Occitan Valleys
The Occitan Valleys (Occitan: Valadas Occitanas, Italian: Valli Occitane) are the part of Occitania (the territory of the Occitan language) within the borders of Italy. It is a mountainous region in the southern Alps. Most of its valleys are oriented eastward and descend toward the plains of Piedmont.
The area has a population of 174,476 inhabitants (July, 2013). Its major towns are Lo Borg Sant Dalmatz (Borgo San Dalmazzo), Buscha (Busca), Boves (Bueves) and Draonier (Dronero).
The Occitan linguistic enclave of La Gàrdia (Guardia Piemontese) in Calabria does not belong to the Occitan Valleys.
Communities with sure Provençal presence before the 482/99 Act
These are the villages where an autochthonous Provençal-speaking community has surely settled and may still speak the language. Around 35% of the population (stats by Enrico Allasino, IRES 2005 and IRES Piemonte no.113/2007) declared to be able to speak or understand the local Provençal language, with various levels of proficiency. By the way Italian and Piemontese are spoken by the majority of the people in the area, and the patois is much influenced by both the other two languages.
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