Aosta Valley

Aosta Valley
Valle d'Aosta (Italian)
Vallée d'Aoste (French)
Val d'Outa (Arpitan)
Coat of arms of Aosta Valley
Anthem: Montagnes Valdôtaines
Coordinates: 45°45′N 7°26′E / 45.750°N 7.433°E / 45.750; 7.433
Country Italy
CapitalAosta
Government
 • PresidentRenzo Testolin (UV)
Area
 • Total3,263 km2 (1,260 sq mi)
Population
 (30 October 2012)
 • Total126,933
 • Density39/km2 (100/sq mi)
 • Official languages[1]
Italian
French
DemonymsAostan, Valdostan or Valdotainian[citation needed]
Italian: Valdostano (man)
Italian: Valdostana (woman)
French: Valdôtain (man)
French: Valdôtaine (woman)
Citizenship
 • Italian95%
GDP
 • Total€4.737 billion (2021)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeIT-23
HDI (2021)0.889[4]
very high · 14th of 21
NUTS RegionITC
WebsiteRegione.vda.it
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The Aosta Valley (Italian: Valle d'Aosta [ˈvalle daˈɔsta]; French: Vallée d'Aoste [vä.ˈl̪e.ˈd̪ɔs̪t̪][5]) is a mountainous autonomous region[6] in northwestern Italy. It is bordered by Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France, to the west, Valais, Switzerland, to the north, and by Piedmont, Italy, to the south and east. The regional capital is Aosta.

Covering an area of 3,263 km2 (1,260 sq mi) and with a population of about 128,000, it is the smallest, least populous, and least densely populated region of Italy. The province of Aosta having been dissolved in 1945, the Aosta Valley region was the first region of Italy to abolish provincial subdivisions,[7] followed by Friuli-Venezia Giulia in 2017 (where they were reestablished later). Provincial administrative functions are provided by the regional government. The region is divided into 74 comuni (French: communes).

The official languages are Italian and French; Valdôtain, a dialect of Franco-Provençal, is also officially recognized. Italian is spoken as a mother tongue by 77.29% of the population, Valdôtain by 17.91%, and French by 1.25%. In 2009, reportedly 50.53% of the population could speak all three languages.[8]

  1. ^ "Statut spécial de la Vallee d'Aoste" (in French). Conseil régional de la Vallée d'Aoste. 2001. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  2. ^ "Statistiche demografiche ISTAT" (in Italian). Demo.istat.it. Archived from the original on 25 February 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
  3. ^ Regions and Cities > Regional Statistics > Regional Economy > Regional Gross Domestic Product (Small regions TL3), OECD.Stats. Accessed on 16 November 2018.
  4. ^ "Sub-national HDI – Area Database – Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  5. ^ In Aostan French; French pronunciation: [vä.ˈl̪e.d̪ɑˈɔs̪t̪] in Standard French. Cf. Jean-Marie Pierret (1994). Phonétique historique du français et notions de phonétique générale (in French). Louvain-la-Neuve: Peeters. p. 104.
  6. ^ "Le Statut spécial de la Vallée d'Aoste". 1948. Retrieved 10 July 2017. Articles 1 and 48b of the constitutional law officially assert the region's autonomy.
  7. ^ "Italian Parliament – VI Commission document 2000-07-18 (in Italian)" (PDF).
  8. ^ Decime, R.; Vernetto, G., eds. (2009). Profil de la politique linguistique de la Vallée d'Aoste (in French). Le Château. p. 20.