Province of L'Aquila

Infobox_ProvinceIT
fullname = Province of L'Aquila
name = L'Aquila
region = Abruzzo
capital = L'Aquila
commune = 108
area = 5,034
population_as_of = (2001)
population = 297,592
populationdensity = 59
vehicle = AQ
postal_code = 67100, 67010, 67012, 67013, 67014, 67015, 67017, 67019, 67020, 67021, 67022, 67023, 67024, 67025, 67026, 67027, 67028, 67029, 67030, 67031, 67032, 67033, 67034, 67035, 67036, 67037, 67038, 67039, 67040, 67041, 67043, 67044, 67045, 67046, 67047, 67048, 67049, 67050, 67051, 67052, 67053, 67054, 67055, 67056, 67057, 67058, 67059, 67060, 67061, 67062, 67063, 67064, 67066, 67067, 67068, 67069
telephone_prefix = 0862, 0863, 0864
ISTAT = 066
president = Stefania Pezzopane

The Province of L'Aquila ("Provincia dell'Aquila") is the largest, most mountainous and least densely populated province of the Abruzzo region of Italy. It comprises about half the landmass of Abruzzo and occupies the western part of the region. It has borders with the provinces of Teramo to the north, Pescara and Chieti to the east, Isernia (in Molise region) to the south and Frosinone, Rome and Rieti (in Lazio region) to the west. Its capital is the city of L'Aquila. The Province of L'Aquila includes the highest mountains of the Apennines (Gran Sasso, Maiella and Velino-Sirente), their highest peak, Corno Grande, the high plain of Campo Imperatore, and Europe's southernmost glacier, the Calderone. The province's major rivers are the Aterno-Pescara, Sangro, Liri, Salto, and the Turano; its major lakes are Lago Scanno and Lago Barrea. It once included the largest lake on the Italian peninsula, Lago Fucino, which was drained in one of the 19th century's largest engineering projects. The lake basin today today a flourishing agricultural area and an important technological district.

Economy and Population

The province is known for its many castles, fortresses and pristine medieval hill towns. The province's two major cities, L'Aquila and Avezzano, experienced rapid economic expansion in the last two decades with the growth of transportation manufactoring, telecommunications, and computer industries. Throughout most of the 20th century, the province's rural areas experienced serious population declines with the near collapse of it pastoral agricultural economy. In recent years with the creation the Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park, the Majella National Park and the Sirente-Velino Regional Park, tourism has boosted the economy of rural L'Aquila and begun to reverse its population decline.

It has an area of 5,034 km², and a total population of 297,592 (2001).

Cities and Towns

There are 108 comunes in all [http://web.archive.org/web/20070807094512/http://www.upinet.it/indicatore.asp?id_statistiche=6]

The largest are:

See also
*Comunes of the Province of L'Aquila

External links

* [http://www.provincia.laquila.it Provincia dell'Aquila Official website]