The Sempione is a rare breed of domestic goat from the mountains of Piemonte in north-western Italy and the neighbouring area of Simplon in the canton of Valais in Switzerland; Sempione is the Italian name for Simplon.
Examples were recorded at Saliceto di Cravagliana in the province of Vercelli in 1983, and others have since been identified in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, particularly in the Val Divedro and the upper Ossola.
[4] Its origins are not clear; it may be related to the Vallesana breed or to the Alpina Comune.
Genetic studies to confirm or refute these hypotheses have not been carried out.
[5] In Italy the Sempione is one of the forty-three autochthonous Italian goat breeds of limited distribution for which a herdbook is kept by the Associazione Nazionale della Pastorizia, the national association of sheep- and goat-breeders.