Main settling areas are the valleys along the Ill, the Alfenz, the Bregenz Ache and the Rhine. Many towns and markets developed in the wide Rhine valley and in the Walgau, a region favoured by the climate.
The original Rhaeto Romanic population almost disappeared completely
after the Alemanni settled, only in some valleys, like the Montafon valley,
it remained for quite some time. The Vorarlberg population is the only one
in Austria that is not of Bavarian, but of Alemanic origin. The dialect of
Vorarlberg is so different from that of the other provinces, as is the way
of thinking. But even within the province you find various dialects.
In former times every dialect had its own folk costume. Today we still have
the costumes of the Montafon, the Bregenzerwald and the Walser valley.
The Walser dialect, in particular, has very special features. It is
high Alemanic and it is spoken in the Grosses Walsertal, in Lech,
Hochtannberg and Damüls.
