Piedmont
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2008-07-10T20:11:03Z
Alcmaeonid
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{{coor title dms|44|57|35|N|7|55|10|E|type:adm1st(4341733)|region:IT}}
{{otheruses1|the [[Italy|Italian]] region}}
{{Infobox Region of Italy |
name = Piedmont |
fullname = Regione Piemonte (it) |Region Piemont (pie) |
isocode = |
capital = [[Turin]] |
status = [[Regions of Italy|Region]] |
governor = [[Mercedes Bresso]]<br />(''[[Democrats of the Left|DS]]''-''[[The Union (political coalition)|Union]]'') |
zone = [[Northwestern Italy]] |
province = 8 |
municipality = 1,206 |
arearank = 2nd |
area = 25,399 |
areapercent = 8.4 |
population_as_of = 2006 est. |
populationrank = 6th |
population = 4,341,733 |
populationpercent = 7.4 |
populationdensity = 171 |
coatofarms = [[Image:Piemonte.svg|200px]] |
map = [[Image:Italy Regions Piedmont Map.png]] |
}}
'''Piedmont''' ([[Italian language|Italian]]: ''Piemonte''; [[Piedmontese language|Piedmontese]] and [[Occitan language|Occitan]]: ''Piemont''; [[French language|French]]: ''Piémont'') is one of the 20 [[Regions of Italy]]. It has an area of 25,399 km² and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital is [[Turin]], the local language is [[Piedmontese]] and [[Occitan language|Occitan]] is also spoken in [[Occitan Valleys]].
==Geography==
Piedmont is surrounded on three sides by the [[Alps]], including the [[Monte Viso|Monviso]] (Mont Vis), where the [[Po River|Po]] rises, and the [[Monte Rosa]]. It borders with [[France]], [[Switzerland]] and the Italian regions of [[Lombardy]], [[Liguria]], [[Emilia-Romagna]] and [[Aosta Valley]]. 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|Gran Paradiso National Park (Grand Paradis)]].
Piedmont is divided into eight provinces:
[[Image:Piedmont Provinces.png|250px|Provinces of Piedmont.]]
*[[Province of Alessandria|Alessandria]]
*[[Province of Asti|Asti]]
*[[Province of Biella|Biella]]
*[[Province of Cuneo|Cuneo]]
*[[Province of Novara|Novara]]
*[[Province of Turin|Turin]]
*[[Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola|Verbano-Cusio-Ossola]]
*[[Province of Vercelli|Vercelli]]
==History==
Piedmont was inhabited in early historic times by Celtic-[[Ligurian]] tribes such as the [[Taurini]] and the [[Salassi]]. They were later submitted by the [[ancient Rome|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.
[[Image:Piemonterisaie.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Rice fields between Novara and Vercelli. Piedmont is Italy's major rice producer.]]
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 communes of [[Asti]] and [[Alessandria]] and the marquisates of [[Marquisate of Saluzzo|Saluzzo]] and [[Marquisate of Montferrat|Montferrat]]. The County of Savoy was elevated to a duchy in [[1416]], and Duke [[Emmanuel Philibert|Emanuele Filiberto]] moved the seat to Turin in 1563. In 1720, the Duke of Savoy became King of [[Kingdom of Sardinia|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 [[Italian unification|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.<ref>Valeria Fargion, [http://www.cevipof.msh-paris.fr/rencontres/colloq/palier/Full%20paper/Fargion%20Valeria%20FP.doc 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</ref><ref>Anna Bull, [http://www.intellectbooks.com/europa/number2/bull.htm Regionalism in Italy], ''Europa'' 2(4), accessed 7 January 2007</ref> 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, Italy|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==
[[Image:FIATurim.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Aereal view of [[Fiat]] manufacturing plant in Turin.]]
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 [[Denominazione di Origine Controllata|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, able in the past to build the trailer for the Space Shuttle Columbia. The tertiary also is flourishing: 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]] and in 2007 the Universiades, Olympic games for university students.
==Politics==
The region has a center-left local government with [[Mercedes Bresso]] as president, following the regional legislative and presidential election of 2005. However, at the [[Italian general election, 2006|April 2006 Italian national election]], Piedmont gave 50.5% of its votes to the Centre-Right coalition led by [[Silvio Berlusconi]].
==Demographics==
[[Image:Borgomanero2.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Serralunga d’Alba]] and its vineyards.]]
[[image:Monferrato 1.jpg|200px|right|thumb|A landscape in [[Montferrat]].]]
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:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Comune
! Population (2006 est.)
|-
| [[Turin]]
| 900,608
|-
| [[Novara]]
| 102,817
|-
| [[Alessandria]]
| 91,593
|-
| [[Asti]]
| 73,734
|-
| [[Moncalieri]]
| 55,983
|-
| [[Cuneo]]
| 54,817
|-
| [[Rivoli (Italy)|Rivoli]]
| 50,213
|}
==UNESCO World Heritage Sites==
{{main|Residences of the Royal House of Savoy}}
{{main|Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy}}
<center><gallery>
Image:Torino palazzo reale (v2).jpg|[[Royal Palace of Turin]]
Image:Stupinigi.jpg|[[Palazzina di caccia di Stupinigi]]
Image:Torino-Palazzo Carignano-jpg.jpg|[[Palazzo Carignano]]
Image:Castello valentino - fronte.jpg|[[Castello del Valentino]]
</gallery></center>
<center><gallery>
Image:Sacro Monte di Crea. Cappella del Paradiso3.jpg|[[Sacro Monte di Crea]]<br />Paradise Chapel
Image:Sacro Monte di Ghiffa.JPG|[[Sacro Monte di Ghiffa]]<br />Crucifixion and Trinity, 16th century
Image:Cap. 9, La terza caduta. Cap. 11, La crocefissione.JPG|[[Sacro Monte di Domodossola]]<br />View of the chapels IX and XI
Image:Sacro Monte di Varallo Fig1.JPG|[[Sacro Monte di Varallo]]<br />Chapel XXXIII. Giovanni d’Enrico, Ecce Homo, 1608-9
</gallery></center>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==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==
<center><gallery>
Image:Chiappera1.jpg|<center>Acceglio</center>
Image:Acqui Terme – the cathedral.jpg|<center>Acqui Terme</center>
Image:Asti Cathedral.jpg|<center>Asti</center>
Image:Biella-Teatro Sociale-2-bis.jpg|<center>Biella</center>
Image:Isola San Giulio.jpg|<center> Isola San Giulio</center>
Image:Macugnaga.JPG|<center>Macugnaga</center>
Image:Torino-panoramadaicappuccini.jpg|<center>Turin</center>
Image:Verbania Pallanza.jpg|<center>Verbania</center>
</gallery></center>
==External links==
===Specialty sites===
*[http://www.ilgiornaledelpiemonte.com/ Giornale del Piemonte] (daily newspaper)
*[http://www.piemonte-online.com/ Piemonte Magazine]
*[http://www.lalinguapiemontese.net/ La Lingua Piemontese] (Piedmontese language)
*[http://www.nostereis.org/ Nòste Rèis] (Piedmontese cultural association)
*[http://www.federpiemonte.org/ Confindustria] (manufacturers association)
*[http://cucina.piemonte.net/ Cucina Piemonte.Net] (Piemontese cuisine)
*[http://www.tempoitalia.it/meteoregione/previsione.php?reg=piemonte TempoItalia] (weather forecasts)
*[http://www.piemontesinoca.com Piemontesi Nel Mondo of Northern California]
===Tourism portals===
*[http://www.italy-weather-and-maps.com/maps/italy/piedmont.gif Map of Piedmont]
*[http://www.globalgeografia.com/italia/piemonte.htm Global Geografia]
*[http://www.piemondo.it/ Piemondo]
*[http://www.regione.piemonte.it/piemontedalvivo Piedmont Live - Piemonte dal Vivo]
*[http://www.piemonte-emozioni.it/ Piemonte Emozioni]
*[http://www.piemonteweb.it/pw/Home.asp Piemonte Web]
*[http://www.itinerari-piemonte.it/ Itinerari Piemonte]
*[http://chefmoz.org/Italy/Piedmont/ ChefMoz Restaurant Guide]
*[http://www.sacrimonti.net/User/index.php?PAGE=Sito_it/Catalogo_eng Official English website for European Sacred Mounts]
*[http://www.freewebs.com/photoitalia/piemonte.htm Piedmont Picture Gallery]
*[http://digilander.libero.it/fotogian/piemonte.html Photos]
*[http://www.paradoxplace.com/Perspectives/Venice%20&%20N%20Italy/Piemonte/Truffle_Festival/Tartufo_Festival_2006_1.htm Piedmont Wine, Truffle and Food Festival Photo Pages]
{{Regions of Italy}}
{{1632 place referenced}}
[[Category:Piedmont|Piedmont]]
[[Category:NUTS 2 statistical regions of the European Union]]
[[Category:Wine regions of Italy]]
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