LIGURIA - Geography and history
Located between the Alps and the Apennines in the north and the Tyrrhenian Sea in the south, Liguria's 5 420 km2 extend through an arc of some 336 km of coastline with an average width of about 22 km.
The mountains bordering the region in the north act as a weather barrier, making the Ligurian climate mild; the region presents a luxuriant, varied and typically mediterranean vegetation. More than 50% of the total surface is covered by woodland. However the lack of space is a major drawback of the mainly mountainous configuration of the region.
The prosperity of the border regions, for which Liguria is a natural outlet to the sea, has led to the construction of numerous marinas along a coastline of incomparable beauty.
An advanced services-based economy but also a region in demographic crisis.
Liguria's main advantage is its geographical location, which makes it a natural transit route for trade with a large industrial area (northern Italy as well as continental Europe).
This explains the development of activities linked to transports (sea shipping, ship broking and insuring, pleasure sailing, cruises, etc.).
The lack of space hampered the development of industry and agriculture, despite some major achievements (large engineering companies, flower growing).
The deep crisis in the 1970s and 1980s of large State-owned industrial groups (steel making, shipbuilding and engineering) led to the creation of a government-assisted economy, but also encouraged the setting up of small high-tech businesses.
Services accounted for about 73% of total employment in 2001 and are by far the principal source of income for Ligurians.
Tourism in particular is a trump card of the Ligurian economy but also subject to sizeable swings.
The demographic structure ? with a constant birth rate, rising mortality (due in part to the ageing of the population) and negligible net immigration which is insufficient to set off the natural deficit ? is one more reason for concern over the future of the region.
An attractive coastline
The population is very unevenly distributed, with some 82% of the total living in the coastal area and about 39% in Genoa alone.
However, over-urbanisation is forcing parts of the population into the immediate hinterland (this holds true even in the area of the Rivieras, where climatic and economic conditions are favourable).
Employment in industry and services is a marked feature of the provinces of Genoa, Savona and La Spezia. These centres exert an agglomeration force throughout the whole region and southern Piedmont as well.
In the province of Imperia there is a large cross-border movement of labour with France.
Apart from flower growing, agriculture is not a major factor in the economy, except in the Piana di Albenga, the Val Fontanabuona and the Val di Magra.
The depopulation of the mountain areas is marked. The weak economic perspectives in these areas force especially younger people to move to the urban centres along the coast.
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