South Tyrol
South Tyrol (German and Ladin: Südtirol; Italian: Alto Adige, informally Sudtirolo) is the northernmost autonomous province of Italy, part of the Trentino-Alto Adige Autonomous Region. The province has over 500,000 inhabitants and the capital of South Tyrol is Bozen (Italian: Bolzano; Ladin: Bulsan).
South Tyrol is trilingual: German, Italian and Ladin, a Romance language closely related to Romance, have official status. The majority of the population is German-speaking, a quarter speaks Italian and 4% of the population, mainly living in the Gherdëina valley and the Val Badia, speaks Ladin. These Ladins enjoy the same rights as the German speakers.
Until 1919, South Tyrol belonged to Austria, but after the capitulation of the Axis powers, South Tyrol was assigned to Italy. Under Mussolini's fascist rule, Italy pursued an oppressive Italianization policy to completely assimilate the area. From 1923, German was banned from public life and German place names were replaced by Italian. The name Tyrol was banned and replaced by Alto Adige. A start was also made with the Italianization of the German surnames, whereby the inscriptions were even changed on tombstones. There was also a large-scale immigration of Italians from other areas, especially the cities. The aim is to outnumber the original population.
After a sometimes bloody struggle for independence in the 1960s, South Tyrol is now an autonomous province with far-reaching powers of its own. South Tyrol is part of the Euroregion Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino. Essentially, it occupies the surface of the historic 'crown country' Tyrol of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. The southern part of which was annexed by Italy in 1919. That things are still alive is evidenced by the fact that the Austrian government (in 2018) plans to offer the population of Alto Adige an Austrian passport. This has, of course, led to disapproval from the Italian government.
South Tyrol is particularly known for the Dolomites, a very characteristic mountain range that belongs to the Alps.
The Dolomites
Although the Dolomites are part of the Alps geologically, they do look quite different. Before the emergence of the Alps (about 110 million years ago), there were various (tropical) seas, including where the Dolomites are now located. The coral reefs that grew in this sea turned into thick layers of lime. Around 50 million years ago, these limestone layers were pushed up and from that moment on formed the Dolomites. Limestone is a soft stone that erodes easily. This is partly the reason that you encounter those characteristic steep walls and sharp peaks in the Dolomites. The pale rock of the Dolomites is named after the French geologist de Dolomieu and is therefore also called Dolomite. It is a somewhat complex chemical story, but while Dolomite is chalky, it is not a limestone. It is namely Magnesium Calcium Carbonate instead of 'normal' Calcium Carbonate. Well, like I said... a somewhat complex chemistry story.