Friuli

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Friuli Friûl (Friulian) Friul (Venetian) Furlanija (Slovene) Furlanija (Croatian)
Historical region
Flag of Friuli
Anthem: Incuintri al doman
Friulian language area superposed to the borders of Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Country	Italy
Region	Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Area
• Total	8,240 km2 (3,180 sq mi)
Population
• Total	~800,000–1,000,000
• Density	128/km2 (330/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	English: Friulian Italian: Friulano (man) Italian: Friulana (woman) Friulian: Furlan (man) Friulian: Furlane (woman)
• Summer (DST)	UTC + 1

Friuli (Italian:

.

Names

The name originates from the ancient Roman town of Forum Iulii ("Julius' Forum"), now Cividale del Friuli.

Friuli is bordered on the west by the

region, may also be considered part of historic Friuli.

The mountainous northern part of the region belongs to the

Canin

2,587 metres (8,488 ft), which dominates the plain.

Rivers flowing southwards from the mountains are numerous. The Friulian mountains surround the course of the

.

Friuli covers an area of 8,240 square kilometres (3,180 sq mi), subdivided among the provinces of Udine 4,905 square kilometres (1,894 sq mi), Pordenone 2,178 square kilometres (841 sq mi) and Gorizia 466 square kilometres (180 sq mi). The historical capital and most important city is Udine, which was also the capital of the medieval Patria del Friuli. Other important towns are Pordenone, Gorizia/Nova Gorica, Sacile, Codroipo, Cervignano del Friuli, Cividale del Friuli, Gemona del Friuli, Monfalcone, and Tolmezzo.

The climate of the Friulian plain is mainly

. In the coldest month, January, temperatures vary between approximately 4.5 °C (40.1 °F) in Monfalcone and nearly −5 °C (23 °F) in Passo di Monte Croce Carnico, with intermediate temperatures of 3 °C (37 °F) in Udine and −2 or −3 °C (28 or 27 °F) in Valcanale. Gorizia, a short distance from Udine, enjoys a particularly milder micro-climate with its approximate annual average of 4 °C (39 °F). In the warmest month, July, the temperatures range between 22.5 and 24 °C (72.5–75.2 °F) along the coast and plains and between 14 and 16 °C (57–61 °F) in Val Canale.

Precipitation in Friuli is relatively abundant; the distribution of rainfall varies a great deal during the course of the year. Minimum values in the southern part generally fall between 1,200 and 1,500 mm (47–59 in) (Gorizia over 1,350 mm (53 in) and Udine over 1,400 mm (55 in)), whereas the alpine area's maximum annual rainfall is approximately 3,000 mm (120 in). The Julian Prealps is one of Italy's rainiest regions: Musi receives about 3,300 mm (130 in) of annual precipitation, sometimes even 5000 mm, and can receive 400 mm (16 in) in a single month. In some areas of Friuli, excessive rainfall has caused erosion and the flooding of many rivers. Snow is sparse in the southern plains (3 or 4 snowy days each year in Udine and Pordenone) but falls more consistently further to the north (Val Canale 25 days, Sauris 23 days, and Passo di Monte Croce Carnico 28 days).

The following weatherbox is from Udine, the main city of Friuli.

Friuli, Mandament of Portogruaro included, is inhabited by over 1,000,000 people.

Zona	Population (2005)	Land area (km2)	Population density (inhabitants/km2)
Province of Gorizia	140,681	466	302
Province of Udine	528,246	4,905	108
Province of Pordenone	297,699	2,178	137
Total	966,626	7,549	128

One of the most important demographic phenomena in Friuli was emigration. It began in the final decades of the 19th century and ended in the 1970s. It is estimated that more than a million Friulian people emigrated away over a period of approximately one hundred years. According to the most recent census by AIRE (2005), Friulian émigrés living abroad number 134,936. Of these, 56.0% reside in Europe, 24.0% in South America, 10.3% in North America and 4.7% in Oceania. This data only reflects those Friulians and their descendants who have Italian citizenship. The descendants of Friulians are excluded from the census because they are not Italian citizens. Friulians in the world have supported cultural associations called Fogolârs furlans, of which there are 46 in Italy and 156 in the rest of the world.

In the prehistoric era, Friuli was home to the

.

Beginning from the 2nd century BC, Friuli was colonized by the

Patriarchate of Aquileia

. It ranked among the highest ecclesiastic authorities in Italy from the mid-6th century onward. The lack of security in the Friulian plain, crossroads of all the great barbarian invasions, drove many people to seek shelter on the islands of the lagoons or in fortified hill-villages, causing a generalized depopulation of the more fertile part of the region and its consequent colonization by barbarian gentes.

Middle Ages

After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, Friuli belonged to the kingdom of Odoacer and subsequently to that of Theodoric the Great. The Byzantine reconquest under Justinian I was brief in the region, in 568 it was one of the first provinces conquered by the Lombards, who invaded from Pannonia, and with that, ended the Greek-Byzantine era of the region. The Lombard king Alboin established the Duchy of Friuli, the first Lombard duchy, and granted it to his relative Gisulf I. The capital of the duchy was established at Forum Iulii (Cividale del Friuli), which became the most important city of the area and for where it derived its name.

The duchy of Friuli was from the start one of the most important Lombard duchies. It served as a barrier against the threat of invasion by the

, was born at Cividale and eventually became patriarch of Aquileia.

After the

during his struggles for the throne of Italy between 888 and 924.

The march was transformed under his rule, its territory extended to

, for more than a century.

On 3 April 1077, the

, where he had a magnificent episcopal edifice constructed. Udine was so important that it in time became the institutional capital of Friuli.

Venetian domination to Bourbon restoration

The Patriarchate ended in 1420: surrounded by the powerful states of the Austrian Empire, the Kingdom of Hungary and the Republic of Venice, it was the theatre of a war between Hungary and Venice, and was conquered by the latter. Friuli maintained some form of autonomy, by keeping its own Parliament ruling on the old territory of the Patriarchate, an autonomy not granted to the other cities and provinces submitted to Venice (even Venetian ones); on the other side, it maintained also its feudal nobility, which was able to keep their feudal rights over the land and its inhabitants for some time.

Friuli was the eastern border of the

] These properties in turn would be sold by Venice during the 17th century to raise cash to alleviate its poor financial condition.

Beginning in the 1630s, the Venetian Republic entered a relative decline, due to the enlarging horizon of European markets (reaching now from Asia to Africa to the Americas). Venice's richest families often directed financial resources into unproductive investments (specifically real estate), while there was a loss of competitiveness in industries and services. Friuli was subject to increasing fiscal pressure, and its industries and commercial activities were affected.

According to some historians, the political populism practiced by Venice looked for ways to limit the most oppressive and anachronistic effects of feudalism. Other researchers assert that the Venetian aristocratic government maintained a most oppressive feudal condition in Friuli.^{[citation needed]} These policies were practiced by the Venetian government to ensure the support of the urban and rural population as a counterbalance to the independent tendencies and power of local oligarchies and aristocrats.

An important

), was started in Udine on February 27 by starving Udinesi citizens. They were subsequently joined by the farmers and the revolt spread to the whole territory of Friûl, against the feudal rule of some noble families; some other noble family, like the pro-Venetian Savorgnan, initially supported the revolters. This insurrection was one of the largest in Renaissance Italy and it lasted from 27 February until 1 March, when it ended as Venice dispatched around one hundred cavalry to put down the rebellion. The chiefs of the revolt were executed, but the feudal powers of the Friulian noblemen were reduced.

With the 1516

. The so-called War of Gradisca ended with a return to the status quo.

Beginning in 1516 the Habsburg Empire controlled eastern Friuli, while western and central Friuli was Venetian. In 1797, the year of the Treaty of Campo Formio, this part of the Friuli was surrendered to Austria. For a brief period from 1805 until the Bourbon Restoration, Friuli belonged to the Italic Kingdom.

In 1815, the

) remained under Austria until the end of World War I.

The Ethnographic map of Karl von Czoernig-Czernhausen, issued by the k. u. k. Administration of Statistics in 1855, recorded a total of 401,357 Friulians living in the Austrian Empire. The majority of Friulians (351,805) lived in that part of Friuli that belonged to the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia, the others (49.552) in the Friulian parts of the Austrian Küstenland. Friulians were registered as their own category separate from Italians.

During World War I, Friuli was a theater of battle that had serious consequences for the civilian population, specifically the Battle of Caporetto.

After World War II, the pro-devolution movement gained momentum in 1945. Friuli got entangled in the maze of opposing forces acting in the territory. Yugoslavian Titoists pursued an annexation of Friuli to the rising communist Yugoslavia. By contrast, in 1945, the traditionalist association Patrie tal Friul was founded by Tiziano Tessitori with a view to establishing an autonomous Friuli within Italy.^[6] The draft autonomic project was launched with the support of the Christian Democratic Party.

In January 1947, the poet and filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini went on to found the party Movimiento Popolari Friulano, with the same purpose of devolution. Pasolini opposed a possible Yugoslavian annexation, but at the same time lashed out at those who aimed at using regionalism for their immobilist, "backwards Conservatism".^[7] Pasolini dropped membership in his party after the Christian Democrats came to pull its strings. The Communist Party of Italy opposed devolution, sticking to an Italian centralist agenda.^[8]

Around 350,000 people claim Friulan as their native language, though it is sparsely used in public life.^[9] There are some movements and political parties that advocate a more autonomous, or even an independent Friuli in line with historical borders, such as the Friuli Movement, Front Furlan, Patrie Furlane and Republiche dal Friûl – Parlament furlan.

While standard Italian is the primary official language of the region, several other regional languages and dialects are spoken in Friuli.

Friulian is spoken in the provinces of Udine, Gorizia, and Pordenone.

coast.

In the southeastern part of Friuli, a Venetian transitional dialect is spoken, called Bisiaco, that has influences of both Slovene and Friulian.

German-related dialects (like Rogasaxon) are spoken in several ancient enclaves like Timau, Zahre (Sauris) and Plodn (Sappada).

Only Friulian, Slovenian and German are allowed to be local secondary official languages in their historic areas, but not their related dialects.

Asteroid

See also

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Friuli.

• Autonomous Region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia
• Official regional tourism agency of FVG
• Friulan gastronomy
• FVG international Airport