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GEOGRAPHY
Political Geography The Valle d’Aosta, situated in the extreme North-West of Italy, is also its smallest region (3.263 km2, around 1.1% of Italy’s area) and its least populated (119.500 inhabitants, around 0.19% of the Italian national population); moreover it has the peculiarity of consisting in a single province (Aosta). The 50% of Valle d’Aostan borders are with France (in the West) and Switzerland (in the North), whilst the other 50% are with Piedmont (provinces of Turin, Biella and Vercelli).
Physical Geography The map of the Valle d’Aosta vaguely look like a fish bone: it is comprised of a central valley with numerous lateral valleys running into it (of which Val di Cogne, Val d’Ayas and Val di Gressoney are the most important). The U-shaped cross profile of the valleys, and the numerous moraines, are clear indicators of their glacial origins. The Valle d’Aosta is completely surrounded by mountains: for the whole of its length it separates the Pennine Alps (in the North and East on the left orographic side of the Dora Baltea) from the Graian Alps (in the South and West, on the right orographic side of the Dora Baltea). Following the Pennine Alps in the North, along the Valais Canton’s border, we discover, in sequence, the Grand Combin massif, the Weisshorn and Cervino Alps [4.478 m] and the Monte Rosa massif [Punta Dufour: 4.634 m], whilst in the East, along the watershed with the province of Biella, we find the Biellese Alps. Continuing along the Graian Alps, in the South, along the watershed with the province of Turin, we find the Grand Paradis massif [4.061 m], whilst to the West, along the French border, we find the Mont Blanc massif [4810 m]. Thanks to a network of footpaths, it is possible to go on foot along the whole natural perimeter of the Valle d’Aosta.
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Sito ufficiale per il turismo -