Piedmont

/peed"mont/, n.

1. a plateau between the coastal plain and the Appalachian Mountains, including parts of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama.

2. Italian, Piemonte. a region in NW Italy. 4,540,822; 11,335 sq. mi. (29,360 sq. km).

3. a city in W California, near Oakland. 10,498.

4. (l.c.) a district lying along or near the foot of a mountain range.

adj.

5. (l.c.) lying along or near the foot of a mountain range.

[ < It Piemonte lit., foothill]

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I

Geographic region, eastern U.S. Lying between the Appalachian Mountains and the Atlantic coastal plain, it is about 600 mi (950 km) long and stretches between the Hudson River and central Alabama.

A relatively low, rolling plateau crossed by many rivers, it is a fertile agricultural region.

II

Italian Piemonte

Autonomous region (pop., 2001 prelim.: 4,166,442), northwestern Italy.

With its capital at Turin, Piedmont borders France and Switzerland; it has an area of 9,807 sq mi (25,399 sq km). In Roman times its passes connected Italy with the transalpine provinces of Gaul. In the Middle Ages the house of Savoy was the region's most important power. It was a centre during the 19th-century Risorgimento that united Italy. Victor Emmanuel II, originally king of Piedmont and Sardinia, became modern Italy's first king in 1861. Surrounded by mountains, Piedmont is centred on the Po River valley, which contains some of Italy's best farmland, producing wheat, rice, and wines. Its hydroelectric plants supply energy for much of northern Italy.

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▪ region, Italy

Italian  Piemonte,  

      regione, northwestern Italy, comprising the provincie of Alessandria, Asti, Biella, Cuneo, Novara, Torino, Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, and Vercelli.

      To the south, west, and north Piedmont is surrounded by the vast arc of the Ligurian Apennines and the Maritime, Cottian, Graian, and Pennine Alps. The core of Piedmont is the Po River valley, which lies open to the east and consists of some of the best farmlands in Italy. The name piedmont (at the foot of a mountain) has become a term generally applied to such a region. South of the Po River are the low and intensively cultivated hills of Monferrato and of Langhe. In the foothills of the Alps are Lakes Maggiore and Orta. The Po and its tributaries, the Dora Baltea, Dora Riparia, Sesia, Tanaro, and Scrivia, provide the area with ample water for agriculture.

      In Roman times Piedmont was important because its passes connected Italy with the transalpine provinces of Gaul. After periods of Lombard and Frankish rule, the house of Savoy (Savoy, House of) emerged as the most important feudatory of northwestern Italy. This dynasty first became powerful as successor to the marquesses of Ivrea and of Turin, but after 1400 Savoy's control of both slopes of the Alps, ruling over what is now French Savoie and over Piedmont, gave it undisputed sovereignty over much of the region. After 1700 practically all of Piedmont passed under Savoyard domination, and the addition of Sardinia and its territories provided still wider interests. (See Sardinia.) During the Risorgimento (movement for Italian independence), Piedmont led the attempts of 1848, 1859, and 1866 to unite all Italy; and Victor Emmanuel II, originally king of Piedmont and Sardinia, became modern Italy's first king in 1861.

      The Alpine arc of Piedmont plays a vital part in the power production of the region and of northern Italy as a whole; the region's hydroelectric plants supply energy for industry, transportation, and domestic use. The forests provide lumber, and the Alpine and sub-Alpine meadows afford excellent pasture for cattle as the base of a prosperous dairy industry. The lowlands produce wheat and rice, vegetables and fruit, and milk and cheese. The hills south of the Po River are noted for the production of some of Italy's highest-quality wines, both of the sparkling (Asti) and still (Barbera) varieties. Piedmont forms part of the great industrial triangle of northern Italy (Turin-Genoa-Milan (Turin)), and its manufactures are widely diversified. Turin, the capital, largest city, and leading industrial centre, is the site of one of the largest automobile plants in Europe, as well as of printing, textile, and machine industries. Ivrea, northeast of Turin, is the headquarters of one of Europe's leading makers of office machinery. Textiles, chemicals, and glass are among the other important Piedmontese industries. The principal rail connection between France and Italy, the Turin–Col du Mont Cenis ( Mount Cenis Tunnel)–Paris line, passes through Piedmont, while to the north the Simplon Tunnel leads to Switzerland. An excellent network of roads and expressways ties all parts of the region closely together. Genoa, easily reached from Piedmont, is the region's port. Developments in the late 20th century included an all-weather road between France and Italy, passing through a 7.3 mile (11.7 kilometre) tunnel under Mont Blanc and thence through the Valle d'Aosta to Turin and Milan. Area 9,807 square miles (25,399 square km). Pop. (2006 est.) 4,341,733.

▪ region, United States

      geographic region in the eastern United States, running some 600 miles (950 km) between New Jersey (north) and Alabama (south) and lying between the Appalachian Mountains (west) and the Atlantic Coastal Plain (east). It comprises a relatively low rolling plateau (from 300 to 1,800 feet [90 to 550 m]) cut by many rivers and is a fertile agricultural region. Cotton is the most important crop in the southern areas, while tobacco and fruit predominate in the north.

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