Duchy of Massa and Carrara 1851, thanks to the English engineer and tycoon William Walton. In 1846 the Count Francesco del Medico proposed to the Duke Francis V the construction of the Marble Railway of Carrara, to link the marble quarries to the sea and thereby facilitating the transport of blocks to the areas for sorting, loading, and shipping. This project was also suspended for lack of funds. The Marble Railway was finally built after the Italian unification (1871–1890). In the last years of the duchy, an increasing number of clashes was seen between the liberals and the ducal government, especially in Carrara. The territory
Tuscany small firms in the leather, glass, paper and clothing sectors. Italians make up 93% of the total population. Starting from the 1980s, the region has attracted a large flux of immigrants, particularly from China. There is also a significant community of British and American residents. , the Italian national institute of statistics ISTAT estimated that 275,149 foreign-born immigrants live in Tuscany, equal to 7% of the total regional population. Tuscany is a stronghold of the center-left Democratic Party (PD), forming with Emilia-Romagna, Umbria and Marche the so-called Italian political "Red Quadrilateral". Since 1970, Tuscany has been continuously governed by the