Trentino-South Tyrol
Encyclopedia
Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol , is an autonomous region in Northern Italy
. Since the 1970s most legislative and administrative competencies have been transferred to the two autonomous provinces which make up the region: Trentino and South Tyrol
.
The region was part of Austria-Hungary
and its predecessors, the Austrian Empire
and the Holy Roman Empire
from the 8th century until its annexation by Italy in 1919. Together with the Austrian state of Tyrol
it is represented by the Euroregion
Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino.
In English, the region is also known as Trentino-South Tyrol or by its Italian name Trentino-Alto Adige.
The region was conquered by the Romans in 15 BC. After the end of the Western Roman Empire
, it was divided between the invading German tribes
in the Lombard
Duchy of Tridentum
(today's Trentino), the Alamanni
c Vinschgau and the Bavarians taking the remaining part. After the creation of the Kingdom of Italy
under Charlemagne
, the Marquisate of Verona included the areas south of Bolzano, while the Duchy of Bavaria
received the remaining part.
From the 11th century onwards, part of the region was governed by the prince-bishops of Trent
and Brixen
, to whom the Holy Roman Emperors
had given extensive temporal powers over their bishoprics. The rest was part of the County of Tyrol
and County of Görz, which controlled the Pustertal
: in 1363 its last titular, Margarete, Countess of Tyrol ceded it to the House of Habsburg. The regions north of Salorno
were largely Germanized
in the early Middle Ages
, and important German poets like Oswald von Wolkenstein
were born and lived in the southern part of Tyrol
.
The Italian term Tirolo meridionale, which stems from the Latin Tirolo meridionalis, is a term that was historically used to describe the wider southern part of the County of Tyrol, specifically Trentino and sometimes also today's South Tyrol.
The two bishoprics were secularized by the Treaty of Lunéville
of 1803 and given to the Habsburgs. Two years later, following the Austrian defeat at Austerlitz
, the region was given to Napoleon's ally Bavaria
(Treaty of Pressburg, 1805). The new rulers provoked a popular rebellion, led by Andreas Hofer
a landlord from St. Leonhard in Passeier
, in 1809 which was crushed the same year; the Treaty of Paris of February 1810 split the area between Austria and the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy
. After Napoleon's defeat, in 1815, the region returned to Austria. During French control of the region, it was called officially Haut Adige (literally "High Adige
", Italian: "Alto Adige"; German: "Hoch Etsch") in order to avoid any reference to the historical County of Tyrol.
During the First World War
, major battles were fought high in the Alps and Dolomites between Austro-Hungarian and Italian Alpini
, for whom control of the region was a key strategic objective. The collapse of the Austro-Hungarian war effort enabled Italian troops to occupy the region in 1918 and its annexation was confirmed in the post-war treaties, which awarded the region to Italy under the terms of the Treaty of Saint-Germain
.
Under the dictatorship of Benito Mussolini
, the Fascist dictator
of Italy (ruled 1922-1943), South Tyrol was subjected to an increased forced programme of Italianization
: all references to old Tyrol were banned and the region was referred to as Venezia Tridentina between 1919 and 1947, in an attempt to justify the Italian claims to the area by historically linking the region to one of the Roman Regions of Italy (Regio X Venetia et Histria). Hitler and Mussolini agreed in 1938 that the German-speaking population would be transferred to German-ruled territory or dispersed around Italy, but the outbreak of the Second World War prevented them from fully carrying out the relocation. Nevertheless thousands of people were relocated to the Third Reich and only with great difficulties managed to return to their ancestral land after the end of the war.
In 1943, when the Italian government signed an armistice with the Allies, the region was occupied by Germany, which reorganised it as the Operation Zone of the Alpine Foothills and put it under the administration of Gauleiter
Franz Hofer
. The region was de facto annexed to the German Reich (with the addition of the province of Belluno
) until the end of the war. This status ended along with the Nazi regime and Italian rule was restored in 1945.
Italy and Austria negotiated the Gruber-De Gasperi Agreement
in 1946, put into effect in 1947 when the new republican Italian constitution
was promulgated, that the region would be granted considerable autonomy. German and Italian were both made official languages, and German-language education was permitted once more. The region was called Trentino-Alto Adige/Tiroler Etschland between 1947 and 1972.
However, the implementation of the agreement was not seen as satisfactory by either the German-speaking population or the Austrian government. The issue became the cause of significant friction between the two countries and was taken up by the United Nations
in 1960. A fresh round of negotiations took place in 1961 but proved unsuccessful, partly because of popular discontent and a campaign of sabotage and bombings by German-speaking autonomists and separatists led by the South Tyrolean Liberation Committee
.
The issue was resolved in 1971, when a new Austro-Italian treaty was signed and ratified. It stipulated that disputes in South Tyrol would be submitted for settlement to the International Court of Justice
in The Hague
, that the province would receive greater autonomy within Italy, and that Austria would not interfere in South Tyrols internal affairs. The new agreement proved broadly satisfactory to the parties involved and the separatist tensions soon eased. Matters were helped further by Austria's accession to the European Union
in 1995, which has helped to improve cross-border cooperation.
In May 2006 senator for life Francesco Cossiga
introduced a bill that would allow the region to hold a referendum, in which the local electorate could decide whether to stay within the Italian Republic, become fully independent, return to Austria, or become a part of Germany. All parties, including the separatists, rejected this measure as potentially causing a revival of ethnic tensions.
The region is bordered by Tyrol
(Austria) to the north, by Graubünden
(Switzerland) to the north-west and by the Italian regions of Lombardy
and Veneto
to the west and south, respectively. It covers 13,607 km² (5,253 sq mi). It is extremely mountainous, covering a large part of the Dolomites
and the southern Alps
.
Trentino has an area of 6,207 km2, most of it mountainous land (20% is over 2000 m (6,561.68 ft) and 70% over 1,000 m) and covered by vast forests (50% of the territory). The climate is various through the province, from an alpine climate to subcontinental one, with warm and variable summers and cold and quite snowy winters. The region has always been a favourite destination for tourists, both in winter for skiing in the high mountains and in summer to visit the wide valleys and many lakes (the largest being Lake Garda
) can be found.
South Tyrol
has an area of 7,400 km2, all of it mountainous land and covered by vast forests. In Italy, the province borders on Lombardy
in the west, Trento
in the south and Veneto
in the east. The climate is of the continental type, owing to the influence of the many mountain ranges which stand at well over 3,000 metres above sea-level and the wide valleys through which flow the main river, the Adige
, from north to south and its numerous tributaries. In the city of Bolzano, capital of the province, the average air temperature stands at 12.2 °C (54 °F) and the average rainfall at 717.7 mm. The lowest pass across the Alps, the Brenner Pass
, is located at the far north of the region on the border with Austria.
The region is divided into two autonomous provinces
: Trentino (Province of Trento) and South Tyrol (Province of Bolzano). The Italian state recognised a certain degree of autonomy for the region and its two constituent provinces, which was the result of the Gruber-De Gasperi Agreement
of 1946, as well as of the special status of autonomy approved by constitutional law in 1948. This statute gave the region the right to initiate its own laws on a wide range of subjects and to carry out respective administrative functions.
In 1972, the introduction of the second Statute of Autonomy, which was in the centre of the discussions between the Italian and Austrian governments, meant the transfer of the main competencies from the region to the two provinces. The autonomy recognized by the special statute covers the political, legislative, administrative, and fiscal institutions. The second statute turned the region de facto
into a loose commonwealth
with devolved
powers to the two autonomous provinces, with very limited legislative or executive competencies left.
The capital city is Trento, although the two provincial capitals alternate biennially as the site of the regional assembly.
In Trentino the majority language is Italian, although there are minorities of German speakers in the municipality of Luserna
and four municipalities in the Mocheni Valley
. There are also Ladin-speaking minorities living in the Fassa Valley. Unlike in South Tyrol, the protection of minority language
groups in Trentino is not covered by the new Statuto d'Autonomia (Autonomy Statute), although it is under current provincial statutes.
In South Tyrol, the majority language is German
(69% of the population), although in the capital city Bolzano 73% of the population speaks Italian as its maternal language due to internal immigration from other regions of Italy. Italian speakers are also a significant component in other major urban centers of the province, such as in Merano and Brixen
. Ladin is the additional official language in some municipalities. According to the census of 2001, 103 out of 116 communes have a majority of German native speakers, 8 of Ladin speakers and 5 of Italian. Today both German and Italian have the status of co-official languages in South Tyrol.
Northern Italy
Northern Italy is a wide cultural, historical and geographical definition, without any administrative usage, used to indicate the northern part of the Italian state, also referred as Settentrione or Alta Italia...
. Since the 1970s most legislative and administrative competencies have been transferred to the two autonomous provinces which make up the region: Trentino and 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...
.
The region was part of Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
and its predecessors, the Austrian Empire
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
and the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
from the 8th century until its annexation by Italy in 1919. Together with the Austrian state of Tyrol
Tyrol (state)
Tyrol is a state or Bundesland, located in the west of Austria. It comprises the Austrian part of the historical region of Tyrol.The state is split into two parts–called North Tyrol and East Tyrol–by a -wide strip of land where the state of Salzburg borders directly on the Italian province of...
it is represented by the Euroregion
Euroregion
In European politics, the term Euroregion usually refers to a transnational co-operation structure between two contiguous territories located in different European countries. Euroregions represent a specific type of cross-border region.-Scope:...
Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino.
In English, the region is also known as Trentino-South Tyrol or by its Italian name Trentino-Alto Adige.
History
Western Roman Empire
The Western Roman Empire was the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly referred to today as the Byzantine Empire....
, it was divided between the invading German tribes
Migration Period
The Migration Period, also called the Barbarian Invasions , was a period of intensified human migration in Europe that occurred from c. 400 to 800 CE. This period marked the transition from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages...
in the Lombard
Lombards
The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...
Duchy of Tridentum
Duchy of Tridentum
The Duchy of Tridentum was an autonomous Lombard duchy, established by Euin during the Lombard interregnum of 574–584 that followed the assassination of the Lombard leader Alboin...
(today's Trentino), the Alamanni
Alamanni
The Alamanni, Allemanni, or Alemanni were originally an alliance of Germanic tribes located around the upper Rhine river . One of the earliest references to them is the cognomen Alamannicus assumed by Roman Emperor Caracalla, who ruled the Roman Empire from 211 to 217 and claimed thereby to be...
c Vinschgau and the Bavarians taking the remaining part. After the creation of the Kingdom of Italy
Kingdom of Italy (medieval)
The Kingdom of Italy was a political entity under control of Carolingian dynasty of Francia first, after the defeat of the Lombards in 774. It was finally incorporated as a part of the Holy Roman Empire in 962....
under Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
, the Marquisate of Verona included the areas south of Bolzano, while the Duchy of Bavaria
Duchy of Bavaria
The Duchy of Bavaria was the only one of the stem duchies from the earliest days of East Francia and the Kingdom of Germany to preserve both its name and most of its territorial extent....
received the remaining part.
From the 11th century onwards, part of the region was governed by the prince-bishops of Trent
Bishopric of Trent
The Bishopric of Trent is a former ecclesiastical territory roughly corresponding to the present-day Northern Italian autonomous province of Trentino. It was created in 1027 and existed until 1802, when it was secularised and absorbed into the County of Tyrol held by the House of Habsburg...
and Brixen
Bishopric of Brixen
The Bishopric of Brixen is a former Roman Catholic diocese and also a former ecclesiastical state of the Holy Roman Empire in the present province of South Tyrol. The bishopric in the Eisack/Isarco valley was established in the 6th century and gradually received more secular powers...
, to whom the Holy Roman Emperors
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
had given extensive temporal powers over their bishoprics. The rest was part of the County of Tyrol
County of Tyrol
The County of Tyrol, Princely County from 1504, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1814 a province of the Austrian Empire and from 1867 a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary...
and County of Görz, which controlled the Pustertal
Pustertal
The Puster Valley is a valley in the Alps that runs in an east-west direction between Lienz in Tyrol, Austria and Mühlbach near Brixen in South Tyrol, Italy...
: in 1363 its last titular, Margarete, Countess of Tyrol ceded it to the House of Habsburg. The regions north of Salorno
Salorno
Salorno is the southernmost comune of the Überetsch-Unterland district in South Tyrol, in the Italian region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol.-Geography:As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 3,160 and an area of 33.2 km²....
were largely Germanized
Germanisation
Germanisation is both the spread of the German language, people and culture either by force or assimilation, and the adaptation of a foreign word to the German language in linguistics, much like the Romanisation of many languages which do not use the Latin alphabet...
in the early Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, and important German poets like Oswald von Wolkenstein
Oswald von Wolkenstein
Oswald von Wolkenstein was a poet, composer and diplomat. In the latter capacity, he traveled through much of Europe, even as far as Georgia , and was inducted into the Order of the Dragon...
were born and lived in the southern part of Tyrol
County of Tyrol
The County of Tyrol, Princely County from 1504, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1814 a province of the Austrian Empire and from 1867 a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary...
.
The Italian term Tirolo meridionale, which stems from the Latin Tirolo meridionalis, is a term that was historically used to describe the wider southern part of the County of Tyrol, specifically Trentino and sometimes also today's South Tyrol.
The two bishoprics were secularized by the Treaty of Lunéville
Treaty of Lunéville
The Treaty of Lunéville was signed on 9 February 1801 between the French Republic and the Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, negotiating both on behalf of his own domains and of the Holy Roman Empire...
of 1803 and given to the Habsburgs. Two years later, following the Austrian defeat at Austerlitz
Battle of Austerlitz
The Battle of Austerlitz, also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of Napoleon's greatest victories, where the French Empire effectively crushed the Third Coalition...
, the region was given to Napoleon's ally Bavaria
Kingdom of Bavaria
The Kingdom of Bavaria was a German state that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Bavarian Elector Maximilian IV Joseph of the House of Wittelsbach became the first King of Bavaria in 1806 as Maximilian I Joseph. The monarchy would remain held by the Wittelsbachs until the kingdom's dissolution in 1918...
(Treaty of Pressburg, 1805). The new rulers provoked a popular rebellion, led by Andreas Hofer
Andreas Hofer
Andreas Hofer was a Tirolean innkeeper and patriot. He was the leader of a rebellion against Napoleon's forces....
a landlord from St. Leonhard in Passeier
St. Leonhard in Passeier
St Leonhard in Passeier is a comune in the Passeier Valley in South Tyrol, northern Italy, located about 80 km north of Trento and about 35 km north of Bolzano .-Geography:...
, in 1809 which was crushed the same year; the Treaty of Paris of February 1810 split the area between Austria and the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy
Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state founded in Northern Italy by Napoleon, fully influenced by revolutionary France, that ended with his defeat and fall.-Constitutional statutes:...
. After Napoleon's defeat, in 1815, the region returned to Austria. During French control of the region, it was called officially Haut Adige (literally "High Adige
Adige
The Adige is a river with its source in the Alpine province of South Tyrol near the Italian border with Austria and Switzerland. At in length, it is the second longest river in Italy, after the River Po with ....
", Italian: "Alto Adige"; German: "Hoch Etsch") in order to avoid any reference to the historical County of Tyrol.
During the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, major battles were fought high in the Alps and Dolomites between Austro-Hungarian and Italian Alpini
Alpini
The Alpini, , are the elite mountain warfare soldiers of the Italian Army. They are currently organized in two operational brigades, which are subordinated to the Alpini Corps Command. The singular is Alpino ....
, for whom control of the region was a key strategic objective. The collapse of the Austro-Hungarian war effort enabled Italian troops to occupy the region in 1918 and its annexation was confirmed in the post-war treaties, which awarded the region to Italy under the terms of the Treaty of Saint-Germain
Treaty of Saint-Germain
The Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, was signed on 10 September 1919 by the victorious Allies of World War I on the one hand and by the new Republic of Austria on the other...
.
Under the dictatorship of Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
, the Fascist dictator
Dictator
A dictator is a ruler who assumes sole and absolute power but without hereditary ascension such as an absolute monarch. When other states call the head of state of a particular state a dictator, that state is called a dictatorship...
of Italy (ruled 1922-1943), South Tyrol was subjected to an increased forced programme of Italianization
Italianization
Italianization or Italianisation is a term used to describe a process of cultural assimilation in which ethnically non or partially Italian people or territory become Italian. The process can be voluntary or forced...
: all references to old Tyrol were banned and the region was referred to as Venezia Tridentina between 1919 and 1947, in an attempt to justify the Italian claims to the area by historically linking the region to one of the Roman Regions of Italy (Regio X Venetia et Histria). Hitler and Mussolini agreed in 1938 that the German-speaking population would be transferred to German-ruled territory or dispersed around Italy, but the outbreak of the Second World War prevented them from fully carrying out the relocation. Nevertheless thousands of people were relocated to the Third Reich and only with great difficulties managed to return to their ancestral land after the end of the war.
In 1943, when the Italian government signed an armistice with the Allies, the region was occupied by Germany, which reorganised it as the Operation Zone of the Alpine Foothills and put it under the administration of Gauleiter
Gauleiter
A Gauleiter was the party leader of a regional branch of the NSDAP or the head of a Gau or of a Reichsgau.-Creation and Early Usage:...
Franz Hofer
Franz Hofer
Franz Hofer was, in the time of the Third Reich, the Nazi Gauleiter of the Tyrol and Vorarlberg....
. The region was de facto annexed to the German Reich (with the addition of the province of Belluno
Province of Belluno
TheThe Province of Belluno is a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Belluno.It has an area of 3,678 km², and a total population of 214,026 .-Geography:...
) until the end of the war. This status ended along with the Nazi regime and Italian rule was restored in 1945.
Italy and Austria negotiated the Gruber-De Gasperi Agreement
Gruber-De Gasperi Agreement
The Gruber-De Gasperi Agreement, named after the foreign ministers of Austria and Italy , of September 1946, allowed Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol to remain part of Italy, but ensured its autonomy....
in 1946, put into effect in 1947 when the new republican Italian constitution
Constitution of Italy
The Constitution of the Italian Republic was enacted by the Constituent Assembly on 22 December 1947, with 453 votes in favour and 62 against. The text, which has since been amended 13 times, was promulgated in the extraordinary edition of Gazzetta Ufficiale No. 298 on 27 December 1947...
was promulgated, that the region would be granted considerable autonomy. German and Italian were both made official languages, and German-language education was permitted once more. The region was called Trentino-Alto Adige/Tiroler Etschland between 1947 and 1972.
However, the implementation of the agreement was not seen as satisfactory by either the German-speaking population or the Austrian government. The issue became the cause of significant friction between the two countries and was taken up by the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
in 1960. A fresh round of negotiations took place in 1961 but proved unsuccessful, partly because of popular discontent and a campaign of sabotage and bombings by German-speaking autonomists and separatists led by the South Tyrolean Liberation Committee
South Tyrolean Liberation Committee
The South Tyrolean Liberation Committee was an organisation founded by Sepp Kerschbaumer in the mid-1950s to fight for South Tyrolean independence from Italy. The organisation were regarded as terrorists by the Italian government but many South Tyroleans regarded them as freedom fighters....
.
The issue was resolved in 1971, when a new Austro-Italian treaty was signed and ratified. It stipulated that disputes in South Tyrol would be submitted for settlement to the International Court of Justice
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands...
in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
, that the province would receive greater autonomy within Italy, and that Austria would not interfere in South Tyrols internal affairs. The new agreement proved broadly satisfactory to the parties involved and the separatist tensions soon eased. Matters were helped further by Austria's accession to the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
in 1995, which has helped to improve cross-border cooperation.
In May 2006 senator for life Francesco Cossiga
Francesco Cossiga
Francesco Cossiga was an Italian politician, the 43rd Prime Minister and the eighth President of the Italian Republic. He was also a professor of constitutional law at the University of Sassari....
introduced a bill that would allow the region to hold a referendum, in which the local electorate could decide whether to stay within the Italian Republic, become fully independent, return to Austria, or become a part of Germany. All parties, including the separatists, rejected this measure as potentially causing a revival of ethnic tensions.
Geography
Tyrol (state)
Tyrol is a state or Bundesland, located in the west of Austria. It comprises the Austrian part of the historical region of Tyrol.The state is split into two parts–called North Tyrol and East Tyrol–by a -wide strip of land where the state of Salzburg borders directly on the Italian province of...
(Austria) to the north, by Graubünden
Graubünden
Graubünden or Grisons is the largest and easternmost canton of Switzerland. The canton shares borders with the cantons of Ticino, Uri, Glarus and St. Gallen and international borders with Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein...
(Switzerland) to the north-west and by the Italian regions of Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
and Veneto
Veneto
Veneto is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about 5 million, ranking 5th in Italy.Veneto had been for more than a millennium an independent state, the Republic of Venice, until it was eventually annexed by Italy in 1866 after brief Austrian and French rule...
to the west and south, respectively. It covers 13,607 km² (5,253 sq mi). It is extremely mountainous, covering a large part of the Dolomites
Dolomites
The Dolomites are a mountain range located in north-eastern Italy. It is a part of Southern Limestone Alps and extends from the River Adige in the west to the Piave Valley in the east. The northern and southern borders are defined by the Puster Valley and the Sugana Valley...
and the southern Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
.
Trentino has an area of 6,207 km2, most of it mountainous land (20% is over 2000 m (6,561.68 ft) and 70% over 1,000 m) and covered by vast forests (50% of the territory). The climate is various through the province, from an alpine climate to subcontinental one, with warm and variable summers and cold and quite snowy winters. The region has always been a favourite destination for tourists, both in winter for skiing in the high mountains and in summer to visit the wide valleys and many lakes (the largest being Lake Garda
Lake Garda
Lake Garda is the largest lake in Italy. It is located in Northern Italy, about half-way between Brescia and Verona, and between Venice and Milan. Glaciers formed this alpine region at the end of the last ice age...
) can be found.
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...
has an area of 7,400 km2, all of it mountainous land and covered by vast forests. In Italy, the province borders on Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
in the west, Trento
Trento
Trento is an Italian city located in the Adige River valley in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. It is the capital of Trentino...
in the south and Veneto
Veneto
Veneto is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about 5 million, ranking 5th in Italy.Veneto had been for more than a millennium an independent state, the Republic of Venice, until it was eventually annexed by Italy in 1866 after brief Austrian and French rule...
in the east. The climate is of the continental type, owing to the influence of the many mountain ranges which stand at well over 3,000 metres above sea-level and the wide valleys through which flow the main river, the Adige
Adige
The Adige is a river with its source in the Alpine province of South Tyrol near the Italian border with Austria and Switzerland. At in length, it is the second longest river in Italy, after the River Po with ....
, from north to south and its numerous tributaries. In the city of Bolzano, capital of the province, the average air temperature stands at 12.2 °C (54 °F) and the average rainfall at 717.7 mm. The lowest pass across the Alps, the Brenner Pass
Brenner Pass
- Roadways :The motorway E45 leading from Innsbruck via Bolzano to Verona and Modena uses this pass, and is one of the most important north-south connections in Europe...
, is located at the far north of the region on the border with Austria.
Politics
Provinces of Italy
In Italy, a province is an administrative division of intermediate level between a municipality and a region .-Overview:...
: Trentino (Province of Trento) and South Tyrol (Province of Bolzano). The Italian state recognised a certain degree of autonomy for the region and its two constituent provinces, which was the result of the Gruber-De Gasperi Agreement
Gruber-De Gasperi Agreement
The Gruber-De Gasperi Agreement, named after the foreign ministers of Austria and Italy , of September 1946, allowed Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol to remain part of Italy, but ensured its autonomy....
of 1946, as well as of the special status of autonomy approved by constitutional law in 1948. This statute gave the region the right to initiate its own laws on a wide range of subjects and to carry out respective administrative functions.
In 1972, the introduction of the second Statute of Autonomy, which was in the centre of the discussions between the Italian and Austrian governments, meant the transfer of the main competencies from the region to the two provinces. The autonomy recognized by the special statute covers the political, legislative, administrative, and fiscal institutions. The second statute turned the region de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
into a loose commonwealth
Commonwealth
Commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has sometimes been synonymous with "republic."More recently it has been used for fraternal associations of some sovereign nations...
with devolved
Devolution
Devolution is the statutory granting of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to government at a subnational level, such as a regional, local, or state level. Devolution can be mainly financial, e.g. giving areas a budget which was formerly administered by central government...
powers to the two autonomous provinces, with very limited legislative or executive competencies left.
The capital city is Trento, although the two provincial capitals alternate biennially as the site of the regional assembly.
Administration
| Province | Area (km²) | Population | Density (inh./km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trentino | 6,207 | 518,966 | 83.6 |
| South Tyrol | 7,400 | 498,280 | 67.3 |
Economy
The fertile valleys of the region produce wine, fruit, dairy products and timber, while its industries include paper, chemical and metal production. The region is a major exporter of hydroelectric power. The most important features of the region's economic structure are the strength of tourism and the special system of co-operation between agriculture and industry. In the last decade, tourism became a very important component of the province's economy. The region, which is a staging-post between the countries of northern Europe and central and southern Italy, has found its true vocation in this leading branch of the services sector with all its spin-offs. The region has a higher concentration of hotels than any other region (6,178 establishments in 2001 with 236,864 hotel beds). The total accommodation capacity of the region counts for 651,426 beds available in hotels and other establishments.Demographics
The region has a population of about 1,017,000 people (519,000 in Trentino and 498,000 in South Tyrol). The population density in the region is low compared to Italy as a whole. In 2008, it equalled to 74.7 inhabitants per km2, whereas the average figure for Italy was 198.8. The population density in Trentino was 83.6, slightly higher than the one registered in South Tyrol that was equal to 67.3. As of 2008, the Italian national institute of statistics ISTAT estimated that 70,834 foreign-born immigrants lived in the region altogether, equal to 6.9% of the total regional population.Language
The main language groups are Italian (about 63% of the total) and German (33%), with a small minority speaking the local Ladin language (4%).In Trentino the majority language is Italian, although there are minorities of German speakers in the municipality of Luserna
Luserna
Luserna is a comune in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 25 km southeast of Trento...
and four municipalities in the Mocheni Valley
Mocheni Valley
The Mocheni Valley , also known as Fersina Valley from the name of the torrent Fersina, is a valley in Trentino....
. There are also Ladin-speaking minorities living in the Fassa Valley. Unlike in South Tyrol, the protection of minority language
Minority language
A minority language is a language spoken by a minority of the population of a territory. Such people are termed linguistic minorities or language minorities.-International politics:...
groups in Trentino is not covered by the new Statuto d'Autonomia (Autonomy Statute), although it is under current provincial statutes.
In South Tyrol, the majority language is German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
(69% of the population), although in the capital city Bolzano 73% of the population speaks Italian as its maternal language due to internal immigration from other regions of Italy. Italian speakers are also a significant component in other major urban centers of the province, such as in Merano and Brixen
Brixen
Brixen is the name of two cities in the Alps:*Brixen, South Tyrol, Italy*Brixen im Thale, Tyrol, AustriaBrixen may also refer to:*Bishopric of Brixen, the former north-Italian state....
. Ladin is the additional official language in some municipalities. According to the census of 2001, 103 out of 116 communes have a majority of German native speakers, 8 of Ladin speakers and 5 of Italian. Today both German and Italian have the status of co-official languages in South Tyrol.