar value. The term protected area includes Marine Protected Areas, which refers to protected areas whose boundaries include some area of ocean. A large number of kinds of protected area exist, which vary by level of protection and by the is 7.6%. There are 56 different national or regional parks. One such park is the Gran Paradiso National Park (Grand Paradis).

History

Piedmont was inhabited in early historic times by Celtic Celts , is a modern term used to describe any of the European peoples who spoke, or speak, a Celtic language. The term is also used in a wider sense to describe the modern descendants of those peoples, notably those who participate in a Celtic culture-Ligurian tribes such as the Taurini and the Salassi. They were later submitted by the Romans Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world (c. 220 BC), who founded several colonies there including Augusta Taurinorum (Turin) and Eporedia (Ivrea Ivrea is a town and commune of the province of Turin in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. Situated on the road leading to the Aosta Valley , it straddles the Dora Baltea and is regarded as the centre of the Canavese area. Ivrea lies in a basin that, in prehistoric times, formed a great lake. Today a number of smaller lakes: Sirio, San). After the fall of the Western Roman Empire The Western Roman Empire refers to the western half of the Roman Empire, from its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, today widely known as the Byzantine Empire, the region was repeatedly invaded by the Burgundians The Burgundians were an East Germanic tribe which may have emigrated from mainland Scandinavia to the island of Bornholm, whose old form in Old Norse still was Burgundarholmr (the Island of the Burgundians), and from there to mainland Europe. In Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar, Veseti settled in an island or holm, which was called Borgund's holm, i, the Goths The Goths were a heterogeneous East Germanic tribe. Originating in semi-legendary Scandza, believed to be somewhere in modern Götaland, Sweden, a Gothic population had crossed the Baltic Sea before the 2nd century, lending their name to the region of Gothiscandza, believed to be the lower Vistula region in modern Pomerelia, Poland. The (5th century), Byzantines The Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman Empire, known to its inhabitants as the Roman Empire, the Empire of the Romans , Romania (Ῥωμανία, Rhōmanía), or Romais (Ῥωμαΐς Rhōmaís), was the continuation of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on its capital of Constantinople, and ruled by Emperors in direct succession to, Lombards The Lombards were a Germanic people originally from Northern Europe who settled in the valley of the Danube and from there invaded Byzantine Italy in 568 under the leadership of Alboin. They established a Kingdom of Italy which lasted until 774, when it was conquered by the Franks. Their influence on Italian political geography is apparent in the (6th century), Franks The Franks or Frankish people were a West Germanic tribal confederation first attested in the 3rd century as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. Under the Merovingian dynasty, they founded one of the Germanic monarchies which replaced the Western Roman Empire from the 5th century. The Frankish state consolidated its hold over large (773). In the 9th-10th centuries there were further incursions by the Magyars Hungarians are an ethnic group primarily associated with Hungary. There are around 10 million Magyars in Hungary (as of 2001). Hungarians were the main inhabitants of the Kingdom of Hungary that existed through most of the second millennium. The territory of this country was dismembered at the Treaty of Trianon (1920), and as a result, 3,425,000 and Saracens The term Saracen comes from Greek Σαρακηνός, which has often been thought to be derived from the Arabic word شرقيين sharqiyyin , though the Oxford English Dictionary (s.v.) calls etymologies from this "not well founded". The term spread into Western Europe through the Byzantines and Crusaders. After the rise of Islam, and. At the time Piedmont, as part of the Kingdom of Italy There have been several distinct entities known as the Kingdom of Italy. Italy under the rule of Odoacer from 476 to 493 is often called the kingdom of Italy, since it encompassed the Roman province of Italy and Odoacer is periodically styled rex (king). The Ostrogothic Kingdom that replaced Odoacer's rule in Italy is also sometimes referred to as within the Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire (HRE; German: Heiliges Römisches Reich , Latin: Sacrum Romanum Imperium (SRI)) was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period under a Holy Roman Emperor. The first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was Otto I, crowned in 962. The last was Francis II, who abdicated and dissolved, was subdivided into several marks and counties.

In 1046, Oddo of Savoy added Piedmont to their main territory of Savoy Savoy is a region of Europe on the western flank of the Alps that emerged following the collapse of the Frankish Kingdom of Burgundy. Installed by Rudolph III, King of Burgundy, officially in 1003, the House of Savoy became the longest surviving royal house in Europe. It ruled the County of Savoy to 1416 and then the Duchy of Savoy from 1416 to 171, with a capital at Chambéry Chambéry is commune in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in southeastern France (now in France France (pronounced /ˈfræns/ or /ˈfrɑːns/; French: [fʁɑ̃s]), officially the French Republic (French: République française, pronounced: [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the). Other areas remained independent, such as the powerful comuni In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division of both provinces and regions, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality (municipalities) of Asti Asti is a city and comune of c. 75,000 inhabitants located in the Piedmont region of north-western Italy, about 55 kilometres east of Turin in the plain of the Tanaro River. It is the capital of the province of Asti and it is deemed to be the modern capital of Monferrato and Alessandria Alessandria is a city in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. The city is sited on the alluvial plane between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, c. 90 km southeast of Turin and the marquisates of Saluzzo and Montferrat. The County of Savoy was elevated to a duchy in 1416, and Duke Emanuele Filiberto moved the seat to Turin in 1563. In 1720, the Duke of Savoy became King of Sardinia Kingdom of Sardinia, also known as Piedmont-Sardinia or Sardinia-Piedmont, was the name given to the possessions of the House of Savoy in 1720, when the island of Sardinia was awarded by the Treaty of London to Duke Victor Amadeus II of Savoy to compensate him for the loss of Sicily to Austria. Besides Sardinia, the kingdom included Savoy,, founding what evolved into the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia Kingdom of Sardinia, also known as Piedmont-Sardinia or Sardinia-Piedmont, was the name given to the possessions of the House of Savoy in 1720, when the island of Sardinia was awarded by the Treaty of London to Duke Victor Amadeus II of Savoy to compensate him for the loss of Sicily to Austria. Besides Sardinia, the kingdom included Savoy, and increasing Turin's importance as a European capital A capital is the area of a country, province, region, or state, regarded as enjoying primary status; although there are exceptions, a capital is almost always a city which physically encompasses the offices and meeting places of the seat of government and fixed by law. Alternate terms include capital city and political capital; the latter phrase.

The Republic of Alba was created in 1796 as a French client republic During its occupation of neighboring parts of Europe during the French Revolutionary Wars, France established republican regimes in these territories. The French Republic claimed to support the spread of the republican principles in Europe, but most of these client republics, or sister republics, were in fact a means of controlling the occupied in Piedmont before the area was annexed by France in 1801. In June 1802 a new client republic, the Subalpine Republic, was established in Piedmont and in September it was also annexed. In the congress of Vienna, the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia was restored, and furthermore received the Republic of Genoa to strengthen it as a barrier against France.

Piedmont was an initial springboard for Italy's unification in 1859-1861, following earlier unsuccessful wars against the Austrian Empire in 1820-1821 and 1848-1849. This process is sometimes referred to as Piedmontisation. However, the efforts were later contradicted by efforts of rural farmers.^[1][2] The House of Savoy became Kings of Italy, and Turin briefly became the capital of Italy. However, the addition of territory paradoxically reduced Piedmont's importance to the kingdom, and the capital was moved to Florence, and then to Rome. One remaining recognition of Piedmont's historical role was that the crown prince of Italy was known as the Prince of Piedmont.

Economy

Lowland Piedmont is a fertile agricultural region. The main agricultural products in Piemonte are cereals, including rice, representing more than 10% of national production, maize, grapes for wine-making and fruit and milk.^[3] With more than 800 000 head of cattle in 2000, livestock production accounts for half of final agricultural production in Piedmont. Piedmont is one of the great winegrowing regions in Italy. More than half of its 700 square kilometres (170,000 acres) of vineyards are registered with DOC designations. It produces prestigious wines as Barolo, Barbaresco and Moscato d'Asti. Indigenous grape varieties include Nebbiolo, Barbera, Dolcetto, Freisa, Grignolino and Brachetto.

The region contains major industrial centres, notably Turin, home to the FIAT automobile works. Biella produces tissues and silks. Cuneo is the house of Ferrero's chocolate factories and important mechanical industries. There are links with neighbouring France via the Fréjus and Colle di Tenda tunnels and the Montgenèvre Pass, and with Switzerland over the Simplón and Great St Bernard passes. The region's airport, Turin-Caselle, caters for domestic and international flights.^[4] The region has the longest motorways network amongst the Italian regions (about 800 km). The motorway routes radiate from Turin, connecting it with the other provinces in the Piemonte region, as well as with the other regions in Italy. In 2001, the number of passenger cars per 1 000 inhabitants at 623 was above the national average (575).^[5]

The tourism industry in Piedmont employs 75,534 people and currently comprises 17,367 companies operating in the hospitality and catering sector, with 1,473 hotels and tourist accommodations. The sector generates a turnover of €2,671 million Euros, 3.3% of the €80,196 million which represents the total estimated spending on tourism in Italy. The region enjoys almost the same level of popularity among Italians and visitors from overseas. In 2002 there were 2,651,068 total arrivals; international visitors to Piedmont in 2002 accounted for 42% of the total number of tourists with 1,124,696 arrivals. The traditional leading areas for tourism in Piedmont are the Lake District – “Piedmont’s riviera”, which accounts for 32.84% of total overnight stays, and the metropolitan area of Turin which accounts for 26.51.^[6] In 2006 Turin hosted the XX Olympic Winter Games and in 2007 the XXIII Universiade. Alpine tourism tends to concentrate in a few highly developed stations like Alagna Valsesia and Sestriere. Around 1980, the long-distance trail Grande Traversata delle Alpi has been created to draw more attention to the manyfold of remote, sparsely inhabited valleys.

Demographics

The population density in Piemonte is lower than the national average. In 2008 it was equal to 174 inhabitants per km2, compared to a national figure of about 200. It rises however to 335 inhabitants per km2 when just the province of Turin is considered, whereas Verbano-Cusio-Ossola is the less densely populated province (72 inhabitants per km2). The population of Piedmont followed a downward trend throughout the 1980s. This drop is the result of the natural negative balance (of some 3 to 4% per year), while the migratory balance since 1986 has again become positive because of an excess of new immigration over a stable figure for emigration.^[7] The population as a whole has remained stable in the 1990s, although this is the result of a negative natural balance and a positive net migration.

The Turin metro area grew rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s due to an increase of immigrants from Southern Italy, and today it has a population of approximately two million. As of 2008, the Italian national institute of statistics (ISTAT) estimated that 310,543 foreign-born immigrants live in Piedmont, equal to 7.0% of the total regional population.

Government and politics

The Regional Government (Giunta Regionale) is presided by the President of the Region (Presidente della Regione), who is elected for a five-year term and is composed by the President and the Ministers, who are currently 14, including a Vice President (Vice Presidente).^[8] In the last regional election, which took place on 3-4 April 2005, Mercedes Bresso (Democrats of the Left, then Democratic Party) defeated incumbent Enzo Ghigo (Forza Italia). However, at the April 2008 Italian national election, Piedmont gave 46.8% of its votes to the Centre-Right coalition led by Silvio Berlusconi.

Administrative divisions

Piedmont is divided into eight provinces:

References

1. ^ Valeria Fargion, From the Southern to the Northern Question: Territorial and Social Politics in Italy, paper presented at the RC 19 conference 'Welfare state restructuring: processes and social outcomes', 2-4 September 2004, Sciences-Po Paris, accessed 7 January 2007
2. ^ Anna Bull, Regionalism in Italy, Europa 2(4), accessed 7 January 2007
3. ^ http://circa.europa.eu/irc/dsis/regportraits/info/data/en/itc1_eco.htm
4. ^ http://circa.europa.eu/irc/dsis/regportraits/info/data/en/itc1_eco.htm
5. ^ http://circa.europa.eu/irc/dsis/regportraits/info/data/en/itc1_eco.htm
6. ^ http://www.regione.piemonte.it/lingue/english/pagine/cultura/approfondimenti/02_piemontur_en.pdf
7. ^ http://circa.europa.eu/irc/dsis/regportraits/info/data/en/itc1_pop.htm
8. ^ Sito Ufficiale della Regione Piemonte: Giunta regionale

See also

• The XX Olympic Winter Games
• Kingdom of Sardinia
• Battle of Marengo (14 June 1800)
• Battle of Novara (1849)
• Gianduja
• Piemonte (wine)

Image gallery

External links

Specialty sites

• Piemontesi Nel Mondo of Northern California
• Piemonte Magazine (Italian)
• Nòste Rèis (Piedmontese cultural association) (Italian)
• Cucina Piemonte.Net (Piemontese cuisine) (Italian)
• TempoItalia (weather forecasts) (Italian)
• Сайт о Турине и Пьемонте на русском языке (Russian)

Tourism portals

• Map of Piedmont
• Piedmont Restaurant Guide from ChefMoz, part of the Open Directory Project
• Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy (UNESCO World Heritage Site) (English)
• Artistic landscape photos
• Photos
• Piedmont Wine, Truffle and Food Festival Photo Pages
• Piemondo
• Global Geografia (Italian)
• Piedmont Live - Piemonte dal Vivo (Italian)
• Piemonte Emozioni (Italian)
• Piemonte Web (Italian)
• Itinerari Piemonte (Italian)
• Web TV Italy - Piedmont Travel Info, Tips and much more

Categories: Piedmont | Regions of Italy | NUTS 2 statistical regions of the European Union | Wine regions of Italy

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