Veneto
Region of northeast Italy, comprising the provinces of Belluno, Padua, Treviso, Rovigo, Venice, Verona, and Vicenza; area 18,392 sq km/7,101 sq mi; population (2001 est) 4,490,600. Its capital is Venice, and major towns include Padua, Verona, and Vicenza. Veneto forms part of the north Italian plain, with the delta of the River Po; it includes part of the Alps and Dolomites, and Lake Garda. Products include cereals, fruit, vegetables, wine, tobacco, chemicals, ships, and textiles.
History
Taking its name from the ancient
Veneti people, who settled the region
c. 1000
BC, Venetia was ruled by the Venetian Republic from 1420 to 1797. During this period the nobility built many fine villas and initiated land reclamation schemes. Held briefly by the French, the territory was ceded to Austria in 1797 by the Treaty of Campo Formio, and in 1815 became part of the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia within the Habsburg Empire. In 1866 Venetia was united with Italy following the defeat of Austria.
Physical Veneto comprises two main geographical zones: a northern mountainous and hilly section, including parts of the Carnic Alps and the Dolomites, and the southern fertile Venetian Plain, which becomes partly marshy near the Adriatic coast. The region's chief rivers are the lower Po, the Mincio, the Adige, and the Piave. In the south near Padua are the Euganean Hills, where there are thermal springs. |
Economy Fruit and vegetables are grown around . The main industrial area is Mestre (a suburb of Venice) and nearby Padua. The textile industry is focused on Vicenze; other industrial centres are , Vittorio Veneto, and Bassano del Grappa. There are more than 200 hydroelectric plants in the region. Aside from textiles, manufacturing includes chemicals, steel and metallurgy, oil refining, paper, wine, processed food, and ships. Pyrite, zinc, and lead are mined, and there is natural gas at Polesina. There are artisan glassworks at Murano in Venice, furniture production around , and gold-processing at Vicenza. Tourism is an important and thriving industry, focused mainly on Venice and Cortina d'Ampezzo. |
| Veneto suffered severe flooding in 1966. |
