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Ligura region Italy The territory of the region is a long, narrow coastline on the border with France, around the Genoa Gulf, and, thanks to its position, enjoys a wonderfully mild climate and a picturesque landscape, with a mountainous hinterland, constellated of medieval boroughs among a rich Mediterranean vegetation. The coast is divided into two very different sectors: the eastern side, called Riviera di Levante, is full of cliffs over the sea, with very beautiful landscapes like Portofino and the Cinque Terre, while the western part, the Riviera di Ponente, is all bays and beaches. Liguria is covered with forests of chestnut trees, oaks, beech trees, and a wealth of flowers, for which the region is the main center in Italy. There is some agricultural activity, mostly olive trees and vineyards, though the main resource of the region is undoubtedly tourism and trade through the ports, especially Genoa.

The Provinces of Liguria: Province of Genova (GE), Province of Imperia (IM), Province of La Spezia (SP), Province of Savona (SV)

	Origin of the Name
	Reliefs - Passes - Coasts - Islands
	Landscape
	Agriculture - Stock-Farm - Fishing
	Industry - Tourism
	Position and Frontier
	Rivers - Lakes
	Climate
	Population
	Communication

Origin of the name:
2000 years ago the comprehensive region of the actual Piedmont and the Lombardy were already inhabited by the Liguris. Also Torino (from the Latin ‘August Taurinorum ') belonged to Liguria which was under the control of the Romans.

The coast Ligure is divided into: the West coast from Genoa entending further westward and the Rising Coast  from Genoa and extending eastward.   The west coast is formed by a number of rocky inlets, rocky promontories and by narrow and sandy beaches, while in the east are there are promontories with are thicker and lean more. More distant from the coast we find the few islands of which are more notable are the island Gallinara, the island Bergeggi, the islands of Palmaria and those of Tito and Tinetto.

Landscape:
A big part of the territory is mountainous and hilly, dug from spacious and sinuous valleys until they go down into the brief band of coastal lowland. The mountainous zone introduces itself arid and deprived of vegetation. In the zones of country there are a few isolated houses. The urban agglomerations are built very distant from each other, often above to the big hills. Even if the Region is bathed from two seas, great harbors don't exist, and therefore this area lacks big urban centers.

Agriculture - Stock-farm- Fishing:
The formation of the ground limits a lot of agricultural activity, the very narrow cultivable part has already been used by the industrial establishments and by tourist fittings. There is a favorable climate, that allows some narrow but very profitable crops such as the cultivation of flowers,ornamental plants, fruit and vegetables. The most diffuse products are: tomatoes, artichokes, asparaguses, fish, apricots especially in the plain of Albenga, oil in Oneglia, wine in the Five Earths and in the Imperia zone of . All these products are very limited and they don't constitute source of profit for the Region. Even if the whole population lives in the coast, fishing has been of little importance in the economy of Liguria, because of the composition of the backdrops in some coasts, that immediately fall to forbidden depths, for the few types of fish that can be found, such as  Sardinians, clearances and anchovies.

Position and Frontier:
Liguria is found in the slope of the tirrenico Alps, Marittime and Appennino Ligure; it has a conformation of a narrow arc that forms the Gulf of Genoa. It borders to north with Lombardy and Emilia Romagna, to east with Tuscany, to south it is bathed from the Ligure Sea and to west it borders with France.

Rivers - Lakes:
The rivers of Liguria are above of torrential character. The principal are Roja that begins in France and leads in the press of Ventimiglia,and Impero which flows to Oneglia,  and Arroscia that flows to Albenga, Letimbro in the zone in Savona. The river Vara is the longest of and meets with Magra in Tuscany. Also notible are Tanaro, Bormida and Scrivia that are born from Appennino Ligure and meet in Po. The same is for Trebbia and Staffora.

Climate:
The climate is mild thanks to the sea breezes that refresh in summer and mitigate in winter and to the mountainous chains that protect the coast from northern colds. This climate is ideal for an evergreen vegetation as the maritime pine, the ulivo, the palms, the cypresses and the laurel.

Population:
Although all mountainous, this is not earth of mountaineers, but of dealers and sailors. Liguria is densely a populated region, but the greatest part of it resides along the coast, where the principal cities rise.  Half of the population is concentrated in Genoa.

Communication:
The railway net is one of the points of strength of the communications of Liguria; it connects all the clearings of central Italy, southern from Florence and further north that arrive from Milan going toward the Blue Coast in France. Along the coast is the street Aurelia, built by Romans to reach Gallia, while parallel to Aurelia the highway that reaches her Spezia and colleague Sestri  Levante-Genova-Savona-Ventimiglia which then continue in the French territory from Pisa races. There are other highways that connect Genoa to Milan, Savona with Turin and Spezia to Parma. From Genoa there are the principal lines of a ships port for Sardinia and the harbors of the countries of Mediterranean. The principal airport is situated in Genoa-Sestri.

Liguria borders France to the west, Piedmont to the north, and Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany to the east. It lies on the Ligurian Sea. The coastal strip forms the Italian Riviera; further inland are the Ligurian Alps, on the west, and the Ligurian Apennines on the east.

It is noticeable that, despite the high population density, woods cover half of the total area. The Ligurian coast enjoys a typical mediterranean climate, compared to the semi-continental climate of the Po valley to the north; in January, Genoa records an average temperature of about 8-10°C, with no frost, which can occur only in the mountainous interior.

Summer averages about 25-30°C. Rainfall can be very abundant at times; mountains very close to the coast create an orographic effect, so Genoa can see up to 2000 mm of rain in a year; other areas instead show the normal values of the Mediterranean area (500-800 mm).

Liguria is divided into four provinces:

• Genoa (Genova)
• Imperia
• La Spezia
• Savona

Occupied by the Romans in the 3rd century BC, Liguria belonged with Piemonte to the Decima Regio of the Roman Empire, then in the early 4th century AD was united to Emilia.
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire it was conquered by the Byzantines who named it Provincia Maritima Italorum and then in the early 7th century by the Lombards, followed one century later by the Franks, who divided it into 3 feudal territories called Arduinica (in the west), Aleramica (in the center) and Obertenga (in the east), then was subsequently further divided into a number of fiefdoms such as Cavi, Lavagna, Savona, Ventimiglia, Nice, Genoa.

 With the rise in power of the Communes against the feudal lords, very soon Genoa acquired the supremacy in the region, and became a powerful maritime republic, often at wars with other sea-trading centers like Savona and Venice. In the following century there were periods of independence followed by darker periods of foreign occupation, as under the Visconti of Milan.

The Republic of Genoa was an important ally of Napoleon, and suffered a blockade by the English fleet in 1805. For this reason it lost its independence in 1825, when the Congress of Vienna annexed the whole of Liguria to the Kingdom of Sardinia, under the Savoy family. The history of the region, always dependent on the sea, saw since mid-1800 a never-ending exodus of hundreds of thousands of Italian emigrants from the port of Genoa to destinations overseas.

LIGURIA REGION TRAVEL GUIDE BEST WEBSITES REVIEWS AND INFORMATIONS

Regione Liguria - sito ufficiale official website of Liguria region Italy.