South Tyrol (German and Ladin: Südtirol, Italian: Sudtirolo), also known by its Italian name Alto Adige, is an autonomous province in northern Italy. It is one of the two autonomous provinces that make up the autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. The province has an area of 7,400 square kilometres (2,857 sq mi) and a total population of 511,750 inhabitants (31.12.2011). Its capital is the city of Bolzano (German: Bozen; Ladin: Balsan or Bulsan).
The majority of the population is of Austro-Bavarian heritage and speaks German. Around a quarter of the population speak Italian, mainly concentrated to the two largest cities (Bolzano and Merano) and a small minority have Ladin as their mother language.
South Tyrol is granted a considerable level of self-government, consisting of a large range of exclusive legislative powers and a fiscal regime that allows the province to retain 90% of most levied taxes.
In the wider context of the European Union, the province is one of the three members of the Euroregion of Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino, which corresponds almost exactly to the historical region of Tyrol.
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