Everything about Aosta Valley totally explained
The
Aosta Valley (
Italian:
Valle d'Aosta,
French:
Vallée-d'Aoste or
Val-d'Aoste,
Franco-Provençal:
Val d'Outa) is a mountainous
Region in north-western
Italy. It is bordered by
France to the west,
Switzerland to the north and the region of
Piedmont to the south and east.
With an area of
3,263 km² and a population of about 120,000, it's the smallest, least populous, and least densely populated region of Italy. It is the only Italian region which has no provinces (the province of Valle d'Aosta was dissolved in 1945). Provincial administrative functions are provided by the regional government,
(External Link
). The region is divided into 74
comuni (communes).
Some communes, concentrated in the valley bottomlands, are
Francophone. In the
Lys Valley there's a
Walser German speaking minority. The regional
capital is
Aosta.
Geography
The Aosta Valley is an
Alpine valley that with its side valleys includes the Italian slopes of
Mont Blanc and the
Matterhorn; its highest peak is the
Mont Blanc.
Climate
The climate of the region is severe, especially when compared with other places in the
Western Alps. This is probably due to the mountains blocking the mild winds from the
Atlantic Ocean. Places with the same altitude in France or western Switzerland are not as cold as the Aosta Valley.
Aosta Valley may be divided into different climatic zones:
The
Dora Baltea Valley, between 300 and 1000 meters, with the mildest climate in all the province, has a typical
Oceanic climate (Cfb). The winters are mild, even milder than the subtropical
Po River Valley, but usually wet and foggy. Snow is frequent only during January and February, but the foggy season, which starts in late October, lasts until May. The temperature average for January is between −1 and 3 °C. The summers are mild, usually rainy. Temperature averages in July between 17 and 20 °C. The main towns in this area are
Aosta,
Saint-Vincent,
Donnas and
Courmayeur. Due to the occidental position at the Alpine Arc, the climate classified as Cfb may extend to relatively high places, especially near the French border, which receives the mild oceanic wind, so it’s possible to find places at 1500, or even 1900 meters with the same Cfb climate, but the temperatures are lower, around −2 °C in the winter and 15 °C in the summer, and mist during all the year.
The valleys around 1300 meters, which, depending on the geomorphology, develop a
Humid continental climate (Dfb), although with mild winter temperatures for this kind of climate, similar to the temperatures of the Norwegian
fjords, as in
Trondheim. Winter temperatures average around −3 or −4 °C, and summers between 13 and 15 °C. The snow season starts in November and lasts until March. Mist is common during the mourning from April until October. The main communities in this area are
Gressoney-Saint-Jean (averages of −4.8 °C in January and 13.8 °C in July),
Brusson and
Gressoney-La-Trinité.
The mountain lands around 2000 meters have a Cold Oceanic Climate (Cfc). This area has a climate similar to some northern-Norway fjords. Even though at a very high altitude, the climate is mild. This is due to the high influence of the oceanic mild air that can blow at these regions. The
fog is common all the year, especially in April and October, when some years these regions can have more than a week with constant fog and mist. The winters are mild. Mean temperature ranges between −3 °C at the driest regions and 2 °C near lakes. During the summer, the mean temperatures are very low, around 12 °C.
The valleys above 1600 meters usually develop a Cold Continental Climate (Dfc). In this climate the snow season is very long, as long as 8 or 9 months at the highest points. During the summer,
mist occurs almost every day. These areas are the wettest in the western Alps. Temperatures are low, between −7 °C and −3°C in January, and in July between 10 and 13 °C. In this area is the town of
Rhêmes-Notre-Dame, which may be the coldest in the Occidental Alps and where winter average temperature is around −7 °C. Other towns with this climate are
Chamois,
Cervinia (sometimes ET),
Bionaz (sometimes mild),
Gressoney-La-Trinité (mild), and others.
Areas between 2000 meters and 3500 meters usually have a
Tundra Climate (ET). Every month has an average temperature below 10 °C. Winter and summer averages can change according to the altitude. This climate may be a kind of more severe Cold Oceanic Climate, with a low summer average but mild winters, sometimes above −3 °C, especially near lakes, or a more severe Cold Continental Climate, with a very low winter average. Above 3000 meters is typically mountainous climate. Averages in Pian Rosa, at 3400 meters, are −11.6 °C in January and 1.4 °C in July.
Above 3500 meters, all the months have an average temperature below freezing, and we find a Perpetual Frost Climate (EF).
History
The first inhabitants of the Aosta Valley were
Celts and
Ligurians, whose language lingers in some
local placenames. Rome conquered the region from the local
Salassi ca. 25 BC and founded
Augusta Praetoria (Aosta) to secure the strategic mountain passes, which they improved with bridges and roads. After Rome the high valley preserved traditions of autonomy, reinforced by its seasonal isolation, though it was loosely held in turns by the
Goths and the
Lombards, then by the
Burgundian kings in the 5th century, followed by the
Franks, who overran the Burgundian kingdom in
534. At the division among the heirs of
Charlemagne in
870, the Aosta Valley formed part of the
Lotharingian Kingdom of Italy, in a second partition a decade later, it formed part of the
Kingdom of Upper Burgundy, which was joined to the
Kingdom of Arles — all with few corresponding changes in the population of the virtually independent fiefs in the Aosta Valley.
In 1031-1032
Umberto Biancamano, the founder of the
House of Savoy, received the title
Count of Aosta from the Emperor
Conrad II of the
Franconian line and built himself a commanding fortification at
Bard. Saint
Anselm of Canterbury was born in Aosta in 1033 or 1034. The region was divided among strongly fortified
castles, and in
1191 Thomas I of Savoy found it necessary to grant to the communes a
Carta delle Franchigie ("Charter of Liberties") that preserved autonomy — rights that were fiercely defended until
1770, when they were revoked in order to tie Aosta more closely to the
Piedmont, but which were again demanded during post-Napoleonic times. In the mid-
13th century Emperor Frederick II made the County of Aosta a
duchy (see
Duke of Aosta), and its arms charged with a lion rampant were carried in the Savoian arms until the reunification of Italy in
1870.
During the
Middle Ages the region remained strongly
feudal, and castles, such as those of the Challant family in the Valley of Gressoney, still dot the landscape. In the
12th and
13th centuries,
German-speaking Walser communities were established in the Gressoney, and some communes retain their separate Walser identity even today.
The region remained part of Savoy lands, with the exception of a French occupation from
1539 to
1563. As part of the
Kingdom of Sardinia it joined the new
Kingdom of Italy in
1861.
Under
Mussolini, a forced programme of "Italianization", including
population transfers of Valdostans into Piedmont and Italian-speaking workers into Aosta, fostered movements towards
separatism. The region has a
special autonomous status; the province of Aosta ceased to exist in 1945 and Aosta was regranted its
autonomy in
1948.
Economy
The Aosta Valley remained agricultural and pastoral until the construction of dams to harness the potential of its
hydroelectric power brought metal-working industry to the region. Today it's also a major centre for
winter sports, most famously at
Courmayeur and
Cervinia. The
Dora Baltea has its origins in the Valle d'Aosta, flowing south to join the
Po.
The upper Aosta Valley is the traditional southern starting-point for the tracks, then roads, which divided here to lead over the Alpine passes. The road through the
Great St Bernard Pass (or today the Great St Bernard Tunnel) leads to
Martigny,
Valais, and the one through the
Little St Bernard Pass to
Bourg-Saint-Maurice,
Savoie. Today Aosta is joined to
Chamonix in France by the
Mont Blanc Tunnel, a road tunnel on
European route E25 running underneath the
Alps.
Demographics
Italian and
French are used for the regional government's acts and laws, though
Italian is much more widely spoken. The regional language is a
dialect of
Franco-Provençal called Valdôtain (Valdoten) or
patois. It is spoken as a second language by 68,000 residents, about 58% of the population, according to a poll taken by the Fondation Émile Chanoux in 2002. The residents of the villages of
Gressoney-Saint-Jean,
Gressoney-La-Trinité and
Issime, in the
Lys Valley, speak a
dialect of
German origin. As of 2006, the Italian national institute of statistics ISTAT estimated that 4,976 foreign-born immigrants live in Aosta Valley, equal to 4.0% of the total regional population.
Birth Rate was 9.4 per 1000 and Death Rate was 10.6 per 1000 in 2007.
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