(Toscana), a region in central Italy, on the northwest Italian Peninsula, on the Ligurian and Tyrrhenian seas. Area, 23,000 sq km. Population, 3.5 million (1973).
Tuscany comprises the provinces of Massa e Carrara, Lucca, Pistoia, Florence, Leghorn (Livorno), Pisa, Arezzo, Siena, and Grosseto; Florence is its principal city and economic center. The region includes several small islands, including Elba. Most of the region is mountainous, dominated by the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines (peaks exceeding 2,000 m) and their foothills and by the Apuanian Alps (Monte Pisanino, 1,945 m). Tuscany’s extinct volcanoes, including Monte Amiata (1,734 m), are associated with faults. The coastal lowland of the Maremma consists mainly of drained swamps. Approximately 38 percent of Tuscany is covered by forest.
Tuscany is an economically developed region. Industry employs 47.4 percent of the working population, and agriculture employs 13.1 percent (1970). Minerals and ores mined in the area include cinnabar (near the city of Amiata), iron ore (Elba), brown coal (San Giovanni Valdarno), pyrites (Gavorrano), and marble (Carrara). In 1972, 8 billion kW-hr of electricity was produced, primarily at thermal electric power plants. Industries include metallurgy (mainly in Piombino), machine building (Florence, Pistoia, Massa, Prato, Leghorn), petroleum refining, textiles (Florence, Prato), and the production of chemicals and paper. Over one-half of the agricultural land is sown with wheat and other grains, sugar beets, and tobacco. Approximately one-fifth is devoted to orchards, vineyards, and olive groves, and about one-fifth is meadow and pasture. Swine and sheep are raised. Tuscany’s principal tourist centers are Florence, Pisa, and Siena.
T. A. GALKINA
In ancient times, Tuscany was known as Tuscia or Etruria. In the early third century B.C. it was conquered by the Romans. In the late fifth century A.D. the region was captured by the Ostrogoths, in the sixth century by the Byzantines, and later by the Lombards. At the end of the eighth century Tuscany belonged to Charlemagne, and in the ninth century it became a margravate. At the end of the tenth century it became part of the Holy Roman Empire. The city-states of Florence, Lucca, Siena, Pisa, Arezzo, and Pistoia arose during the 11th and 12th centuries, each with a developed system of trade and handicrafts. In the early 15th century Tuscany was brought under the control of the Medici, the rulers of Florence. In 1569 the Medici became the grand dukes of Tuscany, which embraced the republics of Florence and Siena. In 1737, Tuscany came under the rule of the house of Lorraine, an offshoot of the Austrian Hapsburgs. In 1800, during the Napoleonic Wars, the duchy was occupied by French troops; by the Treaty of Lunéville (1801), the Kingdom of Etruria was formed in Tuscany. In 1807–08, Etruria was annexed by France and remained part of the empire until 1815.
In 1847 the Duchy of Lucca was joined to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. The revolutionary movement, which assumed major proportions in Tuscany in 1848 and 1849, was suppressed by Austrian troops. Popular uprisings during the Revolution of 1859–60 led to the overthrow of Leopold II, grand duke of Tuscany, in 1859. In March 1860 a plebiscite was held; the duchy was dissolved, and Tuscany became part of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which became the Kingdom of Italy in 1861. In 1943, during World War II, Tuscany was occupied by fascist German troops but was liberated in 1944 by the resistance movement.
Tuscany is a major center of the democratic movement in modern Italy; Communists and other leftists receive a significant share of the vote in parliamentary and municipal elections.