Tuscany ( ) is a region in Italy. It has an area of 22,990 km² and a population of about 3.6 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence.

Tuscany is known for its landscapes and its artistic legacy. Six Tuscan localities have been UNESCO protected sites: the historical center of Florence (1982), the historical center of Siena (1995), the square of the Cathedral of Pisa (1987), the historical center of San Gimignano (1990), the historical center of Pienza (1996) and the Val d'Orcia (2004).

Geography

Tuscany is a region of Central Italy, bordering Emilia-Romagna to the north, Liguria to the north-west, Tyrrhenian Sea to the west, Umbria and Marche to the east, Lazio to the south-east. The territory is two thirds hilly and one fourth mountainous. The remainder is constituted of the plains that form the valley of the Arno River.

Tuscany is divided into ten provinces:

• Arezzo (AR)
• Florence (Firenze) (FI)
• Grosseto (GR)
• Province of Livorno (LI)
• Lucca (LU)
• Massa-Carrara (MS)
• Pisa (PI)
• Pistoia (PT)
• Prato (PO)
• Siena (SI)

History

main: History of Tuscany

Apennine and Villanovan cultures.

main: Villanovan culture The pre-Etruscan history of the area in the late Bronze and Iron Ages parallels that of the early Greeks. The Tuscan area was inhabited by peoples of the so-called Apennine culture in the late second millennium BC (roughly 1350–1150 BC) who had trading relationships with the Minoan and Mycenaean civilisations in the Aegean Sea. Following this the Villanovan culture (1100–700 BC) came about which saw Tuscany, and the rest of Etruria, taken over by chiefdoms (as was also the case at this time in France and the Aegean after the collapse of Mycenae and Troy). City-states developed in the late Villanovan (again paralleling Greece and the Aegean) before "Orientalization" occurred and the Etruscan civilisation rose.

Etruscans

main: Etruscan civilization

The Etruscans were the first major civilization in this region of Italy; large enough to lay down a transport infrastructure, implement agriculture and mining, and produce vivid art. The people who formed the civilization lived in the area (called Etruria) well into prehistory. The civilisation grew to fill the area between the rivers Arno and Tiber from the eighth century, reaching their peak during the seventh and sixth centuries BC, and finally ceded all power and territory to the Romans by the first century. Throughout their existence, they lost territory to the surrounding civilisations of Magna Graecia, Carthage and Gaul. Despite being described as distinct in its manners and customs by contemporary Greeks, the cultures of Greece, and later Rome, influenced the civilisation to a great extent. One of the reasons for its eventual demise was this increasing lack of cultural distinction, including the adoption of the Etruscan upper class by the Romans.