Balocco is a ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' (municipality) in the

Province of Vercelli The province of Vercelli () is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Piedmont region of Italy. Its capital is Vercelli. , it has an area of and a total population of some 176,000. It is an area known for the cultivation of rice. Main sights ...

in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

region

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

, located about northeast of

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

and about northwest of

Vercelli Vercelli (; ) is a city and ''comune'' of 46,552 inhabitants (January 1, 2017) in the Province of Vercelli, Piedmont, northern Italy. One of the oldest urban sites in northern Italy, it was founded, according to most historians, around 600 BC. ...

. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 273 and an area of .All demographics and other statistics: Italian statistical institute

Istat The Italian National Institute of Statistics (; Istat) is the primary source of official statistics in Italy. The institute conducts a variety of activities, including the census of population, economic censuses, and numerous social, economic, a ...

. It is the home of the Circuito di Balocco road-testing track. Balocco borders the following municipalities:

Buronzo Buronzo is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Vercelli in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about northwest of Vercelli Vercelli (; ) is a city and ''comune'' of 46,552 inhabitants (January 1, 2017 ...

, Carisio,

Formigliana Formigliana is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Vercelli in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about northwest of Vercelli. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 548 and an area of .All demogr ...

, San Giacomo Vercellese, and Villarboit.

Demographic evolution

Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.8) ImageSize = width:455 height:303 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:2000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:1000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:200 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:1861 text:1861 bar:1871 text:1871 bar:1881 text:1881 bar:1901 text:1901 bar:1911 text:1911 bar:1921 text:1921 bar:1931 text:1931 bar:1936 text:1936 bar:1951 text:1951 bar:1961 text:1961 bar:1971 text:1971 bar:1981 text:1981 bar:1991 text:1991 bar:2001 text:2001 PlotData= color:barra width:20 align:left bar:1861 from: 0 till:727 bar:1871 from: 0 till:892 bar:1881 from: 0 till:887 bar:1901 from: 0 till:1045 bar:1911 from: 0 till:986 bar:1921 from: 0 till:808 bar:1931 from: 0 till:779 bar:1936 from: 0 till:735 bar:1951 from: 0 till:811 bar:1961 from: 0 till:484 bar:1971 from: 0 till:387 bar:1981 from: 0 till:339 bar:1991 from: 0 till:267 bar:2001 from: 0 till:262 PlotData= bar:1861 at:727 fontsize:XS text: 727 shift:(-8,5) bar:1871 at:892 fontsize:XS text: 892 shift:(-8,5) bar:1881 at:887 fontsize:XS text: 887 shift:(-8,5) bar:1901 at:1045 fontsize:XS text: 1045 shift:(-8,5) bar:1911 at:986 fontsize:XS text: 986 shift:(-8,5) bar:1921 at:808 fontsize:XS text: 808 shift:(-8,5) bar:1931 at:779 fontsize:XS text: 779 shift:(-8,5) bar:1936 at:735 fontsize:XS text: 735 shift:(-8,5) bar:1951 at:811 fontsize:XS text: 811 shift:(-8,5) bar:1961 at:484 fontsize:XS text: 484 shift:(-8,5) bar:1971 at:387 fontsize:XS text: 387 shift:(-8,5) bar:1981 at:339 fontsize:XS text: 339 shift:(-8,5) bar:1991 at:267 fontsize:XS text: 267 shift:(-8,5) bar:2001 at:262 fontsize:XS text: 262 shift:(-8,5) TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:Data from ISTAT

Economy

The main activity is agriculture: rice farming, corn and wheat . The motorway nearby has favored the settlement of industrial companies.

Circuito di Balocco

Balocco is the seat of the major proving ground of

FCA Italy Stellantis Europe S.p.A. (formerly Fiat Group Automobiles S.p.A. and FCA Italy S.p.A.), is the Italian subsidiary of the multinational automaker Stellantis, dedicated to the production and selling of passenger cars and light commercial vehicl ...

. The Circuito di Balocco test track was built in the early 1960s by

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian carmaker known for its sports-oriented vehicles, strong auto racing heritage, and iconic design. Headquartered in Turin, Italy, it is a subsidiary of Stellantis Europe and one of 14 brands of mu ...

for testing new cars, prototypes and racing cars. In the track is also hosted club and racing organization events. The track area exceeds and it has over of different types of test tracks.

References

External links

The Balocco track
{{authority control Cities and towns in Piedmont Motorsport venues in Italy