Tyrol–South Tyrol–Trentino Euroregion

Tyrol–South Tyrol–Trentino Euroregion
The Tyrol–South Tyrol–Trentino Euroregion (dark green) lies immediately to the east of Switzerland (grey).
The Tyrol–South Tyrol–Trentino Euroregion (dark green) lies immediately to the east of Switzerland (grey).
Type Euroregion
Membership
Establishment 1996
Area
 •  Total 26,254 km2
10,137 sq mi
Population
 •  2011 estimate 1,755,186
Detailed map of the Euroregion, formed by the Austrian state of Tyrol and the Italian autonomous provinces of South Tyrol and Trentino.

The Tyrol–South Tyrol–Trentino Euroregion (German: Europaregion Tirol-Südtirol-Trentino; Italian: Euregio Tirolo-Alto Adige-Trentino) is a Euroregion formed by the Austrian State of Tyrol and the Italian provinces of South Tyrol and Trentino. The boundaries of the association correspond to the former Habsburg County of Tyrol, which for centuries shaped life in the Alpine region.[1] Divided after World War I, the region retained much of its cultural integrity by its traditionally strong attachment to the land and a profound desire for self-government on both sides of the border. The long-standing cultural, social and economic ties, as much as the recognition of convergent interests based on its traditional role as transit country and its largely identical environmental conditions in the Central Alps, led to the creation of the Euroregion by the three provinces in 1998.

Cross-border cooperation between the three neighbours covers today many fields, including tourism, traffic, infrastructure, social services and environmental issues in the sensitive central Alps area. In 2001, the joint Alpendeklaration (Alpine declaration), a charter for sustainable development, called for a reconciliation of economic pressures with the wish of the local population to preserve its living environment. A common liaison office was set up in Brussels to foster relations with the EU.

Following a historic meeting between the parliaments of North Tyrol and South Tyrol in 1971, the first in fifty-seven years, the joint meetings were extended twenty years later to include the Trentino. In the 1990s the Austrian federal-state of Vorarlberg, which enjoyed close relations with the region in the past, was granted observer status in the Three Provinces' Parliament (Dreier Landtag). Meetings of the assembly were held at various places of historical importance, such as Innsbruck and the former capital of Tyrol, Merano.

Linguistically, the population in Austrian Tyrol is German-speaking, while the overwhelming majority of the inhabitants of the Trentino is Italian-speaking. In South Tyrol, approximately two-thirds speak German as mother tongue and one-quarter speak Italian.[2] Overall, 62% of the Euroregion are German speakers and 37% Italian speakers. About 1% of the total population of the Euroregion speak Ladin as mother tongue, this group being mainly indigenous to South Tyrol, but also to the Trentino and Belluno.

The Euroregion in numbers as of 31 December 2006:[3]

Region Surface in km² Population (31.12.2011) Population density per km²
Tyrol 12,648 710,042 56.1
South Tyrol 7,400 511,750 69.2
Trentino 6,207 533,394 85.9
Overall 26,255 1,755,186 66.8

See also

References

  1. ↑ Excluding Cortina and Livinallongo
  2. ↑ Oscar Benvenuto (ed.): "South Tyrol in Figures 2008", Provincial Statistics Institute of the Autonomous Province of South Tyrol, Bozen/Bolzano 2007, p. 15, Table 9
  3. ↑ Homepage of Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino: facts and numbers

External links

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