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Piedmont
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Piedmont (; Piedmontese and Occitan: Piemont; ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,399 km˛ and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital is Turin. The main local dialect is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the so called Occitan Valleys. The name Piemonte is a contraction of the Italian "Ai piedi del monte", meaning "At the base of the mountain".
mont is surrounded on three sides by the Alps, including the Monviso (Mont Vis), where the Po rises, and the Monte Rosa.
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Encyclopedia
Piedmont (; Piedmontese and Occitan: Piemont; ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,399 km˛ and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital is Turin. The main local dialect is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the so called Occitan Valleys. The name Piemonte is a contraction of the Italian "Ai piedi del monte", meaning "At the base of the mountain".
Geography
Piedmont is surrounded on three sides by the Alps, including the Monviso (Mont Vis), where the Po rises, and the Monte Rosa. It borders with France, Switzerland and the Italian regions of Lombardy, Liguria, Emilia-Romagna and Aosta Valley.
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, after Sicily. 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 and Apennines) 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 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 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 is 7.6%. There are 56 different national or regional parks. One such park is the Gran Paradiso National Park (Grand Paradis).
History
, of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list.]]
Piedmont was inhabited in early historic times by Celtic-Ligurian tribes such as the Taurini and the Salassi. They were later submitted by the Romans (c. 220 BC), who founded several colonies there including Augusta Taurinorum (Turin) and Eporedia (Ivrea). After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the region was repeatedly invaded by the Burgundians, the Goths (5th century), Byzantines, Lombards (6th century), Franks (773). In the 9th-10th centuries there were further incursions by the Magyars and Saracens. At the time Piedmont, as part of the Kingdom of Italy within the Holy Roman Empire, was subdivided into several marks and counties.
In 1046, Oddo of Savoy added Piedmont to their main territory of Savoy, with a capital at Chambéry (now in France). Other areas remained independent, such as the powerful comuni (municipalities) of Asti and Alessandria 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, founding what evolved into the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia and increasing Turin's importance as a European capital.
The Republic of Alba was created in 1796 as a French client republic 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. 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. 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 km˛ (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 Montgenčvre Pass, and with Switzerland over the Simplón and Great St Bernard passes. The region's airport, Turin-Caselle, caters for domestic and international flights.
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).
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. In 2006 Turin hosted the XX Olympic Winter Games and in 2007 the XXIII Universiade.
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).
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:
Demographics
, the capital of Piedmont.]]
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 2006, the Italian national institute of statistics (ISTAT) estimated that 231,611 foreign-born immigrants live in Piedmont, equal to 5.3% of the total regional population.
Cities of Piedmont with a population of 50,000 or more:
See also
Image gallery
External links
Specialty sites
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- (Piedmontese cultural association)
- (Piemontese cuisine)
- (weather forecasts)
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Tourism portals
- from ChefMoz, part of the Open Directory Project
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