a province of the duchy of Piedmont, in the continental dominions of the king of Sardinia. It is bounded on the north-east and east by Alessandria, on the southeast by Aqui, on the south-west by Alba, and on the west and north-west by Turin. It extends over 268 geographical square miles. It is a gently undulating plain, watered by the Tanaro and the Po; fruitful in all the productions of Italy, especially in corn, wine, and silk. Pop. in 1848, 136,065. Asti, (the ancient Asta) the capital of the province, is a large and well-built town, on the left bank of the Tanaro. It is the see of a bishop; and has a cathedral, a college, many churches and monastical institutions, with 24,000 inhabitants, who carry on a considerable trade in corn, wine, and silk; which is not a little promoted by the situation of the town on the high road from Alessandria to Turin and Coni. In the middle ages Asti was a great commercial city. Alfieri the poet was born here.