Po Valley
The Po Valley (Italian Po Valley ) is a vast, fertile lowlands in the north of Italy with a surface extent of 50,000 km ². It is named after the river Po, Italy 's largest river, and ranges in Como something Mendrisiotto, the southernmost district of Switzerland.
The plane was built since the Tertiary within the Alpine orogeny by sedimentation of the Alpine rivers in the offshore geological depression, which was a flat land or sea alternately. This so-called Molassetrog is filled in part to several thousand meters deep with sediment.
Mainly extends the Po valley from east to west and is about 400 km long. In width, it measures between 70 and 200 km. In the north and west it is bounded by the Alps and the hills of Monferrato, on the south by the mountains of the Apennines. To the east opens and broadens it to conditions Adriatic. The largest river is now the Po, which flows into a huge delta in the Adriatic Sea.
The Po Valley has always been one of the most fertile and densely populated regions of Italy. Sugar beet, maize, wheat, and particularly of wine, the most cultivated crops. The major 50 years ago rice cultivation has declined sharply.
The climate in the Po valley belongs to the temperate warm climate zone, the transitional seasons are mostly warm and sunny in the summer, temperatures can rise to 38 ° C. However, the level has relatively cool winters Italian standards. Between November and February it can often lead to slight frosts, causing the occurrence of Mediterranean vegetation is limited in much of the region. Often Mediterranean plants alternate with those of the temperate zone of Central Europe from such a large part of the natural forest stand of deciduous trees, Mediterranean sclerophyllous forests ( scrub ) are less common. However, offers Mediterranean and subtropical plant species, such as various types of palm trees often in garden design use. As a result of the climate of tropical fruits are grown instead more potatoes, salad, rice, corn and wheat. The climate of form the Italian lakes, which lie mostly north of the level in the foothills of the Alps, but have a kind of micro climate, which is strongly influenced by the effects of the level and during the winter months is frost-free and relatively mild, so there lush Mediterranean vegetation to is found. In particular, growing citrus fruits are found only very rarely in northern and central Italy.
Politically, the Po Valley is one of the Italian regions of Piedmont, Lombardy, Emilia -Romagna, Veneto and Friuli- Venezia Giulia Region and to a lesser extent the Swiss canton of Ticino.
Cities
Among the largest and most important cities in the Po Valley include (millions of cities in bold):
In Piedmont:
- Turin
- Novara
- Alessandria
- Vercelli
In Lombardy:
In Veneto:
- Padua
- Venice
- Verona
- Vicenza
- Treviso
In Emilia -Romagna: