South Tyrol German: Südtirol, Italian: Alto Adige or Sudtirolo, Ladin: Sudtirol (http://www.suedtirol.info/) is the northernmost region in Italy, bordering Austria to the north and northeast, Switzerland to the northwest, and the rest of Italy to the south. Together with Trentino, it composes the northernmost Italian autonomous administrative region of Trentino-South Tyrol. This is also the only region in Italy where the majority of the population speaks German as their mother tongue with the exception of the areas surrounding Bolzano/Bozen and Merano/Meran. Therefore, South Tyrol is officially bi-lingual, including all road signs, menus and media, and moreover even trilingual in the scenic eastern Ladin speaking valleys.
This Alpine region can offer a lot of cultural highlights, both large cities and small picturesque storybook villages - and huge areas of wild nature, including the most important Italian national park, and many more regional parks, lakes, valleys and mountains. Here one finds the famous Dolomites and large important ski resorts near the Austrian border. Once a place of ethnic conflict, South Tyrol has emerged as an international model for inter-ethnic cooperation. German-speaking, Italian or Ladin, South Tyrolians are very proud of this grand accomplishment of inter-ethnic cooperation and compromise and serve as a model for the world. They are truly "European" in every sense.
