Premium Featured Accommodation

Population and Economy of Liguria

Here, more than in any other Italian region, the distribution of the population has been conditioned by the morphology of the territory. In fact, 90% of the inhabitants live in the coastal towns which, especially on the Riviera di Ponente (western part), line the coast almost without interruption. The hilly and mountainous inland area contrasts sharply with the populous littoral, and is characterized by progressive abandonment of agricultural activities, with consequent depopulation, especially at altitudes above 1,000 m.

In recent decades, there has been continuous infraregional migration towards the coasts, where industry and in particular the service industries (tourism, transport and other services) have provided scope for increased earnings.

In the nineteen fifties and sixties Genoa, in particular, attracted an influx of workers from the bordering regions and from the south. Apart from the chief provincial towns (Genoa has two fifths of the region's population), the important towns are Sanremo, Ventimiglia and Albenga on the Riviera di Ponente (the western Riviera) and Sestri Levante, Rapallo and Chiavari on the Riviera di Levante (the eastern).

The Ligurian dialect, common to the whole region though with differing shades of meaning near the Piedmont and Tuscany boundaries, belongs to the Italo-Celtic dialects of Northern Italy.

With Piedmont and Lombardy, Liguria is a pole of the industrial triangle which led expansion of the whole Italian economy after the war, and still enjoys a characteristically high standard of living, confirmed by statistics; however, a certain deterioration of the environment has been caused by abandonment of the mountain areas, as well as by excessive concentration of industrial plants in certain districts. Badly planned urban growth, and construction for the tourist industry, frequently motivated by speculation, have had a negative effect on the environment.

Articles