Laives

Laives (; ) is a town and a "comune" (municipality) in South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about south of the city of Bolzano. It is one of only five mainly Italian speaking municipalities in South Tyrol, and the fourth largest municipality in the province.
Geography.
As of November 30, 2010, it had a population of 17,168 and an area of .
Subdivisions.
The municipality contains four urban centers:
Laives is the seat of the town hall, Pineta and San Giacomo are two "frazioni" (hamlets), while La Costa is - according to the municipal statute - a "località" (inhabited locality), but it is often referred to as a "frazione" also in the official documentation.
History.
Coat-of-arms.
The emblem consists of an argent pile, with concave sides on azure and a chapel on a mountain of gules. The sign, similar to that of the Counts of "Lichtenstein" who lived in the castle on Mount "Köfele", represents the church of "Peterköfele". The emblem was adopted in 1970.
Society.
Linguistic distribution.
According to the 2011 census, 71.50% of the population speak Italian, 27.99% German and 0.51% Ladin as first language.<ref name="Volkszählung 2011/Censimento della popolazione 2011"></ref>
Culture.
The "carnival of Laives" is one of the most important carnivals of Trentino-South Tyrol. 
The city is also the headquarters of the "Coro Monti Pallidi", an all-man a capella chorus founded in 1967 by Sergio Maccagnan and conducted since 2004 by Paolo Maccagnan.