Tuscany

Tuscany () is a region in the center of Italy. It has an area of  and a population of about 3.6 million people (in 2004). The capital is Florence. 

Tuscany is known for its landscapes and its artistic legacy. Six Tuscan localities have been made UNESCO protected sites: the historical center of Florence (1982), the historical center of Siena (1995), the square of the Cathedral of Pisa (1987), the historical center of San Gimignano (1990), the historical center of Pienza (1996) and the Val d'Orcia (2004).

 Geography 
Tuscany borders Emilia-Romagna to the north, Liguria to the north-west, Tyrrhenian Sea to the west, Umbria and Marche to the east, and Lazio to the south-east. The territory is two thirds hilly and one fourth mountainous. The rest is made up of the plains that form the valley of the Arno River.

 Economy 
Tuscany is known for its wines (the most famous of which are Chianti, Morellino di Scansano, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, and Brunello di Montalcino) and has 120 protected regions (nature reserves). Other agricultural products include cattle (particularly the famous "Fiorentina" steak) and the production of olive oil, principally in Lucca.

The subsoil in Tuscany is rich in mineral resources. There are iron ore, copper, mercury and lignite mines, the famous soffioni (fumarole) at Larderello, and the vast marble mines in Versilia. Although its share is falling, agriculture is still important. In the region's inland areas, cereals, potatoes, olives and grapes are grown. The swamplands, which used to be marshy, now produce vegetables, rice, tobacco, beets and sunflowers.TOSCANA - geography and history.  Eurostat.

Tourism is important to the so-called "Cities of Art" (Florence, Arezzo, Lucca, Pisa, Siena, San Gimignano), as well as on the coast and in the isles (Elba).

 Demographics 
In the 1980s and 1990s the region attracted an intense influx of immigrants, in particular from China and Northern Africa. There is also a significant community of British and Americans. As of 2006, the Italian national institute of statistics ISTAT estimated that 215,490 foreign-born immigrants live in Tuscany, about 5.9% of the people in Tuscany.

Towns of Tuscany with a population of 50,000 or more:

 Comune Population (2006 est.) Florence 366,901 Prato 183,823 Livorno 160,534 Arezzo 95,229 Pisa 87,737 Pistoia 85,947 Lucca 84,422 Grosseto 76,330 Massa 69,399 Carrara 65,125 Viareggio 63,389 Sienna 54,147 Arezzo100,455

 Provinces 
 Florence (Firenze) 
 Arezzo
 Grosseto
 Livorno
 Lucca
 Massa-Carrara
 Pisa
 Pistoia
 Prato
 Siena

 Important points for industry in Tuscany 
 Arezzo: goldsmith
 Casentino and Valtiberina: food
 Carrara: (marble on Alpi Apuane)
 Colle di Val d'Elsa: crystal and glass
 Grosseto: craftwork and food
 Empoli and Castelfiorentino: craftwork  
 Livorno: chemist, and petrochemical  Lucca and Capannori: papers and shoes
 Viareggio: flowers
 Orbetello: fish
 Piombino and Follonica: metallurgy
 Pistoia and Pescia: flowers
 Pontedera: metalworking Prato: Textile 
 Rosignano Marittimo: chemist
 Santa Croce sull'Arno: tanning
 Scarlino: chemist
 Sinalunga and Valdichiana: craftwork
 Valdarno superiore: craftwork

 Famous people born in Tuscany 
 Agnolo Gaddi
 Aldo Palazzeschi
 Aldo Montano
 Alessandro Benvenuti
 Ambrogio Lorenzetti
 Amedeo Modigliani
 Amerigo Vespucci
 Andrea Bocelli
 Andrea del Verrocchio
 Andrea della Robbia
 Andrea Pisano
 Angelo Poliziano
 Angiolo Nardi Dei
 Antonio da Filicaja
 Antonio Meucci
 Arnolfo di Cambio
 Baccio da Filicaja
 Baccio D'Agnolo
 Bartolommeo Scala
 Beato Angelico
 Benvenuto Cellini
 Bernardino da Siena
 Carlo Azeglio Ciampi
 Carlo Cassola
 Carlo Collodi
 Carlo Conti
 Castruccio Castracani
 Caterina de' Medici
 Cecco Angiolieri
 Cennino Cennini
 Cinzia TH Torrini
 Cimabue
 Claudio Martini
 Curzio Malaparte
 Daniele Caluri
 Dante Alighieri
 David Lazzaretti
 David Riondino
 Dino Campana
 Don Lorenzo Milani
 Donatello
 Duccio di Buoninsegna
 Elio Toaff
 Ferdinando Morozzi
 Filippo Brunelleschi
 Francesco Campana Francesco Datini
 Francesco Guicciardini
 Francesco Nuti
 Francesco Petrarca
 Franco Zeffirelli
 Galileo Galilei
 Giacomo Puccini
 Gianluigi Buffon
 Gianna Nannini
 Gino Bartali
 Giorgio Panariello
 Giorgio Vasari
 Giosuè Carducci
 Giotto
 Giovanni Boccaccio
 Giovanni Fattori
 Giovanni Gronchi
 Girolamo Savonarola
 Giuseppe Ungaretti
 Giuliano Amato
 Guido Cavalcanti
 Guittone d'Arezzo
 Indro Montanelli
 Jovanotti
 Jury Chechi
 Laura Morante
 Leonardo da Vinci
 Leonardo Fibonacci
 Leonardo Pieraccioni
 Leon Battista Alberti
 Licio Gelli
 Lorenzo de Medici
 Lorenzo Ghiberti
 Lorenzo Monaco
 Luca della Robbia
 Luciano Bianciardi
 Luciano Moggi
 Luigi Boccherini
 Marcello Lippi
 Marco Columbro
 Marco Masini
 Mario Cardinali Mario Cipollini
 Mario Luzi
 Mario Monicelli
 Marsilio Ficino
 Masaccio
 Massimo Bulleri
 Michelangelo
 Mino Maccari
 Niccolò Machiavelli
 Nicola Pisano
 Oriana Fallaci
 Paolo Bettini
 Paolo Hendel
 Paolo Lorenzini
 Paolo Rossi
 Paolo Vallesi
 Paolo Virzì
 pope Gregorio VII
 pope Leone X
 pope Pio II
 Pier Soderini
 Piero della Francesca
 Piero Umiliani
 Pietro Mascagni
 Pontormo
 Pupo
 Renato Fucini
 Riccardo Fogli
 Roberto Benigni
 Roberto Madrigali
 Romano Bilenchi
 Rosso Fiorentino
 Salvatore Sanzo
 Sandro Botticelli
 Santa Caterina da Siena
 Simone Martini
 Stefania Sandrelli
 Telemaco Signorini
 Tiziano Terzani
 Ulisse Dini
 Vasco Pratolini
 Vincenzo da Filicaja
 Vittoria Puccini
 Vittorio Matteucci
 Gianni Calchetti

Related pages
 Tuscan dialect
 Grand Duchy of Tuscany
 History of Tuscany
 Tuscan food

 Other websites 
 Official Site of Regions Tuscany (Italian site) 

References


Category:Wine regions