Piedmont is a region of north west Italy that borders on to Switzerland to the north, France to the west, the valley of Aosta to the nort-east and Lombardia to the east. To the south east it borders on Emilia Romagna and Liguria to the south. The regional capital is Turin and the other provincial capitals are Asti, Alessandria, Cuneo, Novara, Vercelli, Biella and Verbania-Cusio-Ossola. It’s name derives from the fact that it lies at the foot of the mountains. From Medieval times the area of plains at the foot of the alpine mountains has been known as Piedmont. It is an inland region with no coastline and is mainly mountainous. The main hilly areas are the Canavese (to the north-west), the Langhe and the Roero (to south), the Monferrato (at the centre) and the Tortonesi Hills (to the south-east). The southern hills of the Langhe and Monferrato are made up of ancient marine sediments that have little resistence to water that has slowly formed a labyrinth of gullies and valleys. The hillsides exposed to the sun are used to grow vines, cereals and forage as well as fruit and hazelnuts while animal farming, once widespread, is no longer profitable.