Umbria

Umbria
Basic data
Capital	Perugia
Provinces	Perugia and Terni
surface	8,456.04 km² ( 16. )
Residents	880,285 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density	104 inhabitants / km²
Website	www.regione.umbria.it
ISO 3166-2	IT-55
president	Catiuscia Marini ( PD )
Relief map of the Umbria region

Umbria ( Italian Umbria ) is a region of Italy that lies between Tuscany , Lazio and the Marches . It covers an area of ​​8,456 km², with 6,334 in the province of Perugia and 2,122 km² in the province of Terni . Umbria has 880,285 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2019), spread over 92 municipalities. The capital is Perugia .

It is the only region in Italy that has neither a sea coast nor a border with foreign countries. At the same time, Umbria is home to the fourth largest lake in Italy, Lake Trasimeno (128 km²), as well as considerably smaller ones such as Lago di Piediluco (10.5 km²) or Lago di Corbara (1.58 km²). The Tiber flows through Umbria, a river that receives almost all the waters in the region; the next longest rivers are the Nera with a length of 116 km, the Chiascio (82 km) and the Topino (77 km) and the Nestore (64 km). Almost three quarters of Umbria consists of hilly landscapes, 29.3% of its area is covered by mountains. The highest mountain is the Cima del Redentore with 2446 m.

In addition to the capital Perugia with over 166,000 inhabitants and Terni with over 111,000, the next largest municipality, Foligno, with over 57,000 inhabitants, is already falling far behind. This is followed by Città di Castello (40,000), Spoleto (over 38,000), Gubbio (more than 32,000), Assisi (over 28,000), Bastia Umbra (just under 22,000), Orvieto (around 21,000), Marsciano (just under 19,000) and Todi (just under 17,000).

The name of the region goes back to the Umbrians , the first people in the area known by name.

geography

Location, extent and limits

Umbria, the only region in Italy that is neither on the sea nor has a border with foreign countries, is located in central Italy and borders the regions of Tuscany in the northwest, Marche in the northeast and Lazio in the south. The mountains account for 29.3% of the total area of ​​8,456 km².

Geology and landscape structure

South ridge of Monte Vettore

The Velino flows into the Nera

Umbria is characterized by extensive mountain ridges with pasture and arable farming, basin landscapes and valleys with intensive agriculture and the extensive mountain ranges of the Umbrian Apennines in the east, which reaches 2476 m in Monte Vettore . The Umbrian Apennines stretches from the Bocca Trabaria to the Forca Canapine, including mountains such as Monte Catria, Pennina and Vettore.

Along the border with the Marche rises a series of mountain ridges, the easternmost of which extends from the Serra di Burano (1020 m) over the Monte Cucco (1566 m) and the Monte Penna (1735 m) to the Valnerina . The highest mountains in this area include Monte Coscerno (1685 m), Monte Patino (1884) and Monte Pozzoni (1904 m).

In the southeast are the Monti Sibillini , which rise over 2000 m. This is where the Monti Sibillini National Park begins , which extends far into the Marche and covers an area of ​​70,000 hectares . The highest of these elevations is the Cima del Redentore with 2448 m. Neighboring are the mountain ranges around Gubbio and further south around Gualdo Tadino and Nocera Umbra . They are remnants of lakes that were filled in in the Quaternary. These include the huge Tiberino Lake, which stretched from Sansepolcro to Terni. Further to the south-west is the Topino valley , from where Monte Subasio rises to 1290 m.

Further south, the Monti di Folignate, then the Spoletino and the Valnerina Ternana join, of which the Monte Brunette (1429 m), the Fionchi (1337 m) and the Solenne (1288 m) are the highest mountains.

To the west of these mountain ranges there is a landscape of hills and plains that contrasts sharply with the alpine regions. The most important valleys are that of the Tiber , which flows through Umbria from Città di Castello to Todi , then the Valle Umbra , both valleys that have long formed the economic backbone of Umbria.

At its edge rise the Monti Martani with the Monte Martano (1094 m), the Torre Maggiore (1121 m), which dominates the Conca Ternana , a vast valley with an area of ​​650 km². To the north of Perugia are the Monti Perugini, which, however, are significantly lower. The Monte Terzio reaches 910 m, the Acuto 926 m.

On the borders with Tuscany and Lazio , a hilly landscape rises from north to south, in which there is also Lake Trasimeno , the fourth largest lake in Italy, then the Val di Chiana romana, the Val di Paglia and part of the Tiber Valley at the foot of the Monti amerino-narnesi.

Hydrography

Umbria has several river systems: the lively upper reaches of the Tiber , the Topino coming from the rugged Apennines , which unites with the Chiascio , which runs through largely uninhabited areas , and the Nera , whose valley ( Valnerina ) is characterized by hilly landscapes. Northwest of the capital Perugia, near the northern border, lies the 128 km² Lake Trasimeno .

Biogeography: flora and fauna, protected areas

Between 2001 and 2011, not only the areas of tillage decreased drastically - the areas with crop rotation were reduced by 8%, that of continuous use without viticulture by 20%, the areas cultivated by vintners by 18, the pasture areas by 31% - but also the amount of pets. The number of cattle and cows fell by 10% and that of sheep by 16%.

Administrative division

The provinces of the Umbria region

The Umbria region includes the following two provinces:

Province or metropolitan city	Capital	ISO	Communities	Population (December 31, 2019)	Area (km²)	Population density (inh / km²)
Perugia	Perugia	IT-PG	59	655.403	6,334.09	103
Terni	Terni	IT-TR	33	224,882	2,127.18	106
Umbria	Perugia	IT-55	92	880.285	8,456.04	104

history

Prehistory and early history

Paleolithic artifacts , which date back around 500,000 to 200,000 years, are collected almost exclusively in the National Archaeological Museum of Umbria in Perugia. Among these are stone tools from the excavations on Monte Peglia, which were made by Neanderthals , whose presence can be proven mainly around Perugia, Norcia and Gubbio. In the older of the two layers on Monte Peglia , which indicate a tropical climate, there were remains of Leptobos etruscus from the bovine family , Ursus etruscus from the bear family , then the wolf species Canis etruscus and Canis arnensis , as well as Homotherium crematidens , one Type of saber-toothed cats . Around Perugia, the open fields around Pila, San Martino in Colle, Badiola, Bosco and San Biagio della Valle are to be mentioned.

Around San Vito in Monte there were traces of Homo sapiens who, who immigrated from Africa and settled in Italy over 40,000 years ago, can only be detected in Umbria mainly in the Epi- Gravettia (around 13,000 to 11,000 BC). The most important remains were found in the caves of Tane del Diavolo.

Tillage and livestock farming came to Italy from the Middle East through immigration. This epoch, the Neolithic or the Neolithic Age, a rural and livestock culture group, dissolved the up to the 7th millennium BC. Chr. Dominant time of the hunters, gatherers and fishermen gradually from. The newcomers brought ceramics along with grain and cattle; The village is also characteristic. From the Neolithic, finds protrude from the underground, labyrinthine complex of the Pozzi della Piana near Orvieto, where between the 6th and 5th millennium BC For religious reasons groups gathered from a wide area.

The Copper Age is hardly documented in Umbria, apart from the grave of San Biagio della Valle. From the Bronze Age , an epoch that was characterized by a strong hierarchical structure of societies, the finds from the Cetona cave should be emphasized.

The first name of the settlement area of ​​the Umbrians , located between Etruria and the Adriatic coast , has been handed down from protohistoric times . The Umbrians were a tribe of the Italians and it was assumed that they lived around 1200 BC. Were immigrated. Cities of the Umbrians were Ameria ( Amelia ), Ariminum ( Rimini ), Tifernum Tiberinum ( Città di Castello ), Asisium ( Assisi ), Iguvium ( Gubbio ), Interamna ( Terni ), Perusia (Perugia), Spoletium ( Spoleto ).

Etruscan

From around 1000 BC Chr. Intensified Etruscan influence. Perusia was around 400 BC. BC Member of the Etruscan League of Twelve Cities .

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  Leptobos etruscus , Florence Archaeological Museum

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  The Perugia stone with Etruscan inscription

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  One of the Iguvinian tablets from the 3rd to 1st centuries BC Chr.

Part of the Roman Empire, Romanization, Christianization

The central papal state around 1430

The Iguvinian tablets from the 3rd to 1st centuries BC, also known as Eugubinian tablets for a time, are considered to be an important monument of the transition from Umbrian to Latin script . BC, which were discovered in Gubbio in 1444. After the Battle of Sentino , in which the Romans defeated the allied Etruscans, Samnites and Gauls-Senones, Umbria was increasingly Romanized. This is reflected, for example, in the disappearance of the Umbrian language and script, but also in the construction of cities and roads. The Umbrian population received 90 BC Chr. The Roman citizenship .

Odoacer, Ostrogoths, Ostrom, Lombards, Charlemagne, Papal States

In the battle of Busta Gallorum in Umbria, the Ostrogoths were defeated by the Eastern Roman army in 552; their king Totila was killed. Subsequently, most of Umbria belonged to the Lombard Duchy of Spoleto , a strip around the Via Flaminia remained with Byzantium ( Exarchate Ravenna ); a smaller part in the north belonged to the Lombard duchy of Tuscia . The areas were conquered by Charlemagne in the 9th century and were afterwards part of the Holy Roman Empire . The Umbrian towns came in the 12th and 13th centuries under increasing Papal control, and since the 14th century belonged to Umbria to the Risorgimento continuously to the Roman Church State .

Part of Italy

In the votes on the question of the Anschluss with Italy, the population voted for the Anschluss on November 4th and 5th, 1860 with 97040 votes in favor of 380 against.

economy

In 2015, the regional gross domestic product per inhabitant, expressed in purchasing power standards , was 85% of the EU-28 average . With a value of 0.889, Umbria ranks 12th among the 20 regions of Italy in the Human Development Index .

Source editions

• Henricus Hubertus Janssen (Ed.): Oscan and Umbrian Inscriptions with a Latin Translation , Leiden: Brill 1949.

literature

• Angela Baldanza, Angela Bertinelli, Roberto Bizzarri, Paolo Monaco, Guido Parisi: Lungo la costa del Mar Tirreno ... due milioni di anni fa , Perugia, undated ( online , PDF)
• Patrizia Argenti: Plio-quaternary mammal fossiliferous sites of Umbria , in: Geologica Romana 37 (2003-2004) 67-78. ( online , PDF)
• Giuliano Valdés: Arte e Storia Dell'Umbria , Bonechi, Florence 1993.
• Antonio Carile : L'Umbria tra Romània e Langobardia , in: XV Congresso Internazionale di Studi sull'alto Medioevo, Spoleto 23-28 ottobre 2000, Umbria cristiana. Dalla diffusione del culto al culto dei santi (secoli IV-X) , Spoleto 2001, pp. 1-22.
• Mario Tosti: Storia dell'Umbria dall'unità ad oggi , 2 vols., Perugia 2014.
• Ariel Toaff: The Jews in Umbria , Vol. 1: 1245-1435 , Vol. 2: 1435-1484 , Vol. 3: 1484-1736 , Brill, 1993.
• Manuela Tascio: Todi. Forma e urbanistica , L'Erma di Bretschneider, Rome 1989.
• Marcella Arca Petrucci, Tonino Uffreduzzi: Aree dismesse e sviluppo locale nella Provincia di Terni , Perugia 2006. ( online , PDF)

Web links

Wiktionary: Umbria  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Commons : Umbria  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Monti Sibillini National Park

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Statistiche demografiche ISTAT. Monthly population statistics of the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica , as of December 31 of 2019.
2. ↑ Andrea Giordano: Vegetation and Land Use , in: Edoardo AC Costantini, Carmelo Dazzi (Ed.): The Soils of Italy , Springer, 2013, pp. 57–92, here: p. 79.
3. ↑ Marcello Piperno : The Monte Peglia lithic industry , in: Quaternaria XVI (1972) 53-65.
4. ↑ Jörg Fisch: The right of self-determination of the peoples or the domestication of an illusion , Beck, Munich 2010, p. 125, "Table 3: The plebiscites in connection with the Italian unification, 1860-1870".
5. ↑ Eurostat. Retrieved April 15, 2018 . 
6. ^ Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab. Retrieved August 12, 2018 . 

Coordinates: 42 ° 59 '  N , 12 ° 34'  E