Piedmont Piemonte
—  Region of Italy  —
Flag Coat of arms
Country	Italy
Capital	Turin
Government
• President	Roberto Cota (LN)
Area
• Total	25,402 km2 (9,808 sq mi)
Population (2010-11-30)
• Total	4,456,532
• Density	180/km2 (450/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
GDP/ Nominal	€ 127.0[1] billion (2008)
GDP per capita	€ 28,500[2] (2008)
NUTS Region	ITC
Website	www.regione.piemonte.it

Piedmont (Italian: Piemonte, pronounced [pjeˈmonte]; Piedmontese and Occitan: Piemont; French: Piémont) is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of Cuneo and Turin. Franco-Provençal is also spoken by another minority in the alpine heights of the Province of Turin. The name Piedmont comes from medieval Latin Pedemontium or Pedemontis, i.e., ad pedem montium, meaning “at the foot of the mountains” (attested in documents of the end of the 13th century).^[3]

Geography[link]

A Montferrat landscape, with the distant Alps in the background.

Piedmont is surrounded on three sides by the Alps, including Monviso, where the Po rises, and Monte Rosa. It borders with France, Switzerland and the Italian regions of Lombardy, Liguria, Aosta Valley and for a very small fragment with Emilia Romagna. The geography of Piedmont is 43.3% mountainous, along with extensive areas of hills (30.3%) and plains (26.4%). Piedmont is the second largest of Italy's 20 regions, 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 it's 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 Padan Plain which supply fresh water both to the rivers and to a dense network of irrigation canals. The countryside is very varied: one passes from the rugged peaks of the massifs of Monte Rosa and of Gran Paradiso, to the damp rice paddies of Vercelli and Novara, from the gentle hillsides of the Langhe and of Montferrat to the plains. 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.

History[link]

The Palazzina di caccia of Stupinigi, in Nichelino, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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 Sardinia-Piedmont and increasing Turin's importance as a European capital.

Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont in 1856.

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 Sardinia-Piedmont 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.^[4][5] 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[link]

Rice fields between Novara and Vercelli

Lowland Piedmont is a fertile agricultural region. The main agricultural products in Piedmont are cereals, including rice, representing more than 10% of national production, maize, grapes for wine-making, fruit and milk.^[6] 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, from the Langhe near Alba, and the Moscato d'Asti as well as the sparkling Asti from the vineyards around Asti. Indigenous grape varieties include Nebbiolo, Barbera, Dolcetto, Freisa, Grignolino and Brachetto.

The region contains major industrial centres, the main of which is Turin, home to the FIAT automobile works. Olivetti, once a major electronics industry whose plant was in Scarmagno, near Ivrea, has now turned into a small-scale computer service company. Biella produces tissues and silks. The city of Asti is located about 55 kilometres east of Turin in the plain of the Tanaro River and it's one of the most important centers of Montferrat, one of the best known Italian wine districts in the world.^[7] Alba is the house of Ferrero's chocolate factories and some mechanical industries. There are links with neighbouring France via the Fréjus and the Colle di Tenda tunnels as well as the Montgenèvre Pass. Piedmont also connects with Switzerland with the Simplón and Great St Bernard passes. It is possible to reach Switzerland via a normal road that crosses Oriental Piedmont starting from Arona and ending in Locarno, on the border with Italy. The region's airport, Turin-Caselle, caters domestic and international flights.^[6] The region has the longest motorway network amongst the Italian regions (about 800 km). It radiates from Turin, connecting it with the other provinces in the region, as well as with the other regions in Italy. In 2001, the number of passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants was 623 (above the national average of 575).^[6]

The Olympic Arch erected for the 2006 Winter Olympics.

Tourism 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 oversea. 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%.^[8] In 2006 Turin hosted the XX Olympic Winter Games and in 2007 it hosted 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 (GTA) was created to draw more attention to the manyfold of remote, sparsely inhabited valleys.

Since 2006, the Piedmont region has benefited from the start of the Slow Food movement and Terra Madre, events that highlighted the rich agricultural and viticultural value of the Po valley and northern Italy. In the same year, Piemonte Agency for Investments, Export and Tourism was founded in order to strengthen the international role of the area and its potential. It was the first Italian institution bringing together all activities carried out by pre-existing local organizations operating for the internationalization of the territory.

Piedmont's first university was in Mondovì

Education[link]

The economy of Piedmont is anchored on a rich history of state support for excellence in higher education, including some of the leading universities in Italy. The Piedmont valley is home to the famous University of Turin, the Polytechnic University of Turin, the University of Eastern Piedmont and, more recently the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute.^[9]

Demographics[link]

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.^[10] 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[link]

In the April 2008 Italian national election, the population of Piedmont gave 46.8% of its votes to the centre-right coalition led by Silvio Berlusconi.

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).^[11] In the last regional election, which took place on 29–30 March 2010, Roberto Cota (Lega Nord) defeated incumbent Mercedes Bresso (Democratic Party).

Administrative divisions[link]

Piedmont is divided into eight provinces:

Provinces of Piedmont

Castle of Grinzane Cavour

See also[link]

• Piedmontese language
• 2006 Winter Olympics
• Kingdom of Sardinia
• Battle of Marengo (14 June 1800)
• Battle of Novara (1849)
• Gianduja
• Piemonte (wine)
• Piedmont cuisine
• List of universities located in Piedmont
• Slow Food

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Piedmont

Wikisource has the text of The New Student's Reference Work article Piedmont.

• Regional government website (Italian)

v t e Piedmont Provinces and places Alessandria Asti Biella Cuneo Novara Turin Verbano-Cusio-Ossola Vercelli Politics and government Elections in Piedmont List of Presidents of Piedmont Education and culture University of Turin Education in Turin

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This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in the Italian Wikipedia. (March 2009) Don't speak Italian? Click here to read a machine-translated version of the Italian article. Click [show] on the right to review important translation instructions before translating. Google's machine translation is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. After translating, {{Translated|it|Folco Quilici}} must be added to the talk page to ensure copyright compliance. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Folco Quilici
Born	(1930-04-09) April 9, 1930 (age 82) Ferrara, Italy
Occupation	Film director, screenwriter
Years active	1952 - 2005

Folco Quilici (born 9 April 1930) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. He directed 22 films between 1952 and 2005.^[1]

Selected filmography[link]

• Tom Toms of Mayumba (1955)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Folco Quilici at the Internet Movie Database

This article about an Italian film director is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2010)

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Tre Martelli are an Italian folk and traditional music band. Since 1977, Tre Martelli has been developing its work on the study, recovery and popularization of the traditional musical culture of the region of Piemonte in northern Italy.

The quality and accuracy of its field work, and the attention given to stylistic variations in the area, together with energy and creative maturity of the band’s performances, have engendered enthusiastic audience response and critical acclaim, both at home and abroad.^{[citation needed]} This has resulted in a huge increase in concerts and tours, not only in Italy but also in the most part of Europe.^{[citation needed]} The band’s recorded output has been unanimously acclaimed by specialist international critics writing in the world’s foremost music publications.^{[citation needed]} The group had numerous appearances in some european national tv-channels such as RAI, B.B.C. and others.

Discography[link]

• 1978 Danza di luglio - demotape
• 1982 Trata Birata - Trata Birata, CL001
• 1985 Giacu Trus - Pentagramma, LPPG 218
• 1987 La Tempesta - Trata Birata, TM 003
• 1991 Brüze Carvè - Trata Birata, TM 005
• 1995 Omi e Paiz - Robi Droli, rdc 5024
• 2000 Car der Steili - Felmay, 8023
• 2002 Semper Viv (antologia) - Felmay, 8048
• 2005 Tra Cel e Tèra - Felmay, 8097

Anthology[link]

• 1989 Folkautore - Madau dischi
• 1995 Roots Music Atlas - Robi Droli
• 1996 Gente del Piemonte - De Agostini
• 1997 Roots Music Atlas – Italia 2 - Robi Droli
• 1997 Musica popolare in Piemonte (1957-1997) - Regione Piemonte
• 1998 Tradizione popolare e linguaggio colto nell’Ottocento e Novecento piemontese - Ass. Cult. Trata Birata
• 2001 Isolafolk-Decennale - Isolafolk
• 2002 Feestival Gooik 1996-2001 - DKdisc
• 2002 Capodanno celtico “Samonios” in musica - Divo 00006
• 2002 Omaggio al Piemonte vol.2 - Regione Piemonte
• 2002 Tribù Italiche “Piemonte” - WorldMusic 028
• 2003 Italie:instruments de la musique populaire - Buda Records
• 2003 Tradicionarius 2003 XVI ediciò Discmedi - Barcelona
• 2004 Piemonte. Antologia della musica antica e moderna - Dejavu Retro
• 2004 Italia 3 – Atlante di musica tradizionale - Dunya records
• 2005 Piemonte World - The stars look very different today - Regione Piemonte
• 2005 Gong – Tradizioni in movimento - Gong

Bibliography[link]

1987 - Livio Tesio La riproposta della canzone tradizionale in Piemonte
1990 - Giovanni Sisto Alessandria una provincia diversa
1995 - Franco Castelli La danza contro il tiranno
1996 - AAVV The rough guide to world music
1997 - Franco Lucà & Maurizio Martinotti Musica popolare in Piemonte
1998 - Michele L. Straniero Antologia della canzone popolare piemontese tra settecento e novecento
2002 - Ivo Franchi e Ezio Guaitamacchi 100 dischi ideali per capire la world music
2003 - Luca Ferrari Folk geneticamente modificato
2003 - Ugo Boccassi & Franco Rangone (IO) lui, gli altri e la musica"
2005 - AAVV 80 anni di storia alessandrina

External links[link]

• Official website