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Piedmont (Italy)

Piedmont (Italy)

Piedmont (Italian: Piemonte) is a region of northwestern Italy. It has an area of 25,400 km² and a population of est. 4.2 million. Its capital is Turin. Piedmont is surrounded on three sides by the Alps mountain range, including the Monviso, where the Po River rises, and Monte Rosa. It borders with France, Switzerland, and the Italian regions of Lombardy, Liguria, Emilia Romagna and Valle d'Aosta. Lowland Piedmont is a fertile agricultural region, producing wheat, rice, maize and grapes. The region also contains major industrial centres, notably Turin, home to the FIAT automobile works. In 1046, the counts of the House of Savoy added Piedmont to their main territory of Savoy, with a capital at Chambéry (now in France). The House of Savoy was elevated to a duchy in 1416, and Duke Emanuele Filiberto moved the seat to Turin in 1563. (The dukes were also kings of Sardinia starting in 1720.) Piedmont was the springboard for Italy's unification in 1859-1861, following earlier unsuccessful wars against Austria in 1820-1821 and 1848-1849. A "piedmont" is a foothill, and "piedmont" has become a generic designation for foothill regions in geography. Piedmont is one of the great winegrowing regions in Italy. More than half of its 700 km² (170,000 acres) of vineyards are registered with DOC designations. It produces wines of renowned depth such as the famed Barbera, Barolo and Barbaresco, as well as the more approachable Dolcetto. The main cities of the Piedmont region are the provincial capitals (Alessandria, Asti, Biella, Cuneo, Novara, Vercelli, Verbania, Torino, Moncalieri and Rivoli).

External links

Government agencies

- [http://www.regione.piemonte.it/ Piemonte Region: Official Site]
- [http://www.consiglioregionale.piemonte.it/ Consiglio Regionale]
- [http://www.arpa.piemonte.it/ ARPA Piemonte] (environmental protection agency)
- [http://www.piemonte.istruzione.it/ Ufficio Scolastico Regionale] (school district)

Specialty sites

- [http://www.ilgiornaledelpiemonte.com/ Giornale del Piemonte] (daily newspaper)
- [http://www.piemonte-online.com/ Piemonte Magazine]
- [http://www.federpiemonte.org/ Confindustria] (manufacturers association)
- [http://cucina.piemonte.net/ Cucina Piemonte.Net] (Piemontese cuisine)
- [http://www.tempoitalia.it/meteoregione/previsione.php?reg=piemonte TempoItalia] (weather forecasts)

Tourism portals

- [http://www.italy-weather-and-maps.com/maps/italy/piedmont.gif Map of Piedmont]
- [http://www.globalgeografia.com/italia/piemonte.htm Global Geografia]
- [http://www.piemondo.it/ Piemondo]
- [http://www.piemonte-emozioni.it/ Piemonte Emozioni]
- [http://www.piemonteonline.it/ Piemonte Online]
- [http://www.piemonteweb.it/pw/Home.asp Piemonte Web]
- [http://www.itinerari-piemonte.it/ Itinerari Piemonte]] Category:NUTS 2 Statistical Regions of Europe ja:ピエモンテ州 simple:Piedmont

Italian language

Italian (Italian: ) is a Romance language spoken by about 70 million people primarily in Italy. Standard Italian is based on Tuscan dialects and is somewhat intermediate between the languages of Southern Italy and the Gallo-Romance languages of the North. Like many languages it is written using the Latin alphabet, Italian has double consonants. However, contrary to, for example, French and Spanish, double consonants are pronounced as long (geminated) in Italian. As in most Romance languages (with the notable exception of French), stress is distinctive. Out of the Romance languages, Italian is generally considered to be the one most closely resembling Latin in terms of grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation.

History

The history of the Italian language is quite complex but the modern standard of the language was largely shaped by relatively recent events. The earliest surviving texts which can definitely be called Italian (as opposed to its predecessor Vulgar Latin) are legal formulae from the region of Benevento dating from A.D. 960-963. Italian was first formalized in the 14th century through the works of Dante Alighieri, who mixed southern Italian dialects, especially Sicilian, with his native Tuscan in his epic poems known collectively as the Commedia, to which Boccaccio later affixed the title Divina. Dante's much-loved works were read throughout Italy and his written dialect became the canonical standard that others could all understand. Dante is still credited with standardizing the Italian language. Italian has always had a distinctive dialect for each city, since the cities were up until recently city-states. Italians generally believe that the best spoken Italian is lingua toscana in bocca romana - 'the Tuscan tongue, in a Roman mouth' (Tuscan dialects spoken with Roman inflection). The Romans are known for speaking clearly and distinctly, while the Tuscan dialect (supposedly derived from Etruscan and Oscan), is the closest existing dialect to Dante's now-standard Italian. In contrast to the dialects of northern Italy, the older southern Italian dialects were largely untouched by the Franco-Occitan influences introduced to Italy, mainly by bards from France, during the middle ages. (See La Spezia-Rimini Line.) The economic might and relative advanced development of Tuscany at the time (late middle ages), gave its dialect weight, though Venetian remained widespread in medieval Italian commercial life. Also, the increasing cultural relevance of Florence during the periods of 'Umanesimo' and Rinascimento (Renaissance) made its vulgare (dialect) a standard in the arts.

Classification

Italian is most closely related to the other two Italo-Dalmatian languages, Sicilian and the extinct Dalmatian. The three are part of the Italo-Western grouping of the Romance languages, which are a subgroup of the Italic branch of Indo-European.

Geographic distribution

Italian is the official language of Italy and San Marino, and is an official language in Ticino and Grigioni cantons of Switzerland. It is also the second official language in Vatican City and in some areas of Istria in Slovenia and Croatia with an Italian minority. It is widely used by immigrant groups in Luxembourg, Germany, Belgium, the United States, Canada, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, and Australia, and is also spoken in neighbouring Albania. It is spoken, to a much lesser extent, in parts of Africa formerly under Italian rule such as Somalia, Libya and Eritrea. It is also widely known and taught in Monaco and in the neighbouring island of Malta and served as an official language of the country until English was enshrined in the 1934 Constitution. Italian is widely taught in many schools around the world, but rarely as the first non-native language of pupils. In anglophone parts of Canada, Italian is, after French, the second most taught language. In the United States and the United Kingdom, Italian ranks fourth (after Spanish-French-German and French-German-Spanish respectively). Throughout the world, Italian is the fifth most taught non-native language, after English, French, Spanish and German.

Official status

Italian is an official language of Italy, the European Union, San Marino, Switzerland and Vatican City. It is also an official language in the Istria County (Croatia) and municipalities of Koper, Piran and Izola (Slovenia).

Dialects and regional languages of Italy

:See Italian dialects The dialects of Italian identified by the Ethnologue are Tuscan, Abruzzese, Pugliese (Apulian), Umbrian, Laziale, Central Marchigiano, Cicolano-Reatino-Aquilano, and Molisan. On the contrary Ethnologue and the Red book on endangered languages of UNESCO consider Piemontese, Lombard, Ligurian, Emiliano-Romagnolo, Venetian, Friulian, Neapolitan-Calabrese or Tricalabro (a range including Neapolitan and Sicilian) and Sardinian as regional minority languages, structurally separated from Italian. Most Italians, however, refer to these simply as "dialect", with the exception of Sardinian, which is usually recognized language status. Also the Corsican language has strong similarities to Italian and most linguists consider it as a Tuscany dialect, the closest to modern Italian. Many of the so-called dialects of Italian spoken around the country are different enough from standard Italian to be considered separate languages by most linguists and some speakers themselves. Thus a distinction can be made between "dialects of (standard) Italian" and "dialects (or languages) of Italy". A link to an Italian site with translation features between Italian dialects and Italian: [http://www.dialettando.com]

Cultural acceptance of dialects

The dialect of Tuscany became the basis for what would become the official language of Italy, by way of the famous Tuscan author Dante Alighieri. Alighieri and other Tuscan poets were inspired by the Sicilian koine wanted by the Sicilian School under holy roman emperor Frederick II. His project (in which Giacomo da Lentini invented the sonnet) was accomplished by enriching the Sicilian language with new words adapted from French, Latin, and Apulian. The Sicilians produced a collection of love-poems which can be considered the first standard Italian ever produced, though it was only used for literary purposes until Guittone d'Arezzo. When the Svevs dynasty ended the Tuscans and Dante re-discovered it (see De Divina Eloquentia and Vita Nova)and integrated the Sicilians into Florence's linguistic heritage. Dolce stil novo, the platonic school of courtly love can be considered the link between the old southern school and Tuscan poetry which aimed to express the new intellectual sensibility and fervor of the newly-born city-states, as Florence. Dante's work, Divina Commedia was the first of its kind to be written in a dialect (though sensibly enriched compared with its spoken counterpart), as opposed to the traditional Latin. The success of his work spread the Florentine dialect, and gave it prestige and acceptance. For this he is referred to as the father of the Italian Language. By the time Italy was unified 1861, and Rome was annexed (1870) the Italian standard had further been influenced by Florentine through the work of the Accademia della Crusca (Cardinal Pietro Bembo and followers). Bembo laid the foundation for what is today's modern standard. But Bembo was a purist and had accepted no other influence than that from Dante, Petrarca and Boccaccio. As time went on, the language was losing touch with linguistic change, and could not put up with technology and science. The much-needed update would have to wait a little longer until, in what is commonly regarded as the first modern novel of the Italian literature, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed) (Alessandro Manzoni further refined its widely read novel by "rinsing" it in the waters of the Arno (Florence's river), as he states in his 1840 Preface. However, Manzoni refused the Crusca's purist, written Florentine-only attitude and admitted a certain influence from other dialects, though he reduced it as compared to the first edition of (1821). After unification the huge number of civil servants and soldiers recruited from all over the country introduced many more words and idioms from their home dialects ("ciao" is Venetian, "panettone" is Milanese etc.), in fact confirming Manzoni's linguistic views. Tuscan has thus become one of the twenty official dialects of Italy. Though technically speaking the division between dialect and language is purely conventional, it has been used by scholars, for eg. by Francesco Bruni, to distinguish between the languages that made up the Italian koine, and those which had very little or no part in it, as Albanian, Greek, Südtirolean, Ladino, Friulian and Occitan, still spoken by small ethnic or linguistic minorites. Dialects are generally not used for general communication, e.g. on TV, but are limited to groups of people who can actually speak them and to informal contexts. Speaking dialect is often shunned upon in Italy as it is a sign of lacking education. Younger generations, especially those under 35 (though it may vary in different areas), speak almost exclusively standard Italian in all situations, usually with a slight local accent. Dialects have their share of enthusiasts, but this is a small niche of the population. The promotion of dialects by some political forces as the Lega Nord has possibly damaged rather than promoted their status. Dialects are often used in movies to provide comic relief or to produce stereotypes: northern dialects can be connected to greedy merchants; a Roman accent is associated with arrogant, simple-minded bullies; Neapolitan reminds of dishonest, cunning slackers, and, even in Italy, Sicilian is often associated with the mafia. However, many screenwriters also explore the more expressive and spontaneous features of a dialect, often to challenge the common cliches and present a richer, less explored reality.

Sounds

Vowels

Italian has seven vowel phonemes: , , , , , , . The 'couples' ( - ) and ( - ) get mixed up in spoken Italian, even though each variety of Italian employs both phonemes consistently: compare, for example: (because) and (you listen), employed by some northern speakers, with and , as pronounced by most central and southern speakers. As a result, the usage is strongly indicative of a person's origin. The standard (Tuscan) usage of these vowels is listed in vocabularies, and employed outside Tuscany mainly by the more educated people, especially actors and (television) journalists. These are truly different phonemes, however: compare (fishing) and (peach), both spelled "pesca" (). Similarly (barrel) and (beatings), both spelled as "botte", discriminate and (). In general, vowel combinations usually pronounce each vowel separately. Diphthongs exist, (e.g. "uo", "iu", "ie", "ai"), but are limited to the pattern: (unstressed "u" or "i", or zero) + (stressed vowel) + (unstressed "u" or "i", or zero) The unstressed "u" in a diphthong approximates the English semivowel "w", the unstressed "i" approximates the semivowel "y". E.g.: buono, ieri. As a semivowel, "j" is an alternate spelling of i, currently obsolete but common until early 20th century and preserved in specific words like "Jesi" (a town) or "Jacopo" (a first name). Triphthongs are limited to a diphthong plus an unstressed "i". (e.g. miei, tuoi.) Other sequences of three vowels exist (e.g. noia, febbraio), but they are not triphthongs; they consist of a vowel followed by a diphthong.

Consonants

Two symbols in a table cell denote the voiceless and voiced consonant, respectively. The phoneme undergoes assimilation when followed by a consonant, e.g., when followed by a velar ( or ) it's pronounced , etc. Italian plosives are not aspirated (unlike in English). Italian speakers hear the difference as a foreign accent. Italian has geminate, or double, consonants, which are distinguished by length. Length is distinctive for all consonants except for , , , , which are always geminate, and which is always single. Geminate plosives and affricates are realized as lengthened closures. Geminate fricatives, nasals, and are realized as lengthened continuants. Geminate is realized as the trill .

Assimilation

Italian has few diphthongs, and so most unfamiliar diphthongs heard in foreign words (in particular, those with a first vowel that is not "i" or "u", or a first vowel that is stressed), will be assimilated as the corresponding dieresis (i.e., the vowel sounds will be pronounced separately: "strive" and "hive" will rhyme with "naïve").

Grammar

see Italian grammar.

Writing system

Italian grammar Italian is written using the Latin alphabet. The letters J, K, W, X and Y are not part of the standard Italian alphabet, but are seen in imported words (such as jeans, whiskey, taxi). J may also appear in many words from different dialects. Each of these foreign letters had an Italian equivalent spelling: gi, ch, u, cs or s, and i, but these are now obsolete.
- Italian uses the acute accent over the letter E (as in perché, why/because) to indicate a mid-close vowel, and the grave accent (as in tè, tea) to indicate a mid-open vowel. The grave accent is also used on letters A, I, O, and U to mark the stress position when it is on the last letter of a word (for instance gioventù, youth). Typically, the penultimate syllable is stressed. If other syllables are stressed, no accent is marked, as is instead done in Spanish.
- The letter H is always silent when it begins a word, and is only used to distinguish ho, hai, ha, hanno (present indicative of avere, to have) from o (or), ai (to the), a (to), anno (year). H is otherwise used for some combinations with other letters (see below), but the /h/ sound does not exist in Italian.
- The letter Z is pronounced , or sometimes , depending on context, though there are few minimal pairs. The same goes with S, which can be pronounced or . However, these two phonemes are in complementary distribution everywhere except between two vowels in the same word, and even in such environment there are extremely few minimal pairs, therefore this distinction is being lost in most accents.
- The letters C and G are affricates: as in "chair" and as in "gem", respectively, before the front vowels I and E. They are pronounced as plosives , (as in "call" and "gall") otherwise¹. But, the normally silent H is added between CI, CE, GI or GE if the consonant is to be a plosive. For example: : :¹(Front/back vowel rules for C and G are similar in French, Romanian, and to some extent English (including Old English). Swedish and Norwegian have similar rules for K and G. See also palatalization.)
- There are two special digraphs in Italian: GN and GL. GN is always pronounced , and GL is pronounced ) but only before i, and never when at the beginning of the word, except in the plural form gli of the masculine definite article. (Compare with Spanish "ñ" and "ll", Portuguese "nh" and "lh".)
- In general all letters are clearly pronounced, and always in the same way. (The only notable allophonic variations in the pronunciation of phonemes in standard Italian are the assimilation of /n/ before consonants, and vowel length (vowels are long in stressed open syllables, and short elsewhere) — compare with the enormous number of allophones of the English phoneme /t/. Spelling is clearly phonetic and difficult to mistake given a clear pronunciation. Exceptions are generally only found in foreign borrowings. There is less dyslexia than in languages like English.

Usage among Younger Generations

Some variations in the usage of the writing system may be present in practical use. Most scholars consider these to be mistakes, but they are so common that knowledge of these may be useful to read an Italian text.
- Usage of x instead of per: this is very common among teenagers and in SMS abbreviations. Since per means "to", "for you" becomes x te, similar to the English 4 U. Words containing per can also have it substituted with x, and once an university student allegedly pronounced the surname of Italian revolutionary Nino Bixio as Biperio at an oral exam[http://pacs.unica.it/rassegna/rassegna0905.txt]. Perché (both "why" and "because") is often shortened as x`.
- Usage of foreign letters such as k, j and y, especially in nicknames and SMS language: ke instead of che, Giusy instead of Giuseppina. This is curiously mirrored in the usage of i in English names such as Staci instead of Stacey, or in the usage of c in Northern Europe (Jacob instead of Jakob). The letter k also appears to give words a certain strenght and threatening aspect, possibly because it is associated with Germany. Politician Francesco Cossiga used to be nicknamed Kossiga by rioting students as early as 1968, because of his role as minister of internal affairs.
- Accents are often substituted by apostrophes, such as in perche instead of perché. È is particularly rare, as it is absent from the Italian keyboard layout. Few are aware of the distinction between grave and acute accents.
Examples

- cheers (generic toast): salve
- English: inglese
- good-bye: arrivederci
- hello: ciao (informal); buongiorno (good morning/good afternoon), buonasera (good evening)
- Yes: sì /si/
- No: no
- Sorry: scusi //
- Again: ancora //
- Always: sempre //
- When: quando /kwando/
- Why? / Because: perché /per'ke/
- how much?: quanto (masculine); quanta (feminine)
- thank you!: grazie!
- you're welcome!: prego!
Sample texts
You can hear a recording of Dante's Divine Comedy read by Lino Pertile at http://etcweb.princeton.edu/dante/pdp/. From the Holy Bible, Luke 2, 1-7 (for an English version see http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=luke+2) You can listen to a rendition of this text as recorded by an Italian native speaker from Milan. 2:1 In quei giorni, un decreto di Cesare Augusto ordinava che si facesse un censimento di tutta la terra. 2 Questo primo censimento fu fatto quando Quirino era governatore della Siria. 3 Tutti andavano a farsi registrare, ciascuno nella propria città. 4 Anche Giuseppe, che era della casa e della famiglia di Davide, dalla città di Nazaret e dalla Galilea si recò in Giudea nella città di Davide, chiamata Betlemme, 5 per farsi registrare insieme a Maria, sua sposa, che era incinta. 6 Proprio mentre si trovavano lì, venne il tempo per lei di partorire. 7 Mise al mondo il suo primogenito, lo avvolse in fasce e lo depose in una mangiatoia, poiché non c'era posto per loro nella locanda.
See also

- Italian phonology
- Sicilian School
- Veronese Riddle
External links

-
- [http://www.ielanguages.com/italian.html Italian Language Tutorial at ielanguages.com]
- [http://www.ilm.it/ Italian Language School]
- [http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/Italian-english/ Italian English Dictionary] from [http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org Webster's Online Dictionary] - the Rosetta Edition
- [http://www.garzantilinguistica.it A free Italian-English Dictionary, Italian Dictionary, and Thesaurus] from Garzanti Linguistica (in Italian, requires free registration)
- [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ita Ethnologue report on Italian]
- [http://www.applelanguages.com/en/learn/italian/italy.php/ Learn Italian in Italy]
- [http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/e/languages/italian/index.html A profile of the Italian language]
- [http://www.dicts.info/dictlist1.php?k1=53 All free Italian dictionaries]
- [http://italian-language-test.scuolaleonardo.com/ Test your Italian - Free Italian language test]
- [http://www.centropuccini.it/ Learn Italian in Italy by the sea]
- [http://www.locuta.com/ Centro Studi Italiani]
- [http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/modlang/carasi/site/pageone.html Online Italian language course]
- [http://www.loecsen.com/travel/discover_pop.php?lang=en&to_lang=8&learn-Italian/ Learn and listen to useful expressions in Italian]
- Category:Languages of Italy Category:Languages of Switzerland Category:Languages of Vatican City Category:Languages of San Marino Category:Languages of Slovenia als:Italienische Sprache ko:이탈리아어 ja:イタリア語 simple:Italian

Turin

Turin

Location within Italy
Region	Piedmont
Province	Turin
Area – Total – Water	130 km² (50 mi²) ##.# km² (#.# mi²) #.##%
Population – Total (2002) – Density	857,433 6,596/km²
Time zone	CET: UTC+1
Coordinates	¹
External link: [http://www.comune.torino.it/ Città di Torino]

Turin (Italian Torino) is a major industrial city in north-western Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the west bank of the Po River. The population of Turin city is 867,857 (2004 census), but its metropolitan area totals about 1.5 million inhabitants. The province is one of the largest in Italy, with 6,830 sq. km, and one of the most populated, with 2,191,960 inhabitants at the 2004 census. Turin is the host city of the 2006 Winter Olympics.

History

2006 Winter Olympics The name of Turin comes from Tau, a Celtic word that means mountains. The Italian name, Torino, happens to mean "little bull" in Italian, hence the coat of arms and the symbol of the city. The area was settled by the Taurini in pre-Roman times. In the first century A.D., the Romans created a military camp (Castra Taurinorum), later dedicated to Augustus (Augusta Taurinorum). The typical Roman street plan with streets at right angles can still be seen in the modern city. The capital of the Duchy of Savoy since 16th century, the Kingdom of Sardinia and then in 1861 Turin became the capital of the newly proclaimed United Italy. In 1865 the capital was moved to Florence. Since 1870 the capital has been Rome.

Law and government

Mr. Chiamparino is currently the mayor of Turin, which is elected directly by citizens every 5 years. He belongs to the center-left coalition. See also: List of mayors of Turin

Geography

Turin is located in the north-west of Italy. It's surrounded on the western and northern front by the Alps and on the southern front by the hills of Monferrato . Three major rivers pass through the city: the Po and two of its tributaries, the Dora Riparia (from the Celtic duria meaning "water," later changed to "Duria Minor" by the Romans), and the Stura di Lanzo and Sangone.

Demographics

The city of Torino grew by less than 0.5% in the last 3 years, which was attributed by a very low birth rate, contributing to an aging population. Around 12.4% of the population are under 14 years over age, while those in retirement age number 20.8%. The city has seen a sharp rise in immigrants, including the suburban areas. The population remains vastly Italian (92.1%), but there are sizeable numbers of other groups like Romanian: 2.3%, Moroccan: 1.5%, Peruvian: 0.5%, Albanian: 0.4%, and other groups.

Economy

Nowadays the city is a major industrial centre, known particularly as home to the headquarters and main production lines of the car company Fiat. The city is home to the famous Lingotto building, which was at one time the largest car factory in the world, and is now a convention centre, concert hall, art gallery, shopping centre and hotel. Other industries born in Turin are Invicta born in 1821 ,Lavazza, Martini and the chocolate factory Caffarel. It is also a center for aerospace industry, with Alenia. Some major elements of the International Space Station, such as the Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules have been produced in Turin. The future European launcher projects beyond Ariane 5 will also be managed from Turin, by the new NGL company, a subsidiary of EADS (70%) and Finmeccanica (30%). Turin is also the birthplace of major aspects of Italian economy, such as telecommunications Telecom Italia, television (Rai, National TV channel) and cinema. Most of these industries have moved to other parts of Italy, but Turin still hosts the National Museum of Cinema. The town currently has a large number of rail and road work sites. Although this activity has increased as a result of the 2006 Winter Olympics, part of it had long been planned. Some of the work sites deal with general improvements to car traffic, such as underpasses and flyovers. Two projects are of major importance and will change the shape of the town radically. One is the 'Spina' ('spine') which includes the doubling of a major railroad crossing the town; the railroad previously ran in a trench, which will now be covered by a major boulevard; the town rail station on this line will become the main station of Turin ('Porta Susa'). The other major project is the construction of a metropolitan underground line based on the VAL system. This project is expected to continue for years and to cover a larger part of the town, but its first phase will finish in time for the Olympic Games and will link the nearby town of Collegno with the 'Porta Nuova' station in Turin's town centre. This underground transportation project has historical importance for Turin, as the town has dreamed of an underground line for decades, the first project dating as far back as the twenties. In fact, the main street in the town centre ('Via Roma') runs atop a tunnel built during the fascist era (when 'Via Roma' was built); the tunnel was supposed to host the underground line and is now used as an underground car park.

Sites of interest

Collegno] Collegno Collegno] One of its main symbols is the Mole Antonelliana, which hosts the National Cinema Museum of Italy. The Cathedral of St John the Baptist houses the Shroud of Turin, an old linen cloth with an imprint of a man, which is believed by many to be the cloth that covered Jesus in his grave. The Museo Egizio has the most important collection of Egyptian antiquities in the world after the Cairo Museum. Turin offers a circuit of great historical and architectural interest: the Savoy Residences. In addition to the Royal Palace, the official residence of the Savoys until 1865, the circuit includes palaces, residences and castles in the city centre and in the surrounding towns. Torino is home to Palazzo Chiablese, the Royal Armoury, the Royal Library, Palazzo Madama, Palazzo Carignano, Villa della Regina, and the Valentino Castle. In the area around the city, the castles of Rivoli, Moncalieri, Venaria, Agliè, Racconigi, and Govone can be visited. The Hunting Lodge by Juvarra can be admired in Stupinigi and there is also the royal estate in Pollenzo. Some of these (first and foremost Rivoli, the location of the Museum of the same name) host events, exhibitions and cultural initiatives not only of local interest. In 1997, this complex of historical buildings was recognised as a world heritage site by Unesco. In the hills above the city is the basilica church of Superga, from where there is a splendid panorama of Turin against a backdrop of the snow-capped Alps. Superga can be reached by means of the Superga Rack Railway from the suburb of Sassi. The city is also famous for being the film set of the 1969 classic film The Italian Job starring Michael Caine. It is possible to visit all the locations on a special tour.

Universities

- University of Turin (Università degli Studi di Torino) / http://www.unito.it/
- Politecnico di Torino (Turin) / http://www.polito.it/

Turin World Book Capital

After Alexandria, Madrid, New Delhi, Antwerp and Montreal, Turin has been chosen by UNESCO as World Book Capital for the year 2006 because of its activity of book and reading promotion, especially with the International Book Fair, one of the most important fairs in Europe of its kind. From April 2006 to April 2007 Turin will host a festival called "Signs of Writing" composed of events, meetings, seminars, debates, letters, and performances.

Sport

The city is famous for its soccer teams (Juventus and Torino Calcio), and will host the 2006 Winter Olympics. One year later, in 2007 it will host the Winter Universiade. In a terrible air accident in 1949, a plane carrying the whole Torino football team (at that time one of the most important in Italy) hit the church of Superga, on the Turin hills. Among those who lost their lives was Valentino Mazzola, father of Ferruccio and Sandro Mazzola (who were also later to be football champions). Turin was also the city were the FISA (international rowing federation) was born in 1892.

Chocolate

Turin is the birth place of solid chocolate. It was in Turin that Doret invented a revolutionary machine that could make solid chocolate as we eat it now at the end of the 18th century. Turin produces a typical chocolate, named Gianduiotto after Gianduia, a local Commedia dell'arte mask, and many other kinds of chocolate in a host of confectioneries all around the city.

Nearby towns

Turin is surrounded by several smaller cities in the Province of Turin such as Grugliasco, Rivoli, Chivasso, Venaria, Settimo Torinese, Orbassano, Moncalieri, Avigliana, Buttigliera Alta, Gassino Torinese, Nichelino, Collegno and others, that make up one of Italy's primary metropolitan areas.

Notable natives

- Giovanni Agnelli (1866-1945) founder of FIAT
- Gianni Agnelli (1921-2003) chairman director of FIAT and very influential Italian
- Amedeo Avogadro (1776-1856) biologist
- Alessandro Baricco (1958-) writer
- Giuseppe Marc'Antonio Baretti (1719-1789) critic
- Camillo Benso, count of Cavour politician (Italian unification)
- Norberto Bobbio (1909-2004) Historian and philosopher
- Pierre Paul Caffarel (1795-1850) Inventor and businessman of chocolate
- Antonio Benedetto Carpano (1764-1815) Inventor of Vermouth and aperitif
- Robert Fano (1917-) Engineer
- Galileo Ferraris (1847-1997) Physicist and electrical engineer
- Sonia Gandhi (1946-) Politician
- Piero Gobetti (1901-1926) Intellectual
- Joseph Louis Lagrange (1736-1813) Mathematician
- Vincenzo Lancia (1881-1937) Sportsman and businessman, founder of Lancia
- Luigi Lavazza (1859-1949) Inventor and businessman of coffee
- Carlo Levi (1902-1975) Painter
- Primo Levi (1919-1987) Philosopher and writer
- Salvador Edward Luria (1912-1991) Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine
- Alessandro Martini (1812-1905) Businessman of vermouth
- Rita Levi-Montalcini (1909-) Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine
- Adriano Olivetti (1901-1960) Businessman
- Giuseppe Peano (1858-1932) Mathematician
- Aurelio Peccei (1908-1984) Founder of the Club of Rome
- Piero Sraffa (1898-1983) Influential economist
- Massimo Taparelli, marquis d'Azeglio (1798-1866), statesman, novelist and painter
- Umberto Tozzi (1952-) Singer
- Victor Emmanuel II of Italy (1820-1878) The King of Piedmont and the first King of the united Italy

Notable residents

- Edmondo de Amicis
- St. John Bosco
- Francesco Faà di Bruno
- Italo Calvino
- Gaspare Campari
- Francesco Cirio
- Renato Dulbecco
- Umberto Eco
- Luigi Einaudi
- Erasmus
- Guido Fubini
- Natalia Ginzburg
- Antonio Gramsci
- Cesare Lombroso
- Joseph de Maistre
- Giulio Natta
- Friedrich Nietzsche
- Vilfredo Pareto
- Cesare Pavese
- Emilio Salgari
- Ascanio Sobrero
- Germain Sommeiller
- Elio Vittorini

External links

- [http://www.comune.torino.it The official istitutional site] - Website version is in Italian - Also some pages in English, German, Spanish and French.
- [http://mappatorino.csp.it Experimental interactive maps] - Website version is in Italian
- [http://digilander.libero.it/fotogian/torino.home.html Photos of Turin]
- [http://www.torino2006.org/ Torino 2006 Olympic Games] - English, Italian and French. Website version is in Italian.
- [http://citymayors.com/interviews/turin_interview.html CityMayors article]
- [http://www.universiadetorino2007.org/ENG/HomeENG.asp Winter Universiade Torino 2007] - English, Italian and French. Website Version is Italian.
- [http://en.comuni-italiani.it/001/272/ Guide to Turin city] - Information and useful link
- [http://www.italianvisits.com/piemonte/turin/ ItalianVisits.com]
- [http://www.fieralibro.it/ International Book Fair ]
- [http://www.museonazionaledelcinema.org/ National Cinema Museum of Italy ] Category:Turin Category:Host cities of the Winter Olympic Games Category:World Book Capital Category:Towns in Piedmont ko:토리노 ja:トリノ

Monviso

Monte Viso (also called Monviso) is a mountain in the Cottian Alps in Italy close to the French border. The Monte Viso is famous because of its pyramid-like shape and since it surmounts all its neighbouring peaks by at least about 500m it can be seen by far away. On the northern slopes of the Monte Viso are the headwaters of the Po, the so called Pian del Re (2020m). [http://digilander.libero.it/fotogian/monviso.html Photos] Category:Mountains of Italy Category:Mountains of the Alps

Po River

The Po (Latin: Padus) flows 652 kilometers eastward across northern Italy, from Mount Monviso (in the Cottian Alps) to the Adriatic Sea near Venice. It has a drainage area of 71,000 square kilometers and is the longest river in Italy. It goes through many important Italian towns, including Turin and (indirectly) Milan (Milano), in Lombardia. It is connected to Milan through a net of channels called navigli, that Leonardo da Vinci helped design. Near the end of its course, it creates a wide delta (with hundreds of small channels and five main ones, called Po di Maestra, Po della Pila, Po delle Tolle, Po di Gnocca and Po di Goro) at the southern part of which is Comacchio, an area famous for eels. The Po valley corresponds to historical Cisalpine Gaul, divided in Cispadane Gaul (South of the Po) and Transpadane Gaul (North of the Po). The vast valley around the Po is called Pianura Padana and is so efficiently connected by the river that the whole valley became the main industrial area of the country. This river is subject to the authority of a special authority, the Magistrato delle Acque. In 2005, water from the Po was found to contain "staggering" amounts of benzoylecgonine, which is excreted by cocaine users in urine. Based on these figures, cocaine consumption was estimated to be about 4 kg daily, or 27 doses per day per thousand young adults in areas that feed into the river--a number nearly three times higher than previous estimates.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4746787.stm] Tributaries include (R form the right side, L form the left):
- Pellice (L)
- Varaita (R)
- Maira (R)
- Dora Riparia (L)
- Stura di Lanzo (L)
- Orco (L)
- Dora Baltea (L)
- Sesia (L)
- Tanaro (R)
- Scrivia (R)
- Agogna (L)
- Ticino (L)
- Lambro (L)
- Trebbia (R)
- Nure (R)
- Adda (L)
- Arda (R)
- Taro (R)
- Parma (R)
- Enza (R)
- Oglio (L)
- Mincio (L)
- Secchia (R)
- Panaro (R) Category:Rivers of Italy

Link

[http://digilander.libero.it/fotogian/po.html Photos of Po] ja:ポー川 ko:포 강

Switzerland

The Swiss Confederation or Switzerland (Latin: Confoederatio Helvetica) is a landlocked federal republic in Europe, bordering Germany, France, Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein. The country has a strong tradition of political and military neutrality, but also of international cooperation, and is home to many international organisations. Confoederatio Helvetica is the Latin official name. The use of Latin avoids having to choose one of the four official languages. The abbreviation (CH) is similarly used; for example, it is used as Switzerland's ccTLD, .ch. The Latin title Confoederatio Helvetica means Helvetic Confederation. The titles commonly used in French, Italian and Romansh translate as Swiss Confederation, while the German name of Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft translates roughly as "Swiss Oath Fellowship" or "Swiss Commonwealth of the Covenant".

History

Switzerland is a federation of relatively autonomous cantons, some of which have a history of confederacy that goes back more than 700 years, arguably putting them among the world's oldest surviving republics. According to the popular legend, in 1291, representatives of the three forest cantons of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden signed the Federal Charter. The charter united the involved parties in the struggle against foreign rule by the Habsburgs, who then held the German imperial throne of the Holy Roman Empire. At the Battle of Morgarten on November 15, 1315, the Swiss defeated the Habsburg army and secured quasi-independence as the Swiss Confederation. The authenticity of the Federal Charter is disputed, with many historians agreeing that it is in fact a forgery of the 14th century. By 1353, the three original cantons had been joined by the cantons of Glarus and Zug and the city states of Lucerne, Zürich and Berne, forming the "Old Federation" of eight states that persisted during much of the 15th century (although Zürich was expelled from the confederation during the 1440s due to a territorial conflict) and led to a significant increase of power and wealth of the federation, in particular due to the victories over Charles the Bold of Burgundy during the 1470s, and the success of the Swiss mercenaries. The traditional listing order of the cantons of Switzerland reflects this state, listing the eight "Old Cantons" first, with the city states preceding the founding cantons, followed by cantons that joined the federation after 1481, in historical order. The Swiss victory in a war against the Swabian League in 1499 amounted to de facto independence from the Holy Roman Empire. In 1506, Pope Julius II engaged the Swiss Guard that continues to serve the Vatican to the present day. The expansion of the federation, and the reputation of invincibility acquired during the earlier wars, suffered a first setback in 1515 with the Swiss defeat in the Battle of Marignano. The success of Zwingli's Reformation in some cantons led to inter-cantonal wars in 1529 and 1531 (Kappeler Kriege). The conflict between Catholic and Protestant cantons persisted, erupting in further violence at the battles of Villmergen in 1656 and 1712. 1712] Under the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, European countries recognised Switzerland's independence from the Holy Roman Empire and its neutrality (ancien régime). In 1798, the armies of the French Revolution conquered Switzerland and imposed a new unified constitution. This centralised the government of the country and effectively abolished the cantons. The new regime was known as the Helvetic Republic and was highly unpopular. It had been imposed by a foreign invading army, had destroyed centuries of tradition, including the right to worship, and had made Switzerland nothing more than a French satellite state. Uprisings were common and only the presence of French troops kept them from succeeding. The brutal French suppression of the Nidwalden revolt in September was especially infamous. When war broke out between France and other countries Switzerland found itself being invaded by other outside forces from Austria and Russia. The Swiss were divided mainly between "Republicans" who were in favour of a centralised government, and "Federalists" who wanted to restore autonomy to the cantons. The violent conflict between both sides was never-ending. In Paris in 1803, Napoleon Bonaparte organised a meeting of the leading Swiss politicians from both sides. The result was the Act of Mediation which largely restored Swiss autonomy and introduced a Confederation of 19 Cantons. From then on much of Swiss politics would be about preserving the cantons' right to self-rule and the need for a central government. The Congress of Vienna in 1815 fully re-established Swiss independence and the European powers agreed to permanently recognise the Swiss neutrality. At this time, the territory of Switzerland was increased for the last time, by the new cantons of Valais, Neuchatel and Geneva. In 1847, a civil war broke out between the Catholic and the Protestant cantons (Sonderbundskrieg). Its immediate cause was a 'special treaty' (Sonderbund) of the Catholic cantons. The war lasted for less than a month, causing fewer than 100 casualties. Apart from small riots, this was the latest armed conflict on Swiss territory. As a consequence of the civil war, Switzerland adopted a federal constitution in 1848, amending it extensively in 1874 and establishing federal responsibility for defence, trade, and legal matters. In 1891, the constitution was revised with unusually strong elements of direct democracy, which remains unique even today. Since then, continued political, economic, and social improvement has characterised Swiss history. In 1920, Switzerland joined the League of Nations, and in 1963 the Council of Europe. Switzerland proclaimed neutrality in World War I and was not involved militarily in the conflict. Neutrality was again proclaimed in World War II, and although a German intervention was both planned and anticipated, it ultimately didn't occur. The massive mobilisation of Swiss armed forces under the leadership of General Henri Guisan is often cited as a decisive factor that the German invasion was never initiated. Modern historical findings, such as the research done by the Bergier commission, indicate that another major factor was the continued trade by Swiss banks with Nazi Germany. Bergier commission Women were granted the right to vote in the first cantons in 1959, at the federal level in 1971, in the last canton, Appenzell Innerrhoden, only in 1990. In 1979, parts of the canton of Berne attained independence, forming the new canton of Jura. On April 18, 1999 the Swiss population and the cantons voted in favour of a completely revised federal constitution. In 2002 Switzerland became a full member of the United Nations, leaving the Vatican as the last widely recognised state without full UN membership. Switzerland is not a member state of the EU but applied for membership therein in May 1992. Switzerland has not advanced this application since the rejection, by referendum, of the European Economic Area in December 1992. However, Swiss law is gradually being adjusted to that of the EU and the government has signed a number of bilateral agreements with the European Union. Switzerland (together with Liechtenstein) has been surrounded by the EU since Austria's membership in 1995. On June 5, 2005, Swiss voters agreed, by a 55% majority, to join the Schengen treaty, a result that was welcomed by EU commentators as a sign of goodwill by a Switzerland that is traditionally perceived as isolationist.

Politics

Schengen treaty]] The bicameral Swiss parliament, the Federal Assembly, is the primary seat of power, apart from the Federal Council. Both houses, the Council of States and the National Council, have equal powers in all respects, including the right to introduce legislation. Under the 1999 constitution, cantons hold all powers not specifically delegated to the federation. The 46 members of the Council of States (two from each canton and one from former half cantons) are directly elected in each canton, whereas the 200 members of the National Council are elected directly under a system of proportional representation. Members of both houses serve for 4 years. Through referenda citizens may challenge any law voted by federal parliament and through initiatives introduce amendments to the federal constitution, making Switzerland a semi-direct democracy. The top executive body and collective Head of State is the Federal Council, a collegial body of seven members. Although the constitution provides that the Assembly elects and supervises the members of the Council, the latter (and its administration) has gradually assumed a pre-eminent role in directing the legislative process as well as executing federal laws. The President of the Confederation is elected from the seven to assume special representative functions for a one-year term. From 1959 to December 2003, the four major parties were represented in the Federal Council according to the "magic formula", proportional to their representation in federal parliament: 2 Christian Democrats (CVP/PDC), 2 from the Social Democrats (SPS/PSS), 2 Free Democrats (FDP/PRD), and 1 from the Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC). This traditional distribution of seats, however, is not backed up by any law, and in the 2003 elections to the Federal Council the CVP/PDC lost their second seat to the SVP/UDC. The function of the Federal Supreme Court is to hear appeals of cantonal courts or the administrative rulings of the federal administration. The judges are elected by the Federal Assembly for six-year terms. See also: International relations of Switzerland

Direct democracy

Switzerland features a system of government not seen at the national level on any other place on earth: Direct democracy. Any citizen may challenge a law that has been passed by parliament. If he is able to gather 50,000 signatures against the law within 100 days, a national vote has to be scheduled where voters decide by a simple majority whether to accept or reject the law. Also, any citizen may seek a decision on an amendment they want to make to the constitution. For such an amendment initiative to be organised, the signatures of 100,000 voters must be collected within 18 months. Such a popular initiative may be formulated as a general proposal or - much more often - be put forward as a precise new text whose wording can no longer be changed by parliament and the government. After a successful vote gathering, the federal council may create a counterproposal to the proposed amendment and put it to vote on the same day. Such counterproposals are usually a compromise between the status quo and the wording of the initiative. Voters will again decide in a national vote whether to accept the initiative amendment, the counterproposal put forward by the government or both. If both are accepted, one has to additionally signal a preference. Initiatives have to be accepted by a double majority of both the popular votes and a majority of the states.

Energy politics

The energy generated in Switzerland comprises around 40 percent nuclear power and 60 percent from hydroelectricity. On May 18, 2003, two referenda regarding the future of nuclear power in Switzerland were held. The referendum Electricity without nuclear asked for a decision on a nuclear power phase-out and Moratorium Plus asked about an extension an existing law forbidding the building of new nuclear power plants. Both were turned down: Moratorium Plus by a margin of 41.6% for and 58.4% opposed, and Electricity Without Nuclear by a margin of 33.7% for and 66.3% opposed. The former ten-year moratorium on the construction of new nuclear power plants was the result of a citizens' initiative voted on in 1990 which had passed with 54.5% Yes vs. 45.5% No votes (see Nuclear power phase-out#Switzerland for details).

Cantons (states)

Nuclear power phase-out#Switzerland]] The Swiss Confederation consists of 26 cantons:
- These cantons are represented by only one councillor in the Council of States. Their populations vary between 15,000 (Appenzell Innerrhoden) and 1,253,500 (Zürich), and their area between 37 km² (Basel-Stadt) and 7,105 km² (Grisons). The Cantons comprise a total of 2,889 municipalities. The following are enclaves within Switzerland: Büsingen is territory of Germany, Campione d'Italia is territory of Italy.

Geography

Italy With an area of 41,285 km², Switzerland is a small country. The population is around 7.4 million, resulting in a population density of 184 people per km². Switzerland comprises three basic topographical areas: the Swiss Alps, the Swiss plateau, and the Jura mountains.The Alps are a high mountain range running across the central-south of the country. Among the high peaks of the Swiss Alps, the highest of which is the Dufour Peak at 4,634 m, are found countless valleys, some with glaciers. From these the headwaters of several major European rivers such as the Rhine, the Rhône, the Inn, the Aare or the Ticino, flow down into lakes such as Lake Geneva, Lake Zürich, Lake Neuchâtel, and Lake Constance. Lake Constance The northern, more populous part of the country is more open, but can still be mountainous, for example, in the Jura Mountains, a smaller range in the northwest. The Swiss climate is generally temperate, but can vary greatly between the localities, from harsh conditions on the high mountains to the often pleasant Mediterranean climate at Switzerland's southern tip. A zoomable map of Switzerland is available at either [http://www.swissinfo-geo.org www.swissinfo-geo.org] or [http://www.swissgeo.ch www.swissgeo.ch]; a zoomable satellite picture is at [http://map.search.ch/ map.search.ch].
See also: Swisstopo topographical survey, List of lakes of Switzerland, List of rivers of Switzerland, List of mountain passes in Switzerland.

Economy

Switzerland is a prosperous and stable modern market economy, with a per capita GDP that is higher than those of the big western European economies. For much of the 20th century Switzerland was the wealthiest country in Europe by a considerable margin. However since the early 1990s it has suffered from slow growth, and as of 2005 it had fallen to fourth among European states with populations above one million in terms of Gross Domestic Product per capita at purchasing power parity, behind Ireland, Denmark and Norway (see list). Switzerland is a member of the European Free Trade Association. In recent years, the Swiss have brought their economic practices largely into conformity with those of the European Union, in an effort to enhance their international competitiveness, but this has not produced strong growth. Full EU membership is a long-term objective of the Swiss government, but there is considerable popular sentiment against this. To this end, it has established an [http://www.europa.admin.ch/e/index.htm Integration Office] under the Department of Foreign and Economic Affairs. To minimise the negative consequences of Switzerland's isolation from the rest of Europe, Bern and Brussels signed seven agreements, called Bilateral Agreements I, to further liberalise trade ties in 1999 and entering into force in 2001. This first series of bilateral agreements included the free movement of persons. A second series covering nine areas was signed in 2004 and awaits ratification. The second series includes the Schengen treaty and the Dublin Convention. They continue to discuss further areas for cooperation. Preparatory discussions are being opened on four new areas: opening up the electricity market, participation in the European GPS system Galileo, cooperating with the European centre for disease prevention and recognising certificates of origin for food products. Switzerland voted against membership in the European Economic Area in December 1992 and has since maintained and developed its relationships with the European Union and European countries through bilateral agreements.
- List of Swiss companies
- Swiss bank

Demographics

Swiss bank (19.2%),
Italian (7.6%),
Romansh (0.6%)]] Switzerland sits at the crossroads of several major European cultures that have heavily influenced the country's languages and culture. Switzerland has three nationwide official languages (German (64%) in the north and centre, French (19%) to the west, and Italian (8%) in the south), plus a fourth national language that is considered official locally (Romansh, a Romance language spoken by a small minority (< 1%) in the southeastern canton of Graubünden and in parts of Ticino). The federal government is obliged to communicate in the three official languages. In the federal parliament, German, French and Italian are the official languages and simultaneous translation is provided. The German spoken in Switzerland is predominantly a group of dialects that are almost unintelligible to Germans and are collectively known as Swiss German, but written communication and broadcasts typically use standard German. Swiss French and Swiss Italian differ far less from their counterparts in France and Italy, respectively. Learning one of the other national languages at school is obligatory for all Swiss, so most Swiss are at least bilingual. English is considered by some as a Swiss lingua franca, and most Swiss people have some command of English; many Swiss documents and websites are available in English. Resident foreigners and temporary foreign workers make up about 20% of the population. The most popular religion in Switzerland is Roman Catholicism (43% of the population). There are various Protestant denominations (35%), while immigration has brought Islam (4%) and Eastern Orthodoxy (2%) as sizeable minority religions. The stability and prosperity of Switzerland, combined with a linguistically diverse population, has led some to describe the country as a consensus, or consociational state.
- List of Swiss people

Culture

List of Swiss people] The culture of Switzerland is influenced by its neighbours, but over the years a distinctive culture with strong regional differences has developed. Traditionally Switzerland is not considered one of the centres of European culture, but this conception might be deceptive. A number of culturally active Swiss have chosen to move abroad, probably given the limited opportunities in their homeland. At the same time, the neutrality of Switzerland has attracted many creative people from all over the world. In war times the tradition of political asylum helped to attract artists, whilst recently low taxes seem predominant. Strong regionalism in Switzerland makes it difficult to speak of a homogeneous Swiss culture. The influence of German, French and Italian culture on their neighbouring parts and the influence of Anglo-American culture cannot be denied. The Rhaeto-Romanic culture in the eastern mountains of Switzerland is robust. The Swiss are noted for their banks, their chocolate, their cheese, their pocket knives, their watches (particularly the famous Rolex), their private boarding schools and their strengths in engineering and the sciences. The tallest building in Switzerland is the Basler Messeturm.
- Music of Switzerland
- Culture of Switzerland
- Swiss cuisine
- SRG SSR idée suisse

External links

- Governmental websites
- [http://www.admin.ch/ch/index.en.html The Federal Authorities]
- [http://www.parlament.ch/e/homepage.htm The Swiss Parliament]
- [http://www.bger.ch/ Federal Supreme Court] - (in German, French and Italian)
- [http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/en/ Swiss Federal Statistical Office]
- [http://www.swissinfo.org/ Switzerland's news and information platform] - maintained by the public Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (in 9 languages)
- Historical Dictionary of Switzerland: [http://www.dhs.ch www.dhs.ch] - Country encyclopedia (in German, French and Italian)
- [http://www.swissworld.org/ Swissworld] - an encyclopedic presentation of the country by the Swiss Confederation
- [http://www.about.ch/ About.ch] - another presentation of the country
- [http://www.myswitzerland.com/ Switzerland Tourism] National tourist office
- [http://www.culturelinks.ch/ Culturelinks.ch] - a portal giving access to Swiss culture websites
- [http://www.are.ch/ Spatial Planning in Switzerland] Website of Swiss Federal Office for Spatial Development (land-use planning, transportation, sustainable development)
- [http://map.search.ch/ Map.Search.ch] Maps of Switzerland
- [http://www.justlanded.com/english/switzerland/ Just Landed Switzerland] - Useful info for moving to Switzerland
- Alemannic Wikipedia
- Category:Landlocked countries als:Schweiz zh-min-nan:Sūi-se ko:스위스 ms:Switzerland ja:スイス simple:Switzerland th:ประเทศสวิตเซอร์แลนด์

Liguria

Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. It borders France to the west, Piedmont to the north, and Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany to the east. It lies on the Ligurian Sea, a part of the Tyrrhenian Sea (northern Mediterranean Sea). The coastal strip forms the Italian Riviera; further inland are the Ligurian Alps, on the west, and the Ligurian Apennines on the east. The capital is Genoa. Ancient Ligures settled the Mediterranean coast from Rhone to Arno, but later Celtic migrations, as well as colonization by Phoenicians, Greeks, and Carthaginians displaced these by the 4th century BC. The region was officially subdued by the Roman Republic during the 2nd century BC. During the Middle Ages, Genoa gradually gained control of most of Liguria, which shared most of the city's history, and, with a few breaks in the 15th and early 16th century when the area was under either Milanese or French control, the Republic of Genoa ruled the area until 1796, when the French Revolutionary general Napoleon Bonaparte reorganized the area into the Ligurian Republic. The Ligurian Republic proved short-lived, however, and was annexed directly by France in 1805. Following the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, the area was annexed by the Kingdom of Sardinia. The Ligurian coast enjoys a mild maritime climate, compared to the semi-continental one of the Po valley, a few kilometers northward; in January, Genoa records an average temperature of about 8-10°C, with no frost, which can occur only in the mountainous interior. Summer averages about 24-25°C. Rainfall can be very abundant at times; mountains very close to the coast create an orographic effect, so Genoa can see up to 2000 mm of rain in a year; other areas instead show the normal values of the Mediterranean area (500-800 mm). It is noticeable that, despite the high population density, woods cover half of the total area. Liguria is a very old name, dating back to pre-Roman times. See also Finale Ligure, Seborga, Parodi Ligure. Principal towns:
- Genoa
- La Spezia
- Imperia
- Savona
- San Remo
- Ventimiglia (French Vintimille) (final destination of many trains from France)
- Portofino
- Cinque Terre ("The Five Villages")

External links

- [http://www.liguriainrete.it Official website of the Ligurian regional government]
- [http://www.italy-weather-and-maps.com/maps/italy/liguria.gif Map of Liguria]
- [http://www.provincia.sp.it Official website of the Province of La Spezia, In Italian]
- [http://www.italianvisits.com/liguria/ ItalianVisits.com: Liguria]
- Category:NUTS 2 Statistical Regions of Europe ko:리구리아 주 ja:リグーリア州

Valle d'Aosta

Aosta Valley

1046

Events

- First contact between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuks.
- Vatha Pagan Revolt in Hungary - Gerard Sagredo martyred in Budapest.
- Pope Gregory VI accused of simony at Council of Sutri - abdicates
- Henry III crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Clement II.
- March 5, Naser Khosrow begins the seven-year Middle Eastern journey which he would later describe in his book Safarnameh.

Births

- Matilda of Tuscany (d. 1114)

Deaths

- Gerard Sagredo, missionary to Hungary

Heads of State

- Byzantine Empire - Constantine IX (reigned from 1042 to 1055)
- England - Edward the Confessor (reigned from 1042 to 1066)
- France - Henri I (reigned from 1031 to 1060)
- Scotland - Macbeth (reigned from 1040 to 1057)
- Germany - Henry III (King of Germany 1039 to 1105, Holy Roman Emperor 1046 to 1105) Category:1046 ko:1046년

Savoy

This article is about the historical region of Savoy. For other uses, see Savoy (disambiguation) Savoy (Italian: Savoia, French: Savoie, Arpitan: Savouè) is a region of western Europe that emerged, along with the free communes of Switzerland, following the collapse of the Frankish Kingdom of Burgundy. Installed by Rudolph III, King of Burgundy, officially in 1003, the House of Savoy maintained independence as counts (see County of Savoy, ca 1000 to 1416) and then dukes (see Duchy of Savoy, 1416 to 1714), until Savoia was linked with the Kingdom of Sardinia, which included Piemonte in north-western Italy. Savoy was largely absorbed into France in 1860, as part of the political agreement with Napoleon III that brought about the unification of Italy. In modern France, Savoy is part of the region Rhône-Alpes. For details of the départements of Savoie and Haute-Savoie created after annexation by France, see Savoie and Haute-Savoie. For the modern separatist / regionalist movements, see subsection "Annexation and Opposition" below. The traditional capital remains Chambéry (Chiamberì), on the rivers Leysse and Albane, hosting the castle of the House of Savoy and the Savoyard senate. The state included six districts:
- Savoy proper (capital Chambéry)
- Chablais (capital Thonon-les-Bains)
- Faucigny (capital Bonneville)
- Tarentaise (capital Moûtiers)
- Maurienne (capital Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne)
- Genevois (capital Annecy).

History

See County of Savoy and Duchy of Savoy In 1714, as a consequence of the War of the Spanish Succession it was technically subsumed into the Kingdom of Sicily, then (after that island was traded to Spain for Sardinia) the Kingdom of Sardinia from 1720. It is worth noting that the seat of the Savoyards remained in Turin, in Piedmont, and the name change was really just a political maneuver designed to secure a change in the state's status from duchy to kingdom. Sardinia was economically and politically moribund in comparison to Savoy and Piedmont, but traditionally had the title "King" associated with its possession (Regnum Sardiniae et Corsicae), hence the renaming.

French occupation

Savoy was occupied by France's revolutionary forces between 1792 and 1815. The region was first added to the département of Mont Blanc, then in 1798 was divided between the départements of Mont Blanc and Lake Geneva. On September 13, 1793 the combined forces of Savoy, Piedmont and Valdot fought the occupying French forces at the Battle of Méribel (Sallanches).

Annexation and opposition

Savoy was annexed by France on March 24, 1860. This followed a plebiscite in which the people were offered the option of joining France or joining the new Italian state; the disallowed options of either joining Switzerland (with which the region had close ties), or of regaining its independence, were the source of some opposition. With a 99.8% vote in favour of joining France, there were also allegations of vote-rigging. Some opposition to French rule was manifest when, in 1919, France officially (but contrary to the annexation treaty) ended the military neutrality of the parts of the region that had originally been agreed at the Congress of Vienna, and also eliminated the free trade zone - both treaty articles having been broken unofficially in World War I. For reasons such as these, there is currently a peaceful separatist movement in the départements, as well as a faction in favor of greater regional powers. The Mouvement Région Savoie (Savoy Regional Movement) was founded in December 1971 as a 'movement' (rather than a traditional political party) in favour or regional autonomy. In the 1996 local elections the Savoie Regional Movement received 19,434 votes. In the March 1998 regional elections, 1 seat (out of 23) was won by Patrice Abeille, leader of the Ligue Savoisienne (Savoie League, founded 1994) which two years earlier had set up a 'provisional Savoie government'. The League gathered a total of 17,865 votes across the two départements. In the same elections a further 4,849 voted in favor of the Savoie Movement. As a result of the regional debate sparked by the political advances, the non-party organisation La Région Savoie, j’y crois ! (I believe in the Savoy Region!), was founded in 1998. The organisation campaigns for the replacement of the Savoie and Haute-Savoie départements with a regional government, separate from the Rhône-Alpes region, with greater devolved powers. According to surveys conducted in 2000, between 41% and 55% of the population are in favor of the proposal. 19% to 23% were in favor of separation from France.

External links

- [http://notre.savoie.free.fr/ Ligue Savoisienne (in English)]
- [http://perso.club-internet.fr/sjm/PPH_Savoie.htm La Savoie: entre mondialisation et repli tribal (in French)]
- [http://www.regionsavoie.com/ La Région Savoie, j’y crois ! (in French)]
- [http://www.friesian.com/lorraine.htm Francia Media

1416

Events

- May 30 - The Catholic Church burns Jerome of Prague as a heretic.

Births

- March 27 - Antonio Squarcialupi, Italian composer (died 1480)
- October 26 - Edmund Grey, 1st Earl of Kent (died 1490)
- Pal Engjëlli, Albanian Catholic clergyman (died 1470)
- Piero della Francesca, Italian artist (died 1492)
- Francis of Paola, founder of the Order of the Minims (died 1507)
- Jacquetta of Luxembourg, daughter of Pierre de Luxembourg (died 1472)
- Piero di Cosimo de' Medici, ruler of Florence (died 1469)

Deaths

- March 15 - John, Duke of Berry, son of John II of France (born 1340)
- May 30 - Jerome of Prague, Czech theologian (executed) (b. 1379)
- King Ferdinand I of Aragon (born 1379) Category:1416 ko:1416년

Emmanuel Philibert

Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy (July 8, 1528, Chambéry - August 30, 1580, Turin) was Duke of Savoy from 1553 to 1580. Emmanuel Philibert was the only child of Charles III, Duke of Savoy and Beatrice of Portugal to reach adulthood. His mother was sister-in-law to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and the future duke served in Charles's army during the war against Francis I of France, distinguishing himself by capturing Hesdin in July 1553. A month later, he became duke on the death of his father, but this was a nearly empty honor, as the vast majority of his hereditary lands had been occupied and administered by the French since 1536. Instead, he continued to serve the Habsburgs in hopes of recovering his lands, and served Philip II as Governor of the Netherlands from 1555-1559. In this capacity he personally led the Spanish invasion of northern France and won a brilliant victory at Saint-Quentin in August 1557. By the Peace of Cateau Cambrésis between France and Spain, (1559) the duchy was restored to Emmanuel Philibert and he married Margaret of France, Duchess of Berry (1523-1574), sister to King Henry II. Their only child was Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy. Emmanuel spent his rule regaining what had been lost in the costly wars with France. A skilled political strategist, he took advantage of various squabbles in Europe to slowly regain territory from both the French and the Spanish, including the city of Turin. He also purchased two territories. Internally, he moved the capital of the duchy from Chambéry to Turin and replaced Latin as the duchy's official language with Italian. He was attempting to acquire the marquisate of Saluzzo when he died. Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy Category:House of Savoy Category:Claimant Kings of Jerusalem Category:Knights of the Garter Category:Knights of the Golden Fleece Category:Governors of the Habsburg Netherlands Philibert, Emmanuel

Kingdom of Sardinia

upper left (pink) and Nizza (Nice) lower left (brown) both now French, and Sardinia in the inset]] The Kingdom of Sardinia is a former kingdom in Italy.

Early history

The traditional giudicati of Sardinia, which were independent tribal territories each presided over by its "judge", having come under the control either of Genoa or Pisa, the Kingdom came into being in 1297, when Pope Boniface VIII, intervening between the Houses of Anjou and Aragon, established on paper a "regnum Sarduniae et Corsicae" that would be a fief of the Papacy. Then the Pope offered his newly-invented fief to the Catalan Jaume II the Just, king of the Crown of Aragon (a confederation made up of the kingdoms of Aragon and Valencia, and the County of Catalonia), promising him papal support should he wish to conquer Pisan Sardinia in exchange for Sicily. In 1323 Jaume II formed an alliance with the giudice of Arborea and, following a military campaign which lasted a year or so, occupied the Pisan territories of Cagliari and Gallura along with the city of Sassari, claiming the territory as the "Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica". In 1353 Aragon made war on Arborea, then fought with its heroic leader Eleanor of Arborea, but did not reduce the last of the autochthonous giudicati until 1410. The Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica retained its separate character as part of the Crown of Aragon and was not merely incorporated into the Kingdom of Aragon. At the time of his struggles with Arborea, Pere IV of Aragon granted an autonomous legislature to the Kingdom, which had one of Europe's most advanced legal traditions. The Kingdom was governed in the king's name by a viceroy. When in 1409 Marti the younger, king of Sicily and heir to Aragon, defeated the last Sandinian giudicato but then died in Cagliari of malaria, without issue, Sardinia passed with the Crown of Aragon to a united Spain. Corsica, which had never been conquered, was dropped from the formal title. In 1720 the kingdom of Sicily was exchanged for that of Sardinia, and the House of Savoy was enabled to call itself royal, as Kings of Sardinia. Although its name was the Kingdom of Sardinia, the main part of the 18th- and 19th-century territories of the House of Savoy was in Savoy and Piedmont, with a capital at Turin. In 1743 the kingdom was combined with Piedmont as the Kingdom of Sardinia. When in 1796 Napoleon conquered the kingdom along with the rest of Northern Italy, the king, Charles Emmanuel IV fled to Sardinia.

Restoration and Risorgimento

Risorgimento, with the coat of arms of the House of Savoy.]] In 1814 the kingdom was restored and enlarged with the addition of the former Republic of Genoa, now a duchy, and it served as a buffer state against France. In the 19th century the alternative name Sardinia-Piedmont came in use. In the reaction after Napoleon, the country was ruled by conservative monarchs: Victor Emmanuel I and Charles Felix, who fought at the head of a contingent of his own troops at the Battle of Trocadero, which set the reactionary Ferdinand VII on the Spanish throne. In 1831 Carlo Felice was succeded by the more moderate conservative Charles Albert. Sardinia industrialized from 1830 onward. A constitution, the Statuto Albertino was enacted in the year of revolutions, 1848, under liberal pressure, and under the same pressure war was declared on Austria. After initial success the war took a turn for the worse and Sardinia lost. Like all of Italy, Sardinia was troubled with political instability, under alternating governments. After a very short and disastrous second war with Austria, Charles Albert abdicated on March 23, 1849, in favour of his son Vittorio Emmanuele II. In 1850 a liberal ministry under Count Camillo Benso di Cavour was installed, and Sardinia became the engine driving the Italian Unification. Sardinia (Piedmont) took part in the Crimean War, allied with Turkey, Britain and France, and fighting against Russia. In 1859 France sided with Sardinia in a war against Austria. Napoleon III didn't keep his promises to Cavour. Napoleon seized Lombardy. In 1860, however, Sardinia gained Lombardy from France in exchange for Savoie and Nice. On March 5 1860 Parma, Tuscany, Modena and Romagna voted in referenda to join Sardinia. In 1860 Giuseppe Garibaldi started his campaign to conquer southern Italy in the name of Sardinia. He quickly toppled the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and marched to Gaeta, were he met Vittorio Emmanuel. Cavour was actually the most satisfied with the unification while Garibaldi wanted to conquer Rome. Garibaldi was too revolutionary for the king and his prime minister. On March 17, 1861 the Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed thus ending Sardinia as a separate kingdom. Sardinia (and especially Piedmont) would become the most dominant and wealthiest region in Italy. The House of Savoy would rule Italy until 1946 when a republic was proclaimed.

External links

- [http://www.antichistati.com/bigmap/samapen.htm Map of the Kingdom of Sardinia] Sardinia, Kingdom of Category:Sardinia Sardinia ko:사르데냐 왕국 ja:サルデーニャ王国

1720

Events

- January 6 - The Committee of Inquiry on the South Sea Bubble publishes its findings
- February 11 - Sweden and Prussia sign the (2nd Treaty of Stockholm) declaring peace.
- February 29 - Queen Ulrike Eleonora of Sweden resigns.
- The Tuscarora fled North Carolina as a result of European colonisation
- Edmond Halley appointed Astronomer Royal
- The Academia Real da Historia is founded in Lisbon, Portugal
- Jonathan Swift begins Gulliver's Travels

Ongoing events

- Great Northern War (1700-1721)

Births

- January 4 - Johann Friedrich Agricola, German composer (d. 1774)
- January 13 - Richard Hurd, English bishop and writer (d. 1808)
- January 27 - Samuel Foote, English dramatist and actor (d. 1777)
- January 30 - Charles De Geer, Swedish industrialist and entomologist (d. 1778)
- February 8 - Emperor Sakuramachi of Japan (d. 1750)
- March 9 - Philip Yorke, 2nd Earl of Hardwicke, English politician (d. 1790)
- March 13 - Charles Bonnet, Swiss naturalist and writer (d. 1793)
- March 22 - Nicolas-Henri Jardin, French architect (d. 1799)
- April 23 - Vilna Gaon, Lithuanian rabbi (d. 1797)
- May 11 - Karl Friedrich Hieronymus Freiherr von Münchhausen, German officer and adventurer (d. 1797)
- May 15 - Maximilian Hell, Slovakian astronomer (d. 1792)
- July 18 - Gilbert White, English naturalist and cleric (d. 1793)
- August 8 - Carl Fredrik Pechlin, Swedish politician (d. 1796)
- August 12 - Konrad Ekhof, German actor (d. 1778)
- August 18 - Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers, English murderer (d. 1760)
- August 30 - Samuel Whitbread, English brewer and politician (d. 1796)
- October 3 - Johann Peter Uz, German poet (d. 1796)
- October 4 - Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Italian artist (d. 1778)
- October 8 - Jonathan Mayhew, American minister and patriot (d. 1766)
- October 19 - John Woolman, American Quaker preacher and abolitionist (d. 1772)
- November 1 - Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte, French admiral (d. 1791)
- November 16 - Carlo Antonio Campioni, French-born composer (d. 1788)
- December 14 - Justus Möser, German statesman (d. 1794)
- December 26 - Gian Francesco Albani, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1803)
- December 31 - Charles Edward Stuart, pretender to the British throne (d. 1788)

Deaths

- January 31 - Thomas Grey, 2nd Earl of Stamford, English privy councillor
- February 27 - Samuel Parris, English-born Puritan minister (b. 1653)
- April 2 - Joseph Dudley, colonial Governor of Massachusetts (b. 1647)
- April 21 - Antoine Hamilton, French writer (b. 1646)
- June 27 - Guillaume Amfrye de Chaulieu, French poet (b. 1639)
- August 3 - Anthonie Heinsius, Dutch statesman (b. 1641)
- August 9 - Simon Ockley, English orientalist (b. 1678)
- August 17 - Anne Lefèvre, French scholar (b. 1654)
- September 3 - Henri de Massue, Marquis de Ruvigny, 1st Viscount Galway, French soldier and diplomat (b. 1648)
- October 10 - Antoine Coysevox, French sculptor (b. 1640) Category:1720 ko:1720년 ms:1720

1859

1859 is a common year starting on Saturday.

Events

January

- January 2 - Erastus Beadle publishes The Dime Book of Practical Etiquette.
- January 24 - Wallachia and Moldavia are united under Alexander John Cuza under the name Romania (see December 1 1918 for the final unification, Transylvania and other regions were still missing at this time).

February

- February 14 - Oregon is admitted as the 33rd U.S. state.
- February 27 - US congressman Dan Sickles shoots Philip Barton Key for having an affair with his wife

March

- March 9 - The army of Piedmont-Sardinia mobilizes against Austria, beginning the crisis which will lead to the Austro-Sardinian War.
- March 26 - French amateur astronomer claims to have noticed a planet closer to the Sun than Mercury - later named Vulcan

April

- April 9 - The Austrian army in Italy mobilizes against Piedmont.
- April 23 - The Austrians send an ultimatum to Piedmont, demanding demobilization. This puts Austria in the position of an aggressor, and leads to French intervention. Piedmont rejects the ultimatum, and war breaks out.
- April 25 - Ground is broken for the Suez Canal
- April 26 - Austro-Sardinian War - Giuseppe Garibaldi's Hunters of the Alps confront Austrian forces led by Field Marshal-Lieutenant Carl Baron Urban at Varese.
- April 29 - Austrian troops begin to cross the Ticino River to Piedmont

May

- May 21 - The bell of Big Ben activated
- May 22 - Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies is succeeded by his 23-year-old son Francis II of the Two Sicilies
- May 30 - Sardinians defeat the Austrian army at Battle of Palestro

June

- June 4 - Battle of Magenta in Austro-Sardinian War - French and Sardinians defeat Austrians
- June 6 - The British Crown colony of Queensland in Australia is created by devolving part of the territory of New South Wales
- June 8 - French and Piedmontese forces enter Milan.
- June 8 - Battle of Marignaro (1859) French victory over Austrians
- June 24 - Battle of Solferino: Kingdom of Sardinia and Napoleon III of France armies defeat Franz Josef I of Austria in northern Italy. Battle also reputedly inspires Henri Dunant to found the Red Cross

July

- July 6 - Australia: Queensland is established as a separate colony from New South Wales.
- July 8 - Charles XV succeeds his father Oscar I King of Sweden and Norway (as Charles IV).
- July 8 - Armistice between Austria and others
- July 11 - Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph, faced with an expensive war against France and the Kingdom of Sardinia and potential revolution in Hungary, meets Napoleon III, who also worries at the costs of extending the war and fears the effects of Italian nationalism, at Villafranca. By the preliminary treaty signed there, hostilities cease. Lombardy is ceded to the French (who immediately cede it to Sardinia), while the Austrians keep Venetia and the French promise to restore the Central Italian rulers expelled in the course of the war. This brings the Austro-Sardinian War effectively to a close.

August

- August 27 - Edwin Drake drills the first oil well in the United States, near Titusville, Pennsylvania

September

- September 18 - Joshua A. Norton proclaims himself "Emperor of These United States"

October

- October 6 - Thomas Austin takes 24 rabbits and 5 hares to Australia in order to release them there as a game. They will multiply exponentially.
- October 12 - Self-described "Emperor of the United States" Joshua A. Norton 'orders' the U.S. Congress to dissolve.
- October 16 - John Brown raids Harper's Ferry in Virginia, the signal for a general slave rebellion.
- October 18 - Troops under Colonel Robert E. Lee overpower Brown at the Federal arsenal.
- October 26 - The Royal Charter is wrecked on the coast of Anglesey, Wales with 454 dead.

November

- November 1 - The current Cape Lookout, North Carolina, lighthouse was lighted for the first time. Its first-order Fresnel lens can be seen for nineteen miles.
- November 10 - The Treaty of Zurich, reaffirming the terms of Villafranca, brings the Austro-Sardinian War to an official close.
- November 19 - Opera "Genevieve de Brabant", composed by Jacques Offenbach, debuts at the Theatre de Bouffes Parisians in Paris.
- November 24 - British naturalist Charles Darwin publishes The Origin of Species, a book which argues that organisms gradually evolve through natural selection. (It immediately sold out its initial print run.)

December

- December 2 - Militant abolitionist leader John Brown is hanged for his October 16th raid on Harper's Ferry.

Unknown Dates

- The French Navy's La Gloire ("Glory"), the first ocean-going ironclad warship in history, was laid down and commisioned.
- Island of Timor is divided between Portugal and the Netherlands
- Trinity College in Cambridge UK bans Origin of Species
- Paraguay mediates a truce between Buenos Aires government and the Argentinean Confederation
- Charles Blondin crosses Niagara Falls on a tightrope
- Codex Sinaiticus found by Constantin von Tischendorf on his third visit to the monastery of Santa Katerina, on Mount Sinai
- Bernhard Riemann formulates the Riemann hypothesis, one of most important open problems of contemporary mathematics
- Solar flares first observed on the Sun by English astronomer Richard Carrington.
- Brisbane declared the capital of newly-made-separate colony Queensland, Australia
- University of Michigan Law School founded

Births

- Gaston Moch, Secretary of the Esperantist Centra Oficejo and a member of the Lingva Komitato

January-June

- January 11 - Lord George Nathaniel Curzon, British statesman and Viceroy of India (d. 1925)
- January 13 - Karl Bleibtreu, critic (d. 1928)
- January 27 - Wilhelm II of Germany, last Emperor of Germany and King of Prussia (d. 1941)
- February 1 - Victor Herbert, Irish-born composer (d. 1924)
- February 3 - Hugo Junkers, German industrialist and aircraft designer (d. 1935)
- February 6 - Elias Disney, American farmer and father of Walt Disney (d. 1941)
- February 14 - Henry Valentine Knaggs, English physician and author (d. 1954)
- February 16 - George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr., inventor of the Ferris wheel (d. 1896)
- February 19 - Svante Arrhenius, Swedish chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1927)
- February 28 - Florian Cajori, Swiss historian of mathematics (d. 1930)
- March 2 - Sholom Aleichem, Ukrainian Yiddish novelist (d. 1916)
- March 8 - Kenneth Grahame, English author (d. 1932)
- March 26 - Alfred Edward Housman, English poet (d. 1936)
- April 8 - Edmund Husserl, Austrian philosopher (d. 1938)
- May 15 - Pierre Curie, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1906)
- May 22 - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Scottish writer (d. 1930)

July-December

- July 6 - Verner von Heidenstam, Swedish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1940)
- July 22 - Emma Lazarus, American poet (d. 1887)
- August 4 - Knut Hamsun, Norwegian author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1952)
- October 9 - Alfred Dreyfus, French military officer (d. 1935)
- October 18 - Henri Bergson, French philosopher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature (d. 1941)
- October 21 - Francesc Macià, President of the Catalan Generalitat (d. 1933)
- November 19 - Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, Russian composer (d. 1935)
- December 2 - Georges Seurat, French painter (d. 1891)
- December 15 - L. L. Zamenhof, Russo-Polish initiator of Esperanto (d. 1917)
- December 17 - Paul César Helleu, French artist (d. 1927)

Deaths

- April 16 - Alexis de Tocqueville, French historian (b. 1805)
- May 6 - Alexander von Humboldt, German naturalist and geographer (b. 1769)
- July 8 - Oscar I, King of Sweden and Norway (b. 1799)
- August 2 - Horace Mann, American educator and abolitionist (b. 1796)
- September 15 - Isambard Kingdom Brunel, British engineer (b. 1806)
- October 4 - Karl Baedeker, German author and publisher (b. 1801)
- October 22 - Louis Spohr, German violinist and composer (b. 1784)
- November 28 - Washington Irving, American author (b. 1783)
- December 2 - John Brown, American abolitionist (hanged) (b. 1800)
- December 8 - Thomas de Quincey, English writer (b. 1785)
- December 16 - Wilhelm Grimm, German writer (b. 1786)
- Abderrahmane, Sultan of Morocco Category:1850s Category:1859 ko:1859년 ms:1859 simple:1859 th:พ.ศ. 2402

1861

1861 is a common year starting on Tuesday.

Localities to visit include the Morbello commune with activities including hiking, mountain biking, wineries and farmstead bed-and-breakfasts. Born in Alessandria:
- Umberto Eco, writer
- Carlo Carrà, painter, futurist,
- Giovanni Migliara, painter,
- Angelo Morbelli, painter,
- Urbano Rattazzi, statesman of the Risorgimento.

Museums

- The Marengo Battle Museum

External links

- [http://www.comune.alessandria.it/ The official website of the city council]
- [http://en.comuni-italiani.it/006/003/ Guide to Alessandria city] - Information, phone numbers and useful link Category:Towns in Piedmont ja:アレッサンドリア県

Biella

Biella (Latin: Bugella) is a town and comune in the northern Italian region of Piemonte, the capital of the province of the same name, 45°34N 8°04E, 420 m (1378 ft) above sea-level, with 45,500 inhabitants as of the 2001 census. It lies in the foothills of the Alps, in the Bo mountain range near Mt. Mucrone and Camino, an area rich in springs and lakes, the heart of the Biellese Alps irrigated by several mountain torrents: the Elvo river to the west of the town, the Oropa river and the Cervo river to the east. Nearby natural beauties, and notable tourist attractions, include the outlook at Zegna with the ski resort of Bielmonte; Burcina Natural Reserve; and the moors to the south of town. Religious pilgrims make their way to the Sanctuary of Oropa. Biella is an important wool processing and textile center. There is a small airport in the nearby comune of Verrone.

History

Origins

That the first inhabitants of the area were Ligurians and Celts has been ascertained from archaeological finds: they lived near streams and lakes, at first fishermen and hunters, and later, herders. A Ligurian people, the Victimuli, fanned out in the plain of Biella (the Bessa) and exploited gold veins near the Elvo, an activity which continued through the early Middle Ages, and even today panning for gold continues as a local hobby. In the late 1950s Bronze Age — or, according to some, Iron Age — tools and necklaces, attesting to Biella's antiquity, were found in the Burcina Reserve.

Middle Ages

The city's name appears for the first time as Bugella in a document of 826 recording to the donation of Bugella to Count Busone by Louis the Pious, son of Charlemagne), Holy Roman Emperor; a further document of 882 records some land transactions of Charles the Fat in favor of the church of Vercelli. In the 10th century the town was inhabited by Alemanni, Lombards and Franks, who built the first walls as a defense against barbarian invasions. Extant remains from this period include the Lombard Romanesque Baptistry and the adjacent church of S. Stefano, around which the town grew: it is today's cathedral, although the original 5th century building was demolished in 1872. On April 12, 1160, Uguccione, bishop of Vercelli, granted important trade privileges to anyone residing on Piazzo hill, as an incentive to the estt of a place of refuge against the warfare between the Guelphs and Ghibellines of Vercelli: this was the birth of the Borgo del Piazzo, site of the handsome public square, the Piazza Cisterna, and a Palace fronting on it, the doors of which have stone capitals and terracotta ornaments. Bishop Uguccione's castle was destroyed in a revolt in 1377 that led to the subjection of Biella, along with its dependent comuni, to the yoke of the house of Savoy.

Modern Times

In the 14th and 15th centuries the Visconti family competed with Savoy for the possession of the Biella region. The 17th century saw a similar competition between French and Spanish forces, and Biella was actually occupied in 1704; in 1706 Pietro Micca, a Biellese soldier, saved nearby Turin from a siege that would have meant the invasion of Biella by the French as well — but paid for it with his own life. In 1798 Biella was once again occupied by the French, and after the battle of Marengo, Biella was formally annexed by France. The Congress of Vienna returned it to Savoy. In 1859 Biella was besieged by the Austrians but Garibaldi forced an end to the siege, and the town became part of the province of Novara, losing its status as regional capital that it had received in the 17th century from Charles Emanuel of Savoy; it was transferred to the province of Vercelli in 1927. In World War II Biella was the scene of armed resistance. In 1992, the new province of Biella was formed, separating the territory from the north-western sector of the province of Vercelli.

Wool in the life of Biella

In 1245 the statutes of Biella were already referring to the woolworkers' and weavers' guilds: hardly surprising in view of the region's high mountain pastures and copious water supply needed for washing fleece and powering mills. In the 17th and 18th centuries, as elsewhere in Italy, silk was an important industry, and a silk manufacture was built in town in 1695: in 1835, however, the town's textile history came round full circle when the same building was put to use as a wool factory with the introduction of mechanical looms, putting Biella at the forefront of modern improvements in the industry. In recent years (since 1999/2000) a progressively worse crisis in the sector forced many local wool mills to close, since they cannot compete with the extremely low prices of fabric and clothing from China.

External links

- [http://www.comune.biella.it/ Official Site]
- [http://www.atl.biella.it/ ATL]
- [http://www.docbi.it/stradalana.htm The Wool Road]
- [http://www.museodelterritorio.biella.it/flex/FixedPages/IT/Home.php3 Museo del territorio/Ecomusei] Category:Towns in Piedmont ja:ビエッラ

Cuneo

Cuneo (pop. ca. 50,000) is the capital of the Province of Cuneo, Piedmont, Italy. It is located at the foot of the Maritime Alps, on the Stura di Demonte river where it emerges from the Valle Stura.

External link

- [http://www.comune.cuneo.it/ Cuneo homepage (in Italian)]
- [http://www.italianvisits.com/piemonte/cuneo/ ItalianVisits.com]
Category:Towns in Piedmont ja:クーネオ

פרדיננד פורשה

פרדיננד פורשה (3 בספטמבר 1875 - 30 בינואר 1951). היה מהנדס רכב גרמני נולד בווראטיסלביצ'ה, אוסטרו-הונגריה (כיום ברפובליקה הצ'כית). פורשה פיתח, בין היתר, את ה"חיפושית" המקורית ואת אב הטיפוס של הטנק טייגר I. בנו של פרדיננד פורשה הוא פרי פורשה ששמו נקשר למכוניות הספורט "פורשה" אשר בוססו על תכנון הפולקסוואגן. פורשה הראה כשרון מכני כבר מגיל צעיר, ובגיל 23 הצטרף למפעל הכרכרות "Jakob Lohner & Co.", אשר החל בייצור מכוניות בשנת 1896. הרכב הראשון מתוצרתם שנקרא "מערכת לונר-פורשה" היה כרכרה בעלת מנוע בעירה פנימית שהניע מנועים חשמליים שהוצמדו לגלגלים. רכב זה הוצג ב 1900 בתערוכה העולמית בפאריז. בזכות מהירותו הגבוהה, 56 קמ"ש, זכה רכב זה במספר גביעים בתחרויות מהירות באוסטריה. בשנת 1906, חברת אוסטרו-דיימלר שכרה את פורשה כמהנדס הראשי שלה, הדגם המוכר ביותר שהוא תכנן עבורה נודע בכינויו "הנסיך הנרי", של שם המרוץ בו קטף הדגם את כל שלושת המקומות הראשונים והצטיין בעיצובו האווירודינמי ובמנועו בעל 85 כוחות הסוס, הספק גבוה ביותר לאותם זמנים. חברת אוסטרו-דיימלר עסקה בעיקר בפיתוח כלי רכב צבאיים : משאיות, תותחים מתנייעים ומנועי מטוסים, פורשה התמנה בה לתפקיד דירקטור מנהל בשנת 1916 וקיבל דוקטורט של כבוד מאוניברסיטת וינה ב1917. פורשה המשיך לתכנן עבורה גם מכוניות מרוץ שזכו במרוצים רבים, אך בשנת 1923 פרש מאוסטרו-דיימלר עקב חילוקי דעות באשר לאופיין של המכוניות העתידיות שלה. פורשה היה מחוסר עבודה מספר חודשים, אך עד מהרה התמנה למנהל טכני בחברת דיימלר בשטוטגארט, שם גם קיבל דוקטורט של כבוד נוסף ובה המשיך לפתח את מכוניות המרוץ המוצלחות ביותר של שנות ה 20. בשנת 1929 עזב פורשה את דיימלר לטובת שטייר, אך זו הוכרעה בשפל הכלכלי הגדול ופורשה היה מחוסר עבודה שוב. בינואר 1931 ייסד פורשה חברה משלו בשטוטגארט, עם מהנדסים עמם עבד בעבר ועם בנו, פרי פורשה. פורשה החליט לתכנן מכונית חדשה בעצמו ואת הכסף למימון התכנון השיג בהלוואה כנגד ביטוח החיים שלו. חברות שונות הצטרפו בתחילה למימון הפרוייקט, אך נטשו משהסתברו העלויות הגבוהות של העבודה. פורשה הצליח להשיג חוזה רק לבניית שלושה אבות טיפוס, אשר הושלמו בחורף 1936. דיימלר-בנץ בנתה עוד 30 יחידות, במפעל שהוקם לשם כך בעיר חדשה "אוטושטאדט" שמה. העיר, שנקראת כיום וולפסבורג, משמשת עד היום כעיר המטה של קונצרן פולקסווגן. פרדיננד פורשה העביר את תכנון מכוניות המרוץ לבנו, בעודו משתקע בבניית והגדלת המפעלים בוולפסבורג (בין היתר באמצעות עובדי כפייה) ובפרוייקטים נוספים שקיבל מהרייך השלישי, כגון תכנון טנקים, מנועים ואת הפרויקט המפורסם מכולם - המכונית העממית "פולקסוואגן" ("חיפושית"). עם תום מלחמת העולם השנייה התבקש פרדיננד פורשה להמשיך בייצור הפולקסוואגן על ידי שלטונות צרפת, ולהעביר לשם את מפעליו כפיצוי על נזקי המלחמה. חילוקי דעות בממשלת צרפת והתנגדות עזה של יצרני הרכב המקומיים טירפדו תוכנית זו עוד בטרם יושמה. פורשה, פיך (חתנו של פורשה) ובנו של פורשה, פרי, נאסרו כפושעי מלחמה ב-15 בדצמבר 1945. פרי שוחרר אך פיך ופורשה נכלאו ללא משפט בדיז'ון לעשרים חודשים. בעוד פרדיננד בכלא הצרפתי, בנו ניסה להפיח חיים בחברה והחל לתכנן דגם חדש, פורשה 356, הראשונה לשאת את השם "פורשה". החברה עדיין שכנה אז בגמונד, אוסטריה, לשם הועבר המפעל בעקבות הפצצות בנות הברית על שטוטגארט. בניית הפורשה 356 החלה במנסרה ישנה בגמונד, שם יוצרו 49 יחידות, כולן בעבודת יד. פורשה נשכר על ידי פולקסוואגן לייעוץ, וקיבל תמלוגים על כל פולקסוואגן שנבנתה, דבר שאפשר לו לחזור לשטוטגארט ב-1949, שם המשיך את ייצור הפורשה 356 עם גוף פלדה במקום אלומיניום, כפי שנבנה בגמונד. הוזלת העלויות הביאה למכירות מרשימות של 78,000 יחידות במהלך 17 שנות יצורה. בנובמבר 1950 ביקר פורשה בפעם הראשונה לאחר המלחמה במפעלי פולקסוואגן בוולפסבורג, שם כבר יוצרה ה"חיפושית" בייצור המוני, כמה שבועות לאחר מכן פורשה לקה בשבץ ממנו לא החלים עד למותו ב-30 בינואר 1951. פורשה, פרדיננד פורשה ja:フェルディナント・ポルシェ

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