The Ligures (Ligurians) were an ancient people who gave their name to Liguria, which once stretched from Northern Italy into southern Gaul. The Ligures inhabited what now corresponds to Liguria, northern Tuscany, Piedmont, part of Lombardy, and parts of southeastern France. Classical references and toponomastics suggests that the Ligurian sphere once extended further into central Italy. Jump to: navigation, search Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. ... Map of Gaul circa 58 BC Gaul (from Latin Gallia, c. ... Jump to: navigation, search Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. ... Jump to: navigation, search Tuscany (Italian Toscana) is a region in central Italy, bordering on Latium to the south, Umbria and Marche to the east, Emilia-Romagna and Liguria to the north, and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west. ... Jump to: navigation, search Piedmont is a region of northwestern Italy. ... Jump to: navigation, search Lombardy (in Italian Lombardia) is a region in northern Italy between the Alps and the Po Valley. ...

It is not known for certain whether they were a pre-Indo-European people akin to Iberians; a separate Indo-European branch with Italic and Celtic affinities; or even a branch of the Celts. Kinship between the Ligures and Lepontii has also been proposed. The Pre-Indo-European population of Europe included an unknown number of ethnic groups that dwelt on the continent before the coming of the speakers of Indo-European languages (though some scholars dispute the Indo-European invasion theory: see Paleolithic Continuity Theory). ... The Iberian language describes a linguistic group identified with the Iberian civilization (7th century BC – 1st century BC), formed in the eastern and south-eastern regions of the Iberian peninsula. ... Proto-Indo-European Indo-European studies Indo-European is originally a linguistic term, referring to the Indo-European language family. ... The Italic subfamily is a member of the Centum branch of the Indo-European language family. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Celtic languages are the languages descended from Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, spoken by ancient and modern Celts alike. ... The Lepontii were an ancient people occupying portions of Rhaetia (in modern Switzerland and Italy) in the Alps during the time of the Roman conquest of that territory. ...

The Ligures were assimilated by the Romans, some perhaps even by Gauls. Jump to: navigation, search Ancient Rome was a civilization that existed in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East between 753 BC and its downfall in AD 476. ... Gallia (in English Gaul) is the Latin name for the region of western Europe occupied by present-day France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the Rhine river. ...

See also:Ligurian language. The Ligurian language was spoken in pre-Roman times and into the Roman era by an ancient people of north-western Italy and south-eastern France known as the Liguri. ...