Tuscany

Tuscany
	Toscana; Tuscany
Flag	Coat of arms
	Location
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
	Administration
Country	Italy
NUTS Region	ITC
Capital	Florence
President	Claudio Martini (Democratic Party)
	Basic statistics
Area	22,990 km² (8,876 sq mi); (Ranked 5th, 7.6 %)
Population	3,677,048 (12/2007); (Ranked 9th, 6.2 %)
- Density	160 /km² (414 /sq mi)
	Other information
GDP/ Nominal	€ 99.1 billion (2006)
Website	www.regione.toscana.it

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For other uses, see Tuscany (disambiguation).

Tuscany (Italian: Toscana) is a region in Italy. It has an area of 22,990 square kilometres (8,880 sq mi) and a population of about 3.6 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence.

Tuscany is known for its landscapes and its artistic legacy. Six Tuscan localities have been UNESCO protected sites: the historical center of Florence (1982), the historical center of Siena (1995), the square of the Cathedral of Pisa (1987), the historical center of San Gimignano (1990), the historical center of Pienza (1996) and the Val d'Orcia (2004).

Geography

Tuscany is a region of Central Italy, bordering Emilia-Romagna to the north, Liguria to the north-west, Tyrrhenian Sea to the west, Umbria and Marche to the east, Lazio to the south-east. The territory is two thirds hilly and one fourth mountainous. The remainder is constituted of the plains that form the valley of the Arno River.

Local government

Tuscany is divided into ten provinces:

History

Main article: History of Tuscany

The Chimera of Arezzo, Etruscan bronze, 400 BC.

Palazzo Vecchio in Florence.

Apennine and Villanovan cultures.

Main articles: Apennine culture and Villanovan culture

The pre-Etruscan history of the area in the late Bronze and Iron Ages parallels that of the early Greeks.^[1] The Tuscan area was inhabited by peoples of the so-called Apennine culture in the late second millennium BC (roughly 1350–1150 BC) who had trading relationships with the Minoan and Mycenaean civilisations in the Aegean Sea.^[1] Following this, the Villanovan culture (1100–700 BC) saw Tuscany, and the rest of Etruria, taken over by chiefdoms.^[1] City-states developed in the late Villanovan (paralleling Greece and the Aegean) before "Orientalization" occurred and the Etruscan civilisation rose.^[1]

Etruscans

Main article: Etruscan civilization

The Etruscans were the first major civilization in this region; large enough to lay down a transport infrastructure, implement agriculture and mining, and produce vivid art.^[2] The Etruscans lived in Etruria well into prehistory.^[1] The civilisation grew to fill the area between the Arno River and Tiber River from the eighth century, reaching their peak during the seventh century BC and sixth century BC, finally succumbing to the Romans by the first century.^[3] Throughout their existence, they lost territory to Magna Graecia, Carthage and Gaul.^[2] Despite being seen as distinct in its manners and customs by contemporary Greeks,^[4] the cultures of Greece, and later Rome, influenced the civilisation to a great extent. One reason for its eventual demise^[3] was this increasing absorption by surrounding cultures, including the adoption of the Etruscan upper class by the Romans.^[2]

Romans

Soon after absorbing Etruria, Rome established the cities of Lucca, Pisa, Siena, and Florence, endowed the area with new technologies and development, and ensured peace.^[2] These developments included extensions of existing roads, introduction of aqueducts and sewers, and the construction of many buildings, both public and private.^[2] The Roman civilization in the West collapsed in the fifth century and the region was left to the Goths, and others. In the sixth century, the Longobards arrived and designated Lucca the capital of their Duchy of Tuscia.^[2]

The medieval period

The Renaissance

Modern Era

In the 1400s, the Medicis, who ruled Florence, annexed surrounding land to create modern Tuscany. The War of Polish Succession in the 1730s meant the transfer of Tuscany from the Medicis to Francis, Duke of Lorraine and Holy Roman Emperor. With the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire by Napoleon, Tuscany was inherited by the Austrian Empire as successor to the Holy Roman Empire. In the Italian Wars of Independence in the 1850s, Tuscany was transferred from Austria to the newly unified nation of Italy.

Economy

Several well-known wines are grown from Tuscany vineyards

Tuscany is known for its wines (most famous of which are Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino, and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano), and has 120 protected nature reserves. Other agricultural products include Chianina cattle (origin of the famous "Fiorentina" steak) and the production of olive oil, principally in Lucca and the surrounding hills. The industry comprises factories producing Piaggio cars, motorcycles, scooters and aeroplanes, the textile industrial district of Prato, the petrochemical plants of Leghorn and the steel factories of Piombino. Tourism is the economic backbone of the so-called "Cities of Art" (Florence, Lucca, Pisa, Siena, San Gimignano, Cortona, Pienza), as well as on the coast and in the isles (Elba). Marble is quarried in the Alpi Apuane (Carrara, Versilia and Massa), in Garfagnana and in Lunigiana.

Politics

Main article: Politics of Tuscany

Tuscany is a stronghold of the center-left Democratic Party, forming with Emilia-Romagna, Umbria and Marche the famous Italian political "Red Quadrilateral". At the April 2008 elections, Tuscany gave more than 50% of its votes to Walter Veltroni, and only 33.6% to Silvio Berlusconi.^{[citation needed]}

Demographics

In the '80s and '90s the region attracted an intense influx of immigrants, in particular from China and Northern Africa. There is also a significant community of British and Americans. As of 2006, the Italian national institute of statistics ISTAT estimated that 215,490 foreign-born immigrants live in Tuscany, equal to 5.9% of the total regional population.