Geography of Piedmont

The Geography of Piedmont is that of a territory predominantly mountainous, 43.3%, but with extensive areas of hills which represent 30.3% of the territory, and of plains (26.4%).

To the north and to the west Piedmont is surrounded by the Alps, to the south by the Apennines, and to the east by the Po plain.

To the west Piedmont borders with France, to the north with Valle d'Aosta and Switzerland, to the east with Lombardy and Emilia Romagna, and to the south with Liguria.

Piedmont is the second largest of the 20 administrative regions of Italy, after Sicily. It is broadly contiguous with the upper part of the drainage basin of the Po which rises from the slopes of Monviso in the west of the region and is Italy’s largest river. The Po collects all the waters provided within the semicircle of mountains (Alps and Apennines) which surround the region on three sides.

From the highest peaks the land slopes down to hilly areas (not always, though, sometimes there is a brusque transition from the mountains to the plains), and then to the upper, and then the lower Pianura Padana. The boundary between the first and the second is characterised by risorgive, springs typical of the pianura padana which supply fresh water both to the rivers and to a dense network of irrigation canals.

Lago Maggiore and the line of the rivers Ticino and Sesia separate Piedmont from Lombardy.

The countryside, then, is very varied: one passes from the rugged peaks of the massifs of Monte Rosa and of Gran Paradiso (national park), to the damp rice paddies of the Vercellese and Novarese; from the gentle hillsides of the Langhe and of Monferrato to the plains, often polluted and studded with a mixture of farms and industrial concerns.

Orography

Mountains

Monviso, an emblematic mountain of Piedmont

Principal mountains:

Monte Rosa 4634 m
Gran Paradiso 4061 m
Monviso 3841 m
Uia di Ciamarella 3676 m
Monte Leone 3552 m
Rocciamelone 3538 m
Pierre Menue 3505 m
Corno Bianco 3320 m
Punta Ramiere 3303 m
Bric Bouchet 3216 m
Monte Matto 3097 m
Monte Albergian 3041 m
Rocca la Meia 2831 m
Monte Giavino 2766 m
Punta Marguareis 2651 m
Monte Bram 2357 m
Monte Barone 2044 m
Monte Antola 1597 m
Mottarone 1492 m
Monte Musinè 1150 m

Valleys

As Piedmont is bounded to the north and to the west by the Alps, and to the south by the Apennines it is rich in valleys of very varied dimensions. There follows a list of some of the valleys of the region starting at the north of the boundary with Lombardy and proceeding anti-clockwise:

Hydrography

Rivers

The largest river in Piedmont is the Po. Other important rivers, in order of their mean rate of discharge, include:

Name	Length	Mean discharge
Ticino	280 km	350 m³/s
Tanaro	276 km	123 m³/s
Dora Baltea	160 km	110 m³/s
Sesia	138 km	70 m³/s
Toce	84 km	69.9 m³/s^[1]
Stura di Demonte	111 km	47 m³/s
Bormida	154 km	40 m³/s
Orco	100 km	28 m³/s
Stura di Lanzo	68.8 km	26.1 m³/s^[1]
Dora Riparia	125 km	25 m³/s
Cervo	65 km	21.9 m³/s^[1]
Pellice	53 km	21.3 m³/s^[1]
Agogna	140 km	16 m³/s
Bormida di Spigno	80 km	9 m³/s
Malone	40 km	8.8 m³/s
Sessera	35 km	7.5m³/s
Soana	24 km	7.1 m³/s^[1]
Belbo	86 km	6m³/s
Sangone	47 km	3.9m³/s

Lakes

The principal lakes of Piedmont are:

Lago Maggiore 212 km²
Lago d'Orta 18.2 km²
Lago di Viverone 5.8 km²
Lago di Mergozzo 1.85 km²
Lago di Candia 1.52 km²
The five lakes of the Serra di Ivrea [1]
- Lago Sirio 1.4 km²
- Lago San Michele
- Lago Nero
- Lago Pistono
- Lago di Campagna (or Lago di Cascinette)

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e AA.VV. (2004). "Elaborato I.c/7". Piano di Tutela delle Acque - Revisione del 1º luglio 2004; Caratterizzazione bacini Idrografici (PDF). Regione Piemonte. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-25. Retrieved 2012-06-05.

[PTA_al7-1] AA.VV. (2004). "Elaborato I.c/7". Piano di Tutela delle Acque - Revisione del 1º luglio 2004; Caratterizzazione bacini Idrografici (PDF). Regione Piemonte. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-25. Retrieved 2012-06-05.

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