Raetia, though it chose not to join the Senate, was a very civilized and forward Province. It had great development in industry, and held important trade routes through which the Northern Provinces could connect to Italia. Raetia had a Senate and a Governor, but was not a Senatorial Province. Their main ethnic group, the Helveti, were by nature a neutral people. They moved into this area set aside for them without any real objection, and turned it into one of the most respectable provinces in the Empire.