Piedmont Region

Piedmont is located in the north-western part of the country and is the second largest Italian region; the territory is mostly mountainous, followed by hills and plains respectively.

The Alps reach 4,634 meters with Monte Rosa, located on the border with the Aosta Valley and Switzerland, where the peak with the maximum height is located; Gran Paradiso (4,061 m.), which also culminates slightly outside the region, follows. In Piedmont, the longest Italian river, Po, is born, and some of its initial tributaries flow, such as Tanaro, Ticino and Dora Baltea. On the border with Lombardy, there is Lake Maggiore, the second largest lake in Italy.

Turin, the capital, is the fourth Italian city and reaches 1.5 million people with the suburbs; all the other provincial capitals have less than 100,000 inhabitants, with the exception of Novara.

The economy is well developed in every sector, although industry has long been the regional economic engine. The most cultivated agricultural products are cereals (wheat, corn, rice), potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, fruit, poplars and forage; in the hilly areas the cultivation of the vine is very accentuated. The breeding is concentrated on cattle and pigs. The leading industrial sector is the mechanical sector, with the automotive industry and all activities connected to it, the textile sector is also of great importance; tourism is gradually expanding.

The provinces of Piedmont are: Turin (capital), Alessandria, Asti, Biella, Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, Vercelli and Cuneo.