| Muretto Pass | |
|---|---|
Muretto Pass (background from the Val Forno | |
| Elevation | 2,562 m (8,406 ft) [1] |
| Traversed by | Trail |
| Location | Graubünden, Switzerland Lombardy, Italy |
| Range | Alps |
| Coordinates | 46°20′56″N09°44′02″E / 46.34889°N 9.73389°E Coordinates: 46°20′56″N09°44′02″E / 46.34889°N 9.73389°E |
  Muretto Pass Location in the Alps | |
The Muretto Pass (Italian : Passo del Muretto) (2,562 m) is a high mountain pass in the Alps on the border between Switzerland and Italy. It connects Maloja in the Swiss canton of Graubünden with Chiesa in Valmalenco in the Italian region of Lombardy. The pass lies between Monte del Forno (Bregaglia Range) and Piz Fedoz (Bernina Range).
Italian is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family. Italian, together with Sardinian, is by most measures the closest language to Vulgar Latin of the Romance languages. Italian is an official language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino and Vatican City. It has an official minority status in western Istria. It formerly had official status in Albania, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro (Kotor) and Greece, and is generally understood in Corsica and Savoie. It also used to be an official language in the former Italian East Africa and Italian North Africa, where it plays a significant role in various sectors. Italian is also spoken by large expatriate communities in the Americas and Australia. In spite of not existing any Italian community in their respective national territories and of not being spoken at any level, Italian is included de jure, but not de facto, between the recognized minority languages of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Romania. Many speakers of Italian are native bilinguals of both standardized Italian and other regional languages.
A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both human and animal migration throughout Earth's history. At lower elevations it may be called a hill pass. The highest vehicle-accessible pass in the world appears to be Mana Pass, located in the Himalayas on the border between India and Tibet, China.
The Alps are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, separating Southern from Central and Western Europe and stretching approximately 1,200 kilometres (750 mi) across eight Alpine countries : France, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, and Slovenia. The mountains were formed over tens of millions of years as the African and Eurasian tectonic plates collided. Extreme shortening caused by the event resulted in marine sedimentary rocks rising by thrusting and folding into high mountain peaks such as Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn. Mont Blanc spans the French–Italian border, and at 4,810 m (15,781 ft) is the highest mountain in the Alps. The Alpine region area contains about a hundred peaks higher than 4,000 metres (13,000 ft).
The pass is traversed by a trail.
