(I) VENETIA PROPER corresponds to the older division, with certain additions amounting to 465 sq.m. in the north, comprises the provinces of Belluno, Padua, Rovigno, Treviso, Udine, Venice, Verona and Vicenza, and has an area of 9,941 sq. miles. Pop. 0880, 2,814,173; (1901) 3,192,897; (1931) 4,123,267. Marble is quarried, especially near Verona. The chief industries are the manufacture of woollens, especially in the province of Vicenza, textiles, cottons, silks, glass, laces, tobacco, straw-plait, paper, beet sugar and hemp, the breeding of silkworms, iron f ounding and working, timber-cutting and shipbuilding. At Mira is a large candle factory. Irrigation is widely spread, and large pumping stations have made extensive schemes of land reclama tion possible. A large hydroelectric plant utilizes the upper waters of the Piave, and there are other plants on other rivers. The cotton plants were wrecked by the war, but now employ about I7,000. The extensive cattle breeding industry also suffered.
The territory differs much in character ; the Po and other smaller rivers, notably the torrential Tagliamento, which fall into the Adriatic, terminate in a huge and continually advancing delta which extends right along the coast, and is liable to inunda tion. The shore lagoons are, however, rendered healthy by the ebb and flow of the tide, which is much more considerable than elsewhere in the Mediterranean. To the north of the Po, at the foot of the mountains, is a fertile territory, while the mountains themselves are not productive. A portion of the Dolomites (q.v.), notably the Val d'Ampezzo, with the tourist centre of Cortina d'Ampezzo, falls into the province of Belluno. To the east come the Carnic and Julian Alps, with extensive and fertile foothills, while the isolated Euganean hills near Padua are of volcanic origin. The density of population varies very considerably, that of the province of Padua being very high; while in 1911 only 53% lived in the towns, no less than 47% were spread over the countryside. There is a main railway line from Milan to Mestre (the junction for Venice) and thence to Trieste by a line near the coast, or by Treviso, Udine and Tarvisio into Aus tria. Another route into Austria, the Brenner, leaves the Milan
Venice line at Verona, which is connected with Bologna (and so with central and southern Italy) by a railway through Nogara, while another line runs from Verona via Mantua to Modena. A main line runs from Bologna to Ferrara, Rovigno and Padua, join ing the Milan-Venice line at the last-named place.
The first inhabitants of the region found shelter in the caves of the Carso (q.v ), in which, as well as on various sites in the Trentino, Neolithic remains have been found; while in the Bronze age positions of natural strength were preferred, commanded by the so-called castellieri—stone enceintes which, to some extent, recall the early citadels of Italy and the nuraghi of Sardinia— many of which were occupied by Roman forts or mediaeval castles. Under the Roman republic the district was inhabited by a va riety of tribes—Celts, Veneti, Raeti, etc. Under Augustus, Venetia and Histria formed the tenth region of Augustus, the latter in cluding the Istrian peninsula as far as the river Arsia, i.e., with the exclusion of the strip along the east coast (Liburnia). It was thus far the largest of the regions of Italy, but possessed com paratively few towns ; though such as there were, with their large territories, acquired considerable power and influence. The easi ness of the Brenner pass and the abundance of communication with the sea led to the rise of such towns as Verona, Padua and Aquileia, and Milan only became more important than any of these when the German attacks on Italy were felt farther west.
When the Roman empire fell the towns were, many of them, destroyed by Attila. For the gradual growth of Venetian su premacy over the whole territory, and for its subsequent history, see VENICE, and for the eastern portion see FRIULI. Among the architectural features may be specially noticed the beautiful country houses of the Venetian nobility. (See G. K. Loukomski, Palladio et les villas des Doges de Venice.) The following are the principal agricultural products for 1927: