Veneto

Veneto (/ˈveɪnəˌtoʊ/ or /ˈvɛnətoʊ/,[4] Italian: [ˈvɛːneto]) or Venetia (/vɪˈniːʃə/[5] – Latin: Venetia; Venetian: Vèneto; more specifically Venezia Euganea)[6] is one of the twenty regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fifth in Italy. The region's capital and largest city is Venice.

Veneto, as part of the Republic of Venice, was an independent state for more than a millennium. Venice ruled for centuries over one of the largest and richest maritime republics and trade empires in the world. After the Napoleonic Wars and the Congress of Vienna, the Republic was annexed by the Austrian Empire, until it was ceded to the Kingdom of Italy in 1866, as a result of the Third Italian War of Independence. The Statute of Veneto describes Venetians as a "people".[7]

Besides Italian, most inhabitants also speak Venetian. Having been for a long period in history a land of mass emigration, Veneto is today one of the greatest immigrant-receiving regions in the country, with 454,453 foreigners (9.30% of the regional population) in 2008, the most recent of which are Romanian and Moroccan.[8]

The region is home to a notable nationalist movement. The region's largest party is the Venetist/Padanist Liga Veneta, a founding member of Lega Nord. The current President of Veneto is Luca Zaia (Liga Veneta–Lega Nord), elected in 2010 with 60.2% of the vote and the support of Lega Nord, The People of Freedom and the Alliance of the Centre.