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Industry and Agriculture in Piemonte Italy

Industry, favoured by the availability of electric power, is concentrated mainly in the Provinces of Turin, Novara, Vercelli and in some areas round Alessandria. The most highly developed sector is heavy engineering, led by the automobile industry (Torino, Chivasso) flanked by satellite industries.

The first Piedmontese industries, promoted last century by the House of Savoy, developed over solid traditions of craftsmanship in the textile and garment industries and the manufacture of weapons. It was not easy, however, to make a success of industry. To a lack of raw materials and sources of energy was added the difficulty in communications, exacerbated by the barriers formed by the Alps and Pennines. To make matters worse, with the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, the capital was moved to Florence (1865) and then to Rome (1871), which appeared to relegate Piedmont to a position of peripheral importance.

Towards the end of the century, however, the new method of exploiting Alpine waters by the construction of hydroelectric power stations, gave Piedmont the electricity needed for industrial development: the Alpine circle which, fifty years earlier, had seemed a negative factor, now made an essential contribution to the work of man. In 1899 Fiat was founded; on 19th March 1900 it celebrated the inauguration of the first workshop, which produced 70 cars in its first year. The new century brought the beginning of the automobile era.

Today, also of great importance are the textile, wool (Biella area, lower Valsesia) and cotton (Novara area) industries. Other sectors include metallurgy, steel, chemicals, food, confectionery, paper, printing and publishing, garments and wood.

Business and finance is largely concentrated in Turin, the chief city, and Novara, a town which benefits from its proximity to Milan. In spite of the obstacle of the mountains, rail, road and motorway communications are well developed. The most important rail junction is Turin: linked with France and Switzerland, the railways run mainly towards Milan and Genoa, literally constituting the great lines of the industrial triangle (Milan-Turin-Genoa), the linchpin of the whole Italian economy.

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