PIEMONTE

Provinces - This region has 8 provinces: Alessandria, Biella, Asti, Cuneo, Novara, Torino, Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, Vercelli
Chief town - Torino
Surface - kmq 25399
National Parks - National Park of Gran Paradiso (1992),
National Parl of Val Grande (1991)

Reliefs - Passes - Coasts - Islands:

Piedmont has touched from Appennino of Liguria, from Alps Marittime, from Alps Cozie that included the peak of Monviso, from Alps Graie with the Group of Gran Paradiso and of White Mountain, from Alps Pennine with Cervino and Rosa Mountain and from Alps Lepontine that are extended in the oriental part of the Piedmont. A group of low hills are gone down by the Appennino of Liguria toward the north, actually to Po. They are the Hills of the Langhe rich in orchards, Monferrato rich in vineyards and the hills of Torino.
To see from the lowland, the alpine wall that mends the region seems unapproachable and insuperable; then passing for the narrow gullies arrives each other actually to the footsteps, or crosses that the Piedmont and France connect.

Panorama of the city of torino
with the background of the alpi

The principal passes are: Hill of Tenda that connects Cuneo to Nice, Hill of the Maddalena that connects Valley of Stura with Valley of Rodano, the footsteps of Monginevro, of Frejus and of Moncenisio by which pass important railway and road lines. On Swiss side there is Footstep of Sempione that connects Piedmont with north-western Europe. We also find some footsteps of appenni, that are: Hill of Cadibona, Footstep of Turchino, and Pass of Giovi. In Piedmont we find the western part of the lowland Padana (‘the valley of the Po '), that is extended on the left shore of Po. The most fertile zone in the Piedmontese lowland is that adjacent to Po and low lowland is said, while the tall lowland that is inclusive between Alps and the hilly zone is being that less fertile and more arid because of the impermeability of the ground.

Landscape:
The region is inside and it is not bathed from the sea. The Alps Marittime, Cozie, Graie, Pennine and those Lepontines, mend the region from the perturbations of the north Europe; without a gradual hilly zone, finds the Piedmontese lowlands, where being cultivated to rice mostly cover as a mirror of water this territory. The hills are very undulated and small villages, farms, old castles and plantations of fruit trees and vineyards rise.

Agriculture - Stock-farm - Rishing:
In Piedmont the most important crop is that of the rice, of the maize, of the wheat, of some vegetables and of the fruit. The production of the wine is modest but of quality. We remember some qualities appreciated of the Piedmontese productions: Barbera, Barbaresco, Barolo, Nebbiolo, Dolcetto and Grignolino. The abundance of the natural pastures allows the breeding of livestock, above all cattle. It is produced therefore a considerable quantity of meat, of butter and of cheese.

Industry - Tourism:

Panorama of Sestriere, note place
skiing Piedmontese

The most important industry is that auto (Fiat with the production of motorcars, trailer trucks, trucks, bus, tractors, airplanes, railway carriages, locomotor), the mechanical industry (machine for the office, calculators, electronic apparatuses for the computer science), the chemical industry (rubbers, artificial and synthetic fibers, pharmaceutical products, alimentary products and vinicoli) and finally the industries of the cement, of the paper and of the tanning of the skins.

Position and Frontier:
The Piedmontese territory includes the inside part of the western Alps with a line of Appennino and the western part of Lowland Padana. The confinements with France and Switzerland determine the political border of Italy. To south it confines with Liguria and to east with Lombardy and for a brief line with Emilia. To north of the Piedmontese geographical territory Valley of Aosta is also found, that however it forms a region to oneself.

Rivers - Lakes:
The Piedmontese rivers are all tributaries of Po and they have an alpine regime, seen the thin winter and the floods in spring and summer. This is owed from the reservoirs of the glaciers and from the rains that in spring, when they start to melt, they go down quickly from the streams and they meet in the rivers. Po with 652 kms of run is the longest river and with great course of water, it is born from the Plan of the King from Monviso and it crosses the whole region. The principal tributaries of left are Dora Riparia, Stura of Lanzo, Orco, Dora Baltea that goes down from Valley of Aosta, Sesia, Ticino and Toce that meets its waters in Maggiore Lake. In small number they are the tributaries of right with Tanaro where Bormida and the Scrivia meet. All the mountains that surround Piedmont are sprinkled by hundreds of micro-lakes said alpine lakes. The greatest lakes that Piedmont possesses are the western shore and the zone north to border with Switzerland of Lake Maggiore and those of Lake of Orta and the of Viverone.

Climate:
In the alpine zone it is very cold. The climate however in the lowland is continental, or rather cold winters and often dry, warm summers, spring and winter rains. There are often formations of fogs as after all it is characteristic in Lowland Padana. On the shores of the lakes the climate is mild.

Population:
The population is not distributed so much fairly less in mountain and in the tall hill. Strong accumulation is found in the big urban agglomeration in Turin. The industrial development has favored the phenomenon of the immigration from the other region, in special way from Calabria, Puglia, Sicily, Marche and Veneto. The same Piedmontese inhabitants left the countries to move to the centers more industrialized. In many gods abandoned farms took over immigrated agriculturists, attracted by the mirage of the city.

Communication:
The dense net of communication either traffic road how railway, has a some European importance for how much it concerns either the commerce that the tourism. Two railway nets and four highways connect the region to the rest of Italy and Europe, over that to port of Genoa where many products are transported by to embark for the international export. The principal airport is found in Torino (Caselle).