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Piedmont lies in a peripherical position with respect to the rest of Italy but its relative proximity to the sea and contact with France and Switzerland have, over the centuries, led to the creation of an important commercial transit network which has favoured its present economic development.

This is the largest region of continental Italy, second only to Sicily. Its density of 174 inhabitants per sq km. makes it the fifth most densely populated region in Italy, and slightly under the national average.

The Italian regions which border with Piedmont are Valle d'Aosta to the northwest, Lombardy to the east, Emilia-Romagna to the southeast and Liguria to the south.

History. Piedmont includes almost the entire upper section of the Po River catchment basin, i.e.., the plain above the Ticino, Sesia and Scrivia rivers and the surrounding Apennines and Alps; the upper Dora Baltea basin, part of the Valle d'Aosta, is excluded. Piedmont, however, also claims the Po Valley flanks of the Maritime and Cottian Alps, part of the Graian, Pennine and Lepontine Alps, together with a great part of the Ligurian Apennines of which Langhe and Monferrato hills are a natural continuation.

The Piedmontese Alps rise as mighty massifs which, at some points, soar to over 4,000 m. (Mount Rosa, 4,633 m.; Gran Paradiso, 4,061 m.). The transition from this mountainous region to the plain is marked by a discontinuous belt of morainic high ground (Rivoli and Ivrea amphitheatres, the Vercelli and Novara hills) which does not detract from the impression of clear contrast between the encircling mountains and the plain which in fact lies `at the foot of the mountain'. This plain can be divided into two areas: the upper plain close to the mountain slopes (Cuneo, Mondovì and Saluzzo) and the lower round Novara and Vercelli.

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