Cottians

Cottians is a term used to refer to the inhabitants or the cultural and geographical context of the Cottian Alps, the southern portion of the Western Alps that lies along the Franco-Italian border. The label is primarily used in geographical and historical writing rather than as a contemporary political or ethnic designation.

Geographically, the Cottian Alps, or Alpi Cozie in Italian, extend roughly in a north–south direction between the French Montgenèvre area and the Tende Pass, with the range spanning portions of the Italian Piedmont region and the French borderlands. The massif includes notable peaks such as Monviso, and its valleys have long served as routes for cross-border travel and trade. In Italy, the area is associated with valleys such as Susa and Chisone, while the French side includes adjacent alpine valleys and passes that connect to the Provence and Savoy regions.

Historically, the Cottians have been a corridor between Italian and French-speaking lands, with passes like Montgenèvre and Tende enabling movement of people, goods, and military forces from ancient times through the medieval period and into modern border infrastructure. The mountains have shaped local economies around pastoralism, forestry, and, in the contemporary period, tourism and winter sports. The region includes protected natural areas, such as the Parco Naturale delle Alpi Cozie, which preserve both the landscape and the cultural heritage of alpine communities.

In modern usage, Cottians most commonly appear in academic and touristic contexts as a geographic and historical reference to the Alpi Cozie, rather than as a distinct contemporary nationality or administrative region. The term remains a descriptive label for the alpine landscape and its historical cross-border connections.