Observatory - UMBRIA

Territorial surface	ha 845.604
Mountain	ha 247.602
Hill	ha 598.002
Plain	ha 0
Urbanised surface area	ha 36.401
Resident population	ab 825.826
Centralised population	ab 669.120
Rural population	ab 156.706

Situated in central Italy, at a glance Umbria seems like a predominantly mountainous and hilly internal region.
As well as the two main river valleys (the Tiber Valley and the Umbria Valley)  which intersect by converging in the heart of the region, in correspondence to the most densely anthropised area of Perugia, and more or less extensive intermontane basins, where urbanisation is considerable (Terni, Gualdo, Gubbio), a vast aqueous surface area (Trasimeno), unique karst plateaux (Colfiorito, Castelluccio) and volcanic ice shelves (Orvieto), open out among densely cultivated hilly amphitheatres or among extremely natural mountain elevations (Valnerina, Sibillines, Mount Cucco).

As a consequence,  an unexpectedly changeable landscape unfolds in the region, shaping environmental and settlement contexts moulded in different ways by the actions of man: areas of landscape which, even though they preserve testimonies or traces of the Medieval era, have acquired a specific historical-social identity, and which in many cases blend into the territories of the bordering regions, making Umbria a region of "transition" and "contact"  (H. Desplanques, 1969).

In order to grasp their peculiar characteristics, the most representative aspects of both the physical and the historical-cultural resources, we can observe them from a few significant points of view. The proposed panoramic views offer us a global vision of the characterising and identifying factors, while, with a more in-depth examination, the salient issues and processes which are in progress are highlighted.