Friuli-Venezia Giulia is Italy's north-easternmost
region. It covers an area of 7,858 km2 and is the fifth smallest region of the country. It borders
Austria to the north and
Slovenia to the east, the three countries meeting at the
tripoint on the mountain of
Dreiländereck, known as Monte Forno in Italian. To the south, it faces the
Adriatic Sea and to the west the
Veneto region. The region spans a wide variety of climates and landscapes from the mild
Oceanic in the south to
Alpine continental in the north. The total area is subdivided into 42.5% mountainous-alpine terrain in the north, 19.3% is hilly, mostly to the southeast, while the remaining 38.2% comprises the central and coastal plains. highlands Morphologically the region can be subdivided into four main areas. The mountainous area in the north: this part of the region includes
Carnia and the ending section of the
Alps (
Carnic Alps and
Julian Alps), of which the highest peaks exceed 2,700 m
above sea level (
Jôf di Montasio 2,754 m). Its landscapes are characterised by vast pine forests and pastures, mountain lakes (e.g.
Sauris, Fusine, and
Barcis), and numerous streams and small rivers descending from the mountains. The area is also known for its tourist destinations, especially during the winter season (
Monte Zoncolan,
Tarvisio, Sella Nevea, Forni di Sopra and Piancavallo). The hilly area is situated to the south of the mountains and along the central section of the
border with Slovenia. The main product of agriculture in this area is wine, whose quality, especially the white, is known worldwide. The easternmost part of the hilly area is also known as
Slavia Friulana, as it is mostly inhabited by ethnic
Slovenes. The central plains are characterized by poor, arid, and permeable soil. The soil has been made fertile with an extensive irrigation system and through the adoption of modern intensive farming techniques. In this part of the region, most of the agricultural activities are concentrated. The coastal area can be further subdivided into two, western-eastern, subsections separated by the
River Isonzo's estuary. To the west, the coast is shallow and sandy, with numerous tourist resorts and the lagoons of
Grado and
Marano Lagunare. To the east, the coastline rises into cliffs, where the
Karst Plateau meets the Adriatic, all the way to Trieste and Muggia on the border with Slovenia. The Carso has geological features and phenomena such as hollows, cave networks, and underground rivers, which extend inland in the provinces of Trieste and Gorizia, with an altitude ranging between 300m and 600m. The rivers of the region flow from the North and from Slovenia into the
Adriatic. The two main rivers are the
Tagliamento, which flows west–east in its upper part in the
Carnic Alps and then bends into a north–south flow that separates the
Julian Alps from Alpine foothills and the
Isonzo (Slovenian: Soča) which flows from Slovenia into Italy. The
Timavo is an underground river that flows for 38 km from
Slovenia and resurfaces near its mouth north-west of
Duino. The region Friuli-Venezia Giulia has a
temperate climate. However, due to the terrain's diversity, it varies considerably from one area to another. Walled by the
Alps on its northern flank, the region is exposed to air masses from the East and the West. The region receives also the southerly
Sirocco from the Adriatic Sea, which brings in heavy rainfall. Along the coast, the climate is mild and pleasant. Trieste records the smallest temperature differences between winter and summer and between day and night. The climate is
Alpine-continental in the mountainous areas, where, in some locations, the coldest winter temperatures in Italy can often be found. The
Kras plateau has its own weather and climate, influenced, mostly during autumn and winter, by masses of cold air coming from the northeast. These generate a very special feature of the local climate: the north-easterly wind
Bora, which descends onto the
Gulf of Trieste with gusts occasionally exceeding speeds of 150 km/h.
Julian March within the
Kingdom of Italy (1923–1947), with its four provinces: the
Province of Gorizia (blue), the
Province of Trieste (green), the
Province of Fiume (red), the
Province of Pola (yellow) The
Julian March (
Croatian and ), also called Julian Venetia (; ; ; ), is an area of southern
Central Europe which is currently divided among
Croatia,
Italy, and
Slovenia. The term was coined in 1863 by the Italian
linguist Graziadio Isaia Ascoli, a native of the area, to demonstrate that the
Austrian Littoral,
Veneto,
Friuli, and
Trentino (then all part of the
Austrian Empire) shared a common Italian linguistic identity. Ascoli emphasized the
Augustan partition of
Roman Italy at the beginning of the
Empire, when
Venetia et Histria was
Regio X (the Tenth Region). The term was later endorsed by
Italian irredentists, who sought to annex regions in which ethnic Italians made up most (or a substantial portion) of the population: the Austrian Littoral,
Trentino,
Fiume and
Dalmatia. The
Triple Entente promised the regions to Italy in the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in exchange for Italy's joining the
Allied Powers in
World War I. The secret 1915
Treaty of London promised Italy territories largely inhabited by Italians (such as Trentino) in addition to those largely inhabited by
Croats or
Slovenes; the territories housed 421,444 Italians, and about 327,000 ethnic Slovenes. A contemporary Italian autonomous region, bordering on
Slovenia, is named Friuli-Venezia Giulia ("
Friuli and Julian Venetia"). ==Economy==