Liguria
Liguria is a region of north-western Italy; its capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennines mountain range and is roughly coextensive with the former territory of the Republic of Genoa. Liguria is bordered by France to the west, Piedmont to the north, and Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany to the east. It rests on the Ligurian Sea, and has a population of 1,509,908 as of 2025. The region is part of the Alps–Mediterranean Euroregion.
Etymology
The name Liguria predates Latin and is of obscure origin. The Latin adjectives Ligusticum and Liguscus reveal the original root of the name, ligusc-: in the Latin name -sc- was shortened to -s-, and later turned into the -r- of Liguria, according to rhotacism. Compare whence Ligustikḗ λιγυστική. The name derives from the ancient Ligures people, although the territory of this people was much larger than the current administrative region; it included all of North-west Italy south to the Po river, and south-eastern France.Geography
The narrow strip of land is bordered by the sea, the Alps and the Apennine Mountains. Some mountains rise above ; the watershed line runs at an average altitude of about. The highest point of the region is the summit of Monte Saccarello.Liguria is the third smallest Italian region after Aosta Valley and Molise, but is also one of the most densely populated, with a population density of 287 inhabitants/km2, much higher than the national average, and is fourth place after Campania, Lombardy and Lazio. However, there is much difference between inland mountain areas and coastal areas.
The region is crossed east to west by the Ligurian Alps and the Ligurian Apennines that form an interrupted chain, but discontinuous in its morphology, with stretches where the Alpine/Apennine ridge is extremely compact and high aligning very high mountain groups while in other stretches the mountain barrier is not very high and deeply crossed by short valleys and passes that do not reach 500 m above sea level.
File:Valle Trebbia-.jpg|thumb|right|Apennine Mountains and Trebbia river
The winding arched extension goes from Ventimiglia to La Spezia. Of this, are mountainous and are hills. Liguria's natural reserves cover 12% of the entire region, or of land. They are made up of one national reserve, six large parks, two smaller parks and three nature reserves.
The continental shelf is very narrow and so steep it descends almost immediately to considerable depths along its coastline. Except for the Portovenere and Portofino promontories, the coast is generally not very jagged and is often high. At the mouths of the biggest watercourses are small beaches, but there are no deep bays and natural harbours except at Genoa and La Spezia.
The hills lying immediately beyond the coast together with the sea account for a mild climate year-round. Average winter temperatures are and summer temperatures are, which make for a pleasant stay even in the dead of winter. Rainfall can be abundant at times, as mountains very close to the coast create an orographic effect. Genoa and La Spezia can see up to of rain in a year; other areas instead show the normal Mediterranean rainfall of annually.
As of 2023, according to the report on land consumption of the Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, Marche and Liguria hold the Italian record for coastal overbuilding.
Italian Riviera
The Italian Riviera or Ligurian Riviera is the narrow coastal strip in Italy which lies between the Ligurian Sea and the mountain chain formed by the Maritime Alps and the Apennines. Longitudinally it extends from the border with France and the French Riviera near Ventimiglia eastwards to Capo Corvo which marks the eastern end of the Gulf of La Spezia and is close to the regional border between Liguria and Tuscany. The Italian Riviera thus includes nearly all of the coastline of Liguria. Historically the "Riviera" extended further to the west, through what is now French territory as far as Marseille.The Italian Riviera crosses all four Ligurian provinces and their capitals Genoa, Savona, Imperia and La Spezia, with a total length of about 350 km. It is customarily divided into a western section, the Ponente Riviera, and an eastern section, the Levante Riviera, the point of division being the apex of the Ligurian arc at Voltri. It has about 1.6 million inhabitants, and most of the population is concentrated within the coastal area. Its mild climate draws an active tourist trade in the numerous coastal resorts, which include Alassio, Bonassola, Bordighera, Camogli, Cinque Terre, Lerici, Levanto, Noli, Portofino, Porto Venere, Santa Margherita Ligure, Sanremo, San Fruttuoso, and Sestri Levante. It is also known for its historical association with international celebrity and artistic visitors; writers and poets like Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron, Ezra Pound, and Ernest Hemingway were inspired by the beauty and spirit of Liguria.
File:Flickr - …trialsanderrors - La Riviera italienne, travel poster for ENIT, ca. 1920.jpg|thumb|Italian Riviera, travel poster for ENIT,
As a tourist centre, the Italian Riviera benefits from over 300 days of sunshine per year, and is known for its beaches, colourfully painted towns, natural environment, food, and luxury villas and hotels, as well as for its popular resort facilities, major [|yachting] and cruising areas with several marinas, [|festivals], golf courses, sailing, rock climbing and scenic views of centuries old farmhouses and cottages.
Industries are concentrated in and around Genoa, Savona, and along the shores of the Gulf of La Spezia. Genoa and La Spezia are Italy's leading shipyards; La Spezia is Italy's major naval base, and Savona is a major centre of the Italian iron industry. Chemical, textile, and food industries are also important. A number of streets and palaces in the center of Genoa and the Cinque Terre National Park are two of Italy's 58 World Heritage Sites.
The Riviera's centre is Genoa, which divides it into two main sections: the Riviera di Ponente, extending westwards from Genoa to the French border; and the Riviera di Levante between Genoa and Capo Corvo. It is known for its mild climate and its reputation for a relaxed way of life, old fishing ports, and landscapes. It has been a popular destination for travellers and tourists since the time of Byron and Percy Shelley.
Many villages and towns in the area are internationally known, such as Portofino, Bordighera, Lerici and the Cinque Terre. Many villages of Italian Riviera are counted among I Borghi più belli d'Italia. The part of the Riviera di Ponente centred on Savona, is called the Riviera delle Palme ; the part centred on Sanremo, is the Riviera dei Fiori, after the long-established flower growing industry.
History
Prehistory
Evidence of human presence in Liguria dates back to prehistoric times. Near the port of Nice, in Terra Amata, traces of the oldest huts built by nomadic hunters, around 300,000 years ago, have been found. The stratigraphy showed different settlement periods, with the remains of oval huts with a central hearth, chipped pebbles, scrapers and captured animals such as wild boar, turtles, Merk's rhinoceros, southern elephants, aurochs and various birds. Traces of Neanderthal Man have been found near Loano. In the caves of Toirano, signs of frequentation dating back to the end of the Upper Palaeolithic are visible. Remains reminiscent of Cro-Magnon Man have appeared in the Balzi Rossi cave in Ventimiglia. At the Arene Candide there is evidence of Neolithic and epigravettian strata dating between 20,000 and 18,700 years ago, while in the caves along the Pennavaira stream, in the valley of the same name in the Ingauno area, human remains have been found dating back as far as 7,000 BC.Copper begins to be mined from the middle of the 4th millennium BC in Liguria with the Libiola and Monte Loreto mines dated to 3700 BC.
These are the oldest copper mines in the western Mediterranean basin.
From the 2nd millennium B.C., there are records of the presence of Ligurians over a vast territory, corresponding to most of northern Italy.
It is commonly thought that the ancient Ligurians settled on the Mediterranean coastline, divided in several tribes, from the Rhone to the Arno, pushing their presence as far as the Spanish Mediterranean coast to the west and the Tiber to the south-east, colonizing the coasts of major islands such as Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily. Numerous ceramic artefacts remain of them.