Mals is a comune

Comune

In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...

(municipality) in South Tyrol

South Tyrol

South Tyrol , also known by its Italian name Alto Adige, is an autonomous province in northern Italy. It is one of the two autonomous provinces that make up the autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. The province has an area of and a total population of more than 500,000 inhabitants...

 in the Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 80 km northwest of Trento

Trento

Trento is an Italian city located in the Adige River valley in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. It is the capital of Trentino...

 and about 70 km northwest of Bolzano, on the border with Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 and Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

.

Geography

As of 30 November 2010, it had a population of 5,092 and an area of 246.7 km².

The municipality of Mals contains the frazioni

Frazione

A frazione , in Italy, is the name given in administrative law to a type of territorial subdivision of a comune; for other administrative divisions, see municipio, circoscrizione, quartiere...

(subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Burgeis (Burgusio), Laatsch (Laudes), Matsch (Mazia), Planeil (Planol), Plawenn (Piavenna), Schleis (Clusio), (Slingia), Tartsch (Tarces), and Ulten-Alsack (Alsago-Ultimo).

Mals borders the following municipalities: Graun im Vinschgau

Graun im Vinschgau

Graun im Vinschgau is a comune in South Tyrol in the Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 90 km northwest of Trento and about 70 km northwest of Bolzano , on the border with Austria and Switzerland....

, Glurns

Glurns

Glurns is a comune in South Tyrol in the Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 80 km northwest of Trento and about 60 km northwest of Bolzano ....

, Laas, Scuol

Scuol

Scuol is a municipality in the district of Inn in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. The official language in Scuol is Romansh.-Name:The official name has undergone several changes in the 20th century:...

 (Switzerland), Schnals

Schnals

Schnals is a valley and comune in the province of South Tyrol in the Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 70 km north of the city of Trento and about 40 km northwest of the city of Bolzano, on the border with Austria.-Geography:As of 30 November 2010, it had a...

, Sent

Sent

Sent is a municipality in the district of Inn in the Swiss canton of Graubünden.-History:Sent is first mentioned in 930 when King Henry the Fowler sent the Ramosch priest Hartpert to the church in vicus Sindes. It is unclear whether he meant the Church of St. Peter or St. Lorenz...

 (Switzerland), Schlanders

Schlanders

Schlanders is a comune in South Tyrol in the Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 70 km northwest of the city of Trento and about 50 km west of the city of Bolzano ....

, Schluderns

Schluderns

Schluderns is a comune in South Tyrol in the Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 80 km northwest of Trento and about 60 km northwest of Bolzano .-Geography:...

, Sölden

Sölden

Sölden is a municipality in the Ötztal valley of Tyrol, Austria.-Geography:At c. 467 km² , it is the largest municipality in the country. The population of 3,449 is outnumbered by tourists, of which 15,000 can be accommodated...

 (Austria), and Taufers im Münstertal

Taufers im Münstertal

Taufers im Münstertal is a comune in South Tyrol in the Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 80 km northwest of the city of Trento and about 70 km west of the city of Bolzano , on the border with Switzerland.-Geography:As of November 30, 2010, it had a population...

.

Coat-of-arms

The emblem is party per fess

Division of the field

In heraldry, the field of a shield can be divided into more than one area of different tinctures, usually following the lines of one of the ordinaries and carrying its name...

: the upper of gules

Gules

In heraldry, gules is the tincture with the colour red, and belongs to the class of dark tinctures called "colours". In engraving, it is sometimes depicted as a region of vertical lines or else marked with gu. as an abbreviation....

 a fess

Fess

In heraldry, a fess or fesse is a charge on a coat of arms that takes the form of a band running horizontally across the centre of the shield. Writers disagree in how much of the shield's surface is to be covered by a fess or other ordinary, ranging from one-fifth to one-third...

 argent

Argent

In heraldry, argent is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures, called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it...

, at the bottom or

Or (heraldry)

In heraldry, Or is the tincture of gold and, together with argent , belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". In engravings and line drawings, it may be represented using a field of evenly spaced dots...

 three gules circles arranged in a triangle upside-down. It is the combination of coats of arms of the House of Austria

Archduchy of Austria

The Archduchy of Austria , one of the most important states within the Holy Roman Empire, was the nucleus of the Habsburg Monarchy and the predecessor of the Austrian Empire...

 and Medici

Medici

The House of Medici or Famiglia de' Medici was a political dynasty, banking family and later royal house that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici in the Republic of Florence during the late 14th century. The family originated in the Mugello region of the Tuscan countryside,...

. The emblem was adopted in 1928.

Linguistic distribution

According to the 2001 census, 96.83% of the population speak German, 3.08% Italian and 0.09% Ladin

Ladin

Ladin is a language consisting of a group of dialects spoken in the Dolomite Mountains in Northern Italy in the border regions of the provinces Trentino, South Tyrol and Belluno...

as first language.

External links

Homepage of the municipality