Santa Cristina Valgardena
Trentino-Alto Adige: a special status region
Hello friends! Today I will talk about Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, an Italian region located in the north-east of the country. With a population of around 1,078,893 inhabitants and Trento as its capital, this region has a special status and a unique historical background.
In fact, Trentino-Alto Adige was assigned to Italy in 1919 by the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, but unlike the annexation of other pre-unitary states in the previous century, no plebiscite for Italian unification was called.
Autonomy and linguistic diversity
However, in 1972, with the entry into force of the new statute of political autonomy, a large part of the competences were directly transferred to the Autonomous Province of Trento and the Autonomous Province of Bolzano, which is attributed to the different linguistic composition of the population.
In fact, while the majority of the population speaks Italian in Trentino, in Alto Adige the majority speak German, with some exceptions such as the municipalities of Bolzano, Bronzolo, Laives, Salorno and Vadena where the linguistic majority is Italian and eight municipalities where the linguistic majority is Ladin.
Physical geography
Let's now move on to the physical geography of Trentino-Alto Adige. This region is considered almost entirely mountainous except for the Adige Valley and the Lakes Valley, which are below 200 meters. In addition, there are two large flat areas: the Rotaliana Plain and the Lower Sarca in the Autonomous Province of Trento.
The mountain ranges can reach over 3,900 meters in altitude, while the southern part of the region, near the Trentine shore of Lake Garda, drops to 65 meters above sea level.
Despite this, with its 13,607 km², Trentino-Alto Adige houses around 1.07 million inhabitants, which brings the population density to 78.98 inhabitants per km². This is well below the national average and places it fifth last in the ranking of Italian regions based on the ratio between population and territorial area.
Transfrontier association
Finally, Trentino-Alto Adige is affiliated with the cross-border cooperation association established within the European Union, the Euregio Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino, which welcomes the territories of the former County of Tyrol. The association aims to promote economic, cultural and social relations among its members.
Conclusions
In summary, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol is an Italian region with a unique historical background and a special status. Thanks to its geography, this region boasts breathtaking mountain landscapes and large flat areas. Furthermore, linguistic diversity reflects an administrative composition that aims to ensure adequate representation of the population of each individual valley. With its affiliation to the Euregio Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino, this region is one step closer to opening up to the European world, promoting economic, cultural and social relations among its members.
