Aosta Valley

The Aosta Valley (Italian: Valle d'Aosta [ˈvalle daˈɔsta]; French: Vallée d'Aoste [vale dɔst] ; Valdôtain: Vâl d'Aoûta [val duta] ; Walser: Augschtalann or Ougstalland; Piedmontese: Val d'Osta), officially the Autonomous Region of Aosta Valley, is a mountainous autonomous region of northwestern Italy. It is bordered by Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France, to the west; by Valais, Switzerland, to the north; and by Piedmont, Italy, to the south and east. The regional capital is Aosta. With a population of 122,554 in an area of 3,260.90 square kilometres (1,259.04 sq mi), it is the smallest, least populous, and least densely populated region of Italy. The province of Aosta having been dissolved in 1945, the Aosta Valley region was the first region of Italy to abolish provincial subdivisions, followed by Friuli-Venezia Giulia in 2017 (where they were reestablished later). Provincial administrative functions are provided by the regional government. The region is divided into 74 municipalities (Italian: comuni, French: communes). Italian and French are the official languages, and the Valdôtain dialect of Franco-Provençal is also officially recognized. Italian is spoken as a mother tongue by 77.29% of the population, Valdôtain by 17.91%, and French by 1.25%. In 2009, reportedly 50.53% of the population could speak all three languages.