The Aosta Valley (Italian: Valle d'Aosta (official) or Val d'Aosta (usual), French: Vallée d'Aoste (official) or Val d'Aoste (usual), Arpitan: Val d'Outa) is a mountainous semi-autonomous region in north-western Italy. It is bordered by Rhône-Alpes, France to the west, Valais, Switzerland to the north and the region of Piedmont to the south and east.
With an area of 3,263 km2 (1,260 sq mi) and a population of about 130,000, it is the smallest, least populous, and least densely populated region of Italy. It is the only Italian region which has no provinces (the province of Aosta was dissolved in 1945). Provincial administrative functions are provided by the regional government. The region is divided into 74 comuni (communes).
Italian and French are both official, though native population speaks also Valdôtain, a form of Franco-Provençal (Arpitan), as home language.
The regional capital is Aosta.
Read more about Aosta Valley: Geography, History, Economy, Demographics
Famous quotes containing the word valley:
“As I went forth early on a still and frosty morning, the trees looked like airy creatures of darkness caught napping; on this side huddled together, with their gray hairs streaming, in a secluded valley which the sun had not penetrated; on that, hurrying off in Indian file along some watercourse, while the shrubs and grasses, like elves and fairies of the night, sought to hide their diminished heads in the snow.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)