Aosta Valley

The Aosta Valley is a mountainous autonomous region in northwestern Italy. It is bordered by Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France, to the west, Valais, Switzerland, to the north, and by Piedmont, Italy, to the south and east. The regional capital is Aosta. Covering an area of and with a population of about 128,000, it is the smallest, least populous, and least densely populated region of Italy. The province of Aosta having been dissolved in 1945, the Aosta Valley region was the first region of Italy to abolish provincial subdivisions, followed by Friuli Venezia Giulia in 2017 (where they were reestablished later). Provincial administrative functions are provided by the regional government. The region is divided into 74. The official languages are Italian and French; Valdôtain, a dialect of Franco-Provençal, is also officially recognized. Italian is spoken as a mother tongue by 77.29% of the population, Valdôtain by 17.91%, and French by 1.25%. In 2009, reportedly 50.53% of the population could speak all three languages. Toponymy Aosta Valley is unofficially also referred to as or in Italian and French respectively. Other recognized, though not official toponyms are , or and .