Padania
From Free net encyclopedia
Padania is an alternative name for Northern Italy. Its usage has strong political implications, and is associated with the Northern League, an Italian political party.
Contents |
Territory
Image:Padania-Italia.png In the narrowest sense, Padania refers to the valley of the River Po (In Latin, Padus). The term was however used sparingly if at all, since pianura Padana or "val Padana" was preferred in most geography textbooks and in atlases. In this sense, the word "Padania" was created by the influential journalist Gianni Brera, and was used as a matter of course by Indro Montanelli in his books.
Political implications
When the Northern League decided to push for secession of richer Northern Italy from the rest of the country, the League's leader Umberto Bossi gave the region the name Padania. The new "country" had a flag, a national anthem, a "parliament" in Mantua, and held elections (recognized by no one except the Northern League). La Padania is also the name of the Northern League's party newspaper.
While the boundaries of Padania, in this political meaning, are subject to some disagreement, the term, as used by the Northern League, typically refers to all the regions north of the Appennines plus Liguria, Tuscany, Umbria and Marche. While nobody disputes that Italy comprises different and well-individualized sections, whether or not one should be called Padania and should comprise exactly those regions is a controversial, politically-tainted issue. Whereas most League supporters would expect Padania to include Emilia-Romagna and possibly Tuscany, these regions have a long history of support for left-wing parties, and the League has but a negligible presence there. The Northern League has its strongest electoral base in Lombardy (especially Bossi's native Varese province, where the League originated with the name "Lombard League", echoing a 12th-century alliance of Northern Italian city-states that rose against the Germanic Holy Roman Emperor and defeated him), and in Veneto. Outside of the world of Italian politics, however, sociologists at the University of Newcastle, the United Kingdom, found that the "border" between Padania and the rest of Italy does correspond to a boundary in the population's attitudes on civic issues, and linked the difference to the emergence of the free communes after the first millennium AD, which only took place in Northern and Central Italy (today's Padania as defined by the Northern League). The researchers were not concerned with the political significance of the boundary they found—they were very likely unaware of it. By contrast linguists have seen no reason, so far, to group Padania's regions together.
Previous existence of the name
The term Padania was in use in Italy as a geographical definition for the area North of the Appenines, with Appenninia for the area in the South. Nevertheless it was so rare that many people (including Northern Italians) had never heard it and assumed it was made up by the Northern League. The term padano ("Padanian"), previously a neutral adjective for things connected to the river Po, is often used today to indicate people or issues close to the Northern League. A Google search for Padania indicates that most referenced pages are associated with the Northern League in one way or another.
Languages
- See also Dialects of Italy
The dominant language in the area is standard Italian. French, Franco-provençal, Occitan, German, Friulian, Ladin and Slovenian are spoken close to the borders of Italy and officially recognised by the State as minority languages.
The various vernaculars or local languages, generically indicated as "dialetto" (dialect) by their speakers, are not in common use except for closed contexts (families, acquaintances that speak the same vernacular). The various local languages are often not mutually intelligible.
National anthem
Padania is not an independent country, but the Northern League chose the "Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves" from Verdi's Nabucco, Va' pensiero, as its national anthem. The choice was somewhat awkward, as Va' pensiero is a song for Italian unification, whereas the League's objective is exactly the opposite.
Popular support for independence
The Northern League currently controls only 5 of over 100 Italian provinces, namely Sondrio, Varese and Como in Lombardy and Treviso and Vicenza in Veneto. In 2005 regional election they scored only 10% of total popular votes in Northern Italy (15.8% in Lombardy, 14.7% in Veneto, 8.5% in Piedmont, 4.8% in Emilia-Romagna, 4.7% in Liguria, 1.3 in Tuscany% and 0.9% in the Marches, while in 2003 it scored 9.3% in Friuli-Venezia Giulia and 6.1% in Trentino). By that, if a referendum for the independence of Padania (in any of its likely geographic configurations) were to be held, it would likely be voted down.
See also
References
es:Padania fr:Padanie it:Padania nl:Padanië no:Padania pl:Padania fi:Padania