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PIEDMONT
- For other uses, see Piedmont (disambiguation).
Piedmont (Italian: Piemonte) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,399 km2 and a population of 4.3 million. The capital is Turin, and the local language is Piedmontese.
[edit] Geography
Piedmont is surrounded on three sides by the Alps mountain range, including the Monviso, where the Po River rises, and Monte Rosa. It borders with France, Switzerland, and the Italian regions of Lombardy, Liguria, Emilia-Romagna, and the Aosta Valley. 7.6% of the territory is protected area, 56 different ones of which the most famous national park is Gran Paradiso.
Piedmont is divided into eight provinces:
[edit] History
In 1046, the counts of the House of Savoy added Piedmont to their main territory of Savoy, with a capital at Chambéry (now in France). The House 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 the springboard for Italy's unification in 1859-1861, following earlier unsuccessful wars against the Austrian Empire in 1820-1821 and 1848-1849. 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 removed 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.
[edit] Economy
Lowland Piedmont is a fertile agricultural region, producing wheat, rice, maize, and wine grapes. Piedmont is one of the great winegrowing regions in Italy. More than half of its 700 km² (170,000 acres) of vineyards are registered with DOC designations. It produces wines of renowned depth such as the famed Barbera, Barolo, Barbaresco and Moscato, as well as lesser known varieties such as Dolcetto, Freisa, Grignolino and Brachetto. The region contains major industrial centres, notably Turin, home to the FIAT automobile works. Biella produces tissues and silks. The tertiary alsois fluorishing: one of Italy's major banking and insurance groups, Sanpaolo IMI, is based in Turin. In February 2006 Turin hosted the XX Olympic Winter Games.
[edit] Politics
In spite of thi region has a center-left local government, at the April 2006 elections, Piedmont gave 50,5% of its votes to Silvio Berlusconi.
[edit] Demographics
The Turin metro area grew rapidly in the '50s and '60s because of the dramatic immigration from the conuntries of Southern Italy, so today has a population of 2 millions. 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.
Towns of Piedmont with a population of 50,000 or more:
[edit] See also
[edit] Image gallery
[edit] External links
[edit] Government agencies
[edit] Specialty sites
[edit] Tourism portals
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