Province of Massa-Carrara

Province of Massa-Carrara
Province
The village of Bibola south of Aulla
Flag Coat of arms
Map highlighting the location of the province of Massa and Carrara in Italy
Coordinates: 44.3°N 10°E / 44.3; 10
Country	Italy
Region	Toscana
Capital(s)	Massa
Comuni	17
Government
• President	Gianni Lorenzetti
Area
• Total	1,157 km2 (447 sq mi)
Population  (30 June 2017)
• Total	195,832
• Density	170/km2 (440/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	54100
Telephone prefix	0585
Vehicle registration	MS
ISTAT	045
Website	Official website

The province of Massa-Carrara (Italian: provincia di Massa-Carrara) is a province in the Tuscany region of central Italy. It is named after the provincial capital Massa, and Carrara, the other main town in the province.

History

Historical map of provinces of Massa, Lucca, Pisa and Livorno (1896).

The province of "Massa e Carrara" was born in 1859 from the separation of the Lunigiana and the Garfagnana from the Duchy of Modena. Originally it was composed of three circondari: I° "Circondario of Massa and Carrara" (a group of seven districts divided in 14 municipalities), II° "Circondario" of Castelnuovo Garfagnana (four districts divided in 17 municipalities), III° "Circondario" of Pontremoli (three districts divided into six municipalities).

Until the census of 1861, the province appears as part of Compartimento territorial Modena, Reggio and Massa, but since the census of the population of 1871 it has been counted as part of Tuscany. Later, with the "Regio Decreto n. 1913 of September 2, 1923", the municipalities of Calice al Cornoviglio and Rocchetta Vara were detached from the province and added to the new province of La Spezia. In the same period ("Regio Decreto n.2490 of November 9, 1923") the 17 municipalities of the "Circondario" Castelnuovo Garfagnana were removed from Emilia and assigned to the province of Lucca, in order to compensate for the passage to the new province of Pistoia of all the municipalities of the Val di Nievole.

The province of Massa and Carrara was left crippled, waiting for a reorganization. In 1938, the municipalities of Carrara, Massa, and Montignoso joined and became the municipality of Apuania. In the same year, the industrial zone Apuana was instituted, including in relative Consortium C.Z.I.The municipalities of neighboring Versilia and the province assumed the name of a province of Apuania. In 1946, with decree Lieutenant one (Umberto II of Savoia) the new municipality of Apuania was formed, and the province (for error and/or historical ignorance) resumptions the denomination does not date from 1859 when it was "Massa and Carrara" but Massa. This was the name that had been designated to the city of Massa or Massa of Carrara from 1700 until the formation of the Kingdom of Italy (1860), to distinguish it from other homonymous cities.

In 2009, both decrees of 1938 and 1946 were abolished, restoring the old name.

Geography and administration

The province covers an area of 1,157 square kilometres (447 sq mi) and a total population of about 200,000. There are 17 comuni (singular: comune) in the province.

Government

List of presidents of the province of Massa and Carrara

	President	Term start	Term end	Party
	Costantino Cirelli	1980	1985	Italian Communist Party
	Ermanno Di Casale	1987	1990	Italian Socialist Party
	Amedeo Boiardi	1990	1994	Italian Socialist Party
	Franco Gussoni	1994	1998	Italian People's Party Civic List
		1998	2003
	Osvaldo Angeli	2003	2008	Democrats of the Left Democratic Party
		2008	2013
	Narciso Buffoni	2014	2016	Democratic Party
	Gianni Lorenzetti	2016	Incumbent	Democratic Party

Economy

The province's economical relevance, once mainly based on the production of the famous white Carrara marble, has now shifted to the importation and fabrication of blocks of marble and granite from all over the world.

See also

• Carrara
• Duchy of Massa and Carrara
• Lunigiana
• Marble
• Massa
• Ducal Palace of Massa, home of the local authority

External links

• Official website (in Italian)