[3] The village may have grown up around a Sust (an alpine warehouse and administrative center) along the Gotthard road.

The village was the center of a Vicinanza which consisted of the Degagne of Prato, Fiesso and until 1866, Dalpe.

The villages played an important part in the organization of the mule traders that traveled over the passes.

However, in the past century, the village has become a popular summer and winter tourist destination.

In 2005 two thirds of jobs in the municipality were in industry and a quarter were in the services sectors.

[3] Prato (Leventina) has an area, as of 1997[update], of 16.85 square kilometers (6.51 sq mi).

Out of the forested land, 34.2% of the total land area is heavily forested, while 10.4% is covered in small trees and shrubbery and 2.3% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees.

[4] The municipality is located in the Leventina district, in a depression in the mountains at an elevation of 1,046 m (3,432 ft) near the Monte Piottino gorge.

It consists of the village of Prato and the hamlets of Fiesso, Mascengo, Rodi and Morasco.

Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks Italian (85.1%), with Serbo-Croatian being second most common ( 6.8%) and Macedonian being third ( 3.0%).

At the same time, there was onsnon-Swiss man and two non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland.

[7] The age distribution, as of 2009[update], in Prato (Leventina) is: 46 children or 10.2% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 38 teenagers or 8.4% are between 10 and 19.

[8] The historical population is given in the following table:[3] The Dazio Vecchio is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

[14] In the 2007[update] Gran Consiglio election, there were a total of 296 registered voters in Prato (Leventina), of which 224 or 75.7% voted.

[8] There were 202 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 39.1% of the workforce.

[8] As of 2009[update], there were 3 hotels in Prato (Leventina) with a total of 23 rooms and 54 beds.

[17] From the 2000 census[update], 308 or 77.6% were Roman Catholic, while 11 or 2.8% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.

In the lower secondary school system, students either attend a two-year middle school followed by a two-year pre-apprenticeship or they attend a four-year program to prepare for higher education.