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Udine, Italy

Catania, Italy

Udine is a city and comune in northeastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Alps (Alpi Carniche), less than 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the Slovenian border. Its population was 100,514 in 2012, and that of its urban area was 176,000.

In 2007, there were 97,880 people residing in Udine itself (whereas the greater area has a population double its size), located in the province of Udine, Friuli Venezia Giulia, of whom 46.9% were male and 53.1% were female. Minors (children ages 18 and younger) totalled 14.36 percent of the population compared to pensioners who number 24.27 percent. This compares with the Italian average of 18.06 percent (minors) and 19.94 percent (pensioners). The average age of Udine residents is 47 compared to the Italian average of 42. In the five years between 2002 and 2007, the population of Udine grew by 1.48 percent, while Italy as a whole grew by 3.56 percent. The current birth rate of Udine is 9.13 births per 1,000 inhabitants compared to the Italian average of 9.45 births.

As of 2006, 90.90% of the population was of Italian descent. The largest immigrant group came from other European nations (particularly those from Austria and Croatia ): 5.37%, followed by sub-saharan Africa (mostly from Ghana): 1.65%, and North African: 0.77%.

Udine has a university, the University of Udine. The archbishop's palace and the Museo Civico have quite important paintings. The city has a theater, the Teatro Giovanni da Udine.

Important festivals include the wine-and-food September festival, Friuli D.O.C., and the biggest European festival of popular East Asian cinema, the Far East Film Festival, in April.

Udine is important for commerce, with several commercial centers in the hinterland. There are also iron and mechanical industries (Danieli and ABS are the most important). With 7,600,000 travelling people every year, Udine's railway station is the most important one in Friuli-Venezia Giulia.

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