Geography of Piedmont

The Geography of Piedmont is that of a territory predominantly mountainous, 43.3%, but yes 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:

Valleys
Valsessera from Cima delle Guardie

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 Orco near Rivarolo - October 2009
The same river near Foglizzo - November 2011

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

NameLengthMean discharge
Ticino280 km350 m³/s
Tanaro276 km123 m³/s
Dora Baltea160 km110 m³/s
Sesia138 km70 m³/s
Toce84 km69.9 m³/s[1]
Stura di Demonte111 km47 m³/s
Bormida154 km40 m³/s
Orco100 km28 m³/s
Stura di Lanzo68.8 km26.1 m³/s[1]
Dora Riparia125 km25 m³/s
Cervo65 km21.9 m³/s[1]
Pellice53 km21.3 m³/s[1]
Agogna140 km16 m³/s
Bormida di Spigno80 km9 m³/s
Malone40 km8.8 m³/s
Sessera35 km7.5m³/s
Soana24 km7.1 m³/s[1]
Belbo86 km6m³/s
Sangone47 km3.9m³/s

Lakes
Lake Orta from Madonna del Sasso

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
    • Lago Sirio 1.4 km²
    • Lago San Michele
    • Lago Nero
    • Lago Pistono
    • Lago di Campagna (or Lago di Cascinette)
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References
  1. AA.VV. "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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