Tyrol (Ger. Tirol; in England usually called the Tyrol), a crown-land of the Austrian empire, lying between Bavaria on the N., Switzerland on the W., Italy on the S., and Salzburg and Carinthia on the E., and embracing an area of 10,302 sq. m., to which is administratively added Vorarlberg (q.v.), 1005 sq. m., on the western frontier. The province is traversed from east to west by the three chains of the Alps; the central chain (11,000 to 12,500 feet), which is crossed by the road over the Brenner Pass (4588 feet), the principal line of communication between Italy and Germany, separates the German from the Italian side. The population consists of Germans (60 per cent.) and Italians (40 per cent.), and numbered 805,176 in 1880; Vorarlberg had at the same date 107,373 inhabitants. The population of both combined was 928,920 in 1890. The people are noted for their fidelity to the Catholic faith and their devotion to their country, but are somewhat backward in education. The romantic mountain-scenery attracts thousands of visitors. The more important valleys are formed by the river Inn (flowing north to the Danube) and the Adige (going south to the Adriatic), and their tributaries. Pastoral pursuits furnish the chief occupations, though some grain is grown, and considerable attention is paid to the cultivation of the forests (46 per cent. of the area), of fruit, wine (5,720,000 gallons annually), and silkworms. The mines were formerly of great value; but little is now extracted, except of salt (at Hall), anthracite, and a little iron. Metal industries flourish in German Tyrol, cotton manufactures in Vorarlberg, and silk in Italian Tyrol. The chief town is Innsbruck (q.v.), with a university (1677; with 700 students); Trent, Roveredo, Brixen, and Bozen are the next towns of consequence. The provincial chamber consists of sixty-eight members, excluding Vorarlberg, which has its own chamber of twenty members.
Tyrol, the ancient Rætia, was conquered by the Romans under the Emperor Augustus. After the fall of the empire it was occupied by the Boiardi (Bavarians) and Langobardi. During the middle ages the most important rulers in Tyrol were the counts of Tyrol and the bishops of Trent and Brixen. In 1363 the counts bequeathed their possessions to the Duke of Austria, and they have formed an appanage of the House of Hapsburg ever since, except during the short period 1806-14, a period made memorable by the patriotic resistance of Andreas Hofer (q.v.) and his associates to French and Bavarians.
See Miss Busk, Valleys of the Tyrol (1874); Zingerle, Sagen aus Tirol (1859); and histories by Egger (1872-80) and Jäger (1880-91).