SARDEGNA - Geography and history
Sardinia is the second largest island in the Mediterranean and is located in the centre of the western basin.
The geomorphologic features of the island, which is much older than mainland Italy, make it quite different from the peninsula. History has left its mark on the natural and cultural heritage of the island producing a variety of distinct features.
Much of Sardinia's 24 090 km2 is covered by hills (67.9%) and mountains (13.6%), divided by the broad Campidano plain which stretches from the west coast down to the south coast of the island.
Some 1 900 km long, with 512 km accounted for by the many small islands just off the coast, the entire coastline is marked by a variety of long rocky zones interrupted by small beaches. The mild climate is another attraction for the increasing number of tourists.
Three historic transformations
The first half of the century was marked by heavy emigration, with a third of the present population leaving the island for mainland Italy and elsewhere. At the beginning of the 1960s Sardinia began a process of economic transformation which provided the island with the first real alternatives to what had become a backward pastoral economy.
The arrival of certain large businesses and the shift towards the economic use of environmental resources have been the main sources of income in the last 40 years, with the result that productivity and employment in the primary sector has gradually become less significant. Numerous factors, mostly linked to the specific social and economic structure of the island, have nevertheless curbed any widespread and balanced growth, thus hindering to a large extent the initial ventures based on the policy of 'poles of development'.
More recent events, marked by recession in the two sectors (chemical and mining industries) which are vital for the economy of the island, have further weakened an approach that encouraged the introduction of outside factors instead of exploiting local resources. These resources include a rich environment, comprising natural habitats and valuable archaeological remains, and a range of productive potential (from agriculture to tourism) which could find here the ideal conditions for mutual integration.
Backwardness and rapid development
Sardinia is divided into four provinces: Cagliari, Sassari, Oristano and Nuoro.
Since 2002, a further four provinces have been proposed and accepted: Medio Campidano, Ogliastra, Carbonia?Iglesias, Olbia?Tempio. Their official establishment has not however come into force yet.
The province of Sassari, which has developed an intensive tourist activity in the last twenty years, is the leading province from an economic point of view. Value added pro-capita in 2000 in this province (14.1 thousand euro) is in fact 6% higher than the average regional value (13.3%). The other three provinces, including the regional capital, have suffered for the changes which have taken place in the productive system. The province of Cagliari, in particular, has registered the lowest growth in income pro-capita between 1995 and 2000 (19% compared to 25% at regional level). In this vast area in the south of the region, in fact, the role of the regional capital and the concentration of industrial plants have left less space for alternative activities, which are now those which are expanding most.
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