Approximately 64,000 persons currently live in in the immediate vicinity of the Stelvio National Park. Schlanders/Silandro is the largest, followed by Livigno and Latsch/Laces. In more or less 80% of the mainly German-speaking villages in the South Tyrolean areas of the Stelvio National Park, there is an upward demographic curve. In the region, the percentage of Italian and Ladin speakers combined stands at below 5%.

The rise in the human population needs to be offset by the development and implementation of sustainable practices. While agriculture, manufacturing and soft tourism are vital to the economy in the highlands, industrial enterprises are concentrated in the valleys.

The communities in the Ortler Region vary considerably from a cultural perspective. In the so-called artists’ villages such as Mals/Malles, Prad/Prato and Stilfs/Stelvio as well as in the “marble” village of Laas/Lasa, international artists rub shoulders with successful, if sometimes recalcitrant, local luminaries. The small town of Glurns/Glorenza was the birthplace and home to the late world-famous draughtsman, Paul Flora. The Stelvio National Park is home to Lorenz Kuntner, one of the most individualistic and self-sustaining artists who works from his open-air studio next to the Suldenbach torrent in the heart of the nature reserve.