Everything about Emilia-romagna totally explained
Emilia-Romagna is one of the 20
Regions of Italy. The capital is
Bologna. It has an area of 20,124 km² and about 4.2 million inhabitants. It is the second richest region of Italy, and its cuisine one of the most characteristic.
Geography
Emilia-Romagna is an administrative
region of
Northern Italy comprising the two historic regions of
Emilia and
Romagna. It forms a rough triangle, bounded on the East by the
Adriatic Sea, on the North by the
Po river and on the South by the
Apennine range; these two linear features, with the
Via Aemilia, and the A1 highway and the railway that run close and parallel to it, give an unusually regular structure to the whole region except for the easternmost part.
About a half of the region is constituted by
Padan Plain, an extremely fertile alluvial plain crossed by the river
Po. The rest of the territory is occupied by the hills and mountains of Tuscan-Emilian Apennines.
Emilia-Romagna is divided into nine provinces:
History
The name
Emilia-Romagna has roots in the
Ancient Rome legacy in these lands.
Emilia refers to
via Æmilia, an important Roman way connecting
Rome to the northern part of Italy.
Romagna is a corruption of
Romània; when Ravenna was the capital of the Italian portion of the
Byzantine Empire, the
Lombards extended the official name of the Empire to the lands around Ravenna. Emilia-Romagna was part of the Etruscan world and in following was passed on to the Romans, who built it the Aemilian Way, for which the region was named. The coastal area of Emilia, which was ruled under the Byzantines from 540 to 751, became known as the separate region of Romagna. In the Middle Ages, the history of both Emilia and Romagna was the history of its individual cities. In the 16th century, most of these were included into the Papal States, but the territory of Parma, Piacenza, and Modena remained independent until Emilia-Romagna was included into the Italian kingdom in 1859-1861.
Economy
Agriculture is a very important economic activity:
cereals,
potatoes,
maize,
tomatoes and
onions are the most important, along with
fruit and
grapes for the production of
wine (of which the most famous are perhaps
Lambrusco,
Sangiovese,
Pignoletto and
Albana).
Cattle and
hog breeding are also highly developed.
The
industry of Emilia-Romagna is also healthy, especially the food industry (for example,
Parmalat,
Barilla Group), particularly concentrated in
Parma and
Bologna, mechanical and automotive (for example,
Ferrari,
Ducati,
Lamborghini,
Maserati Pagani), ceramic, concentrated in
Faenza and
Sassuolo, and
tourism especially along the Adriatic coastline. Today the tertiary sector is bearing, with a strong concentration of insurance companies and banks.
The region is also characterised by a unique economic attitude: its tens of thousands of
cooperatives. In Emilia-Romagna, two out of three people belong to a co-op. Bologna alone hosts 8,000, including the one-million member left-wing Legacoop and the 250,000-strong Catholic Confcooperative. The nature of the region's economy is considered responsible for the high standard of living enjoyed by the inhabitants.
Politics
Emilia-Romagna, except the
province of Piacenza, was historically a stronghold of the
Italian Communist Party, and now is a stronghold of the center-left coalition
The Union, forming with
Tuscany,
Umbria and
Marche the famous Italian political "Red Quadrilateral." Probably this is because of a strong tradition of
anti-clericalism dating from the 19th century, when part of Emilia-Romagna belonged of the
Papal States (mostly Romagna and Bologna, in Emilia there were two independent states ). At the
April 2006 elections, Emilia-Romagna gave about 60% of its votes to
Romano Prodi.
Demographics
The population of this region is traditionally well distribuited, so don't exist a real doninant metropolis but an axis of medium size cities along the Via Emilia, where is concentrated the majoruty of regional industrial production. In the Appennine Mountains and in the agricoltural plains around Ferrara and Piacenza the population is less dense because of the lower stage of economic developement.
As of 2006, the Italian national institute of statistics ISTAT estimated that 288,844 foreign-born immigrants live in Emilia-Romagna, equal to 6.8% of the total regional population.
Towns of Emilia-Romagna with a population of 50,000 or more:
| Comune |
Population (2006 est.) |
| Bologna |
374,425 |
| Modena |
180,638 |
| Parma |
177,069 |
| Reggio Emilia |
167,013 |
| Ravenna |
149,084 |
| Rimini |
138,060 |
| Ferrara |
131,907 |
| Forlì |
112,477 |
| Piacenza |
99,340 |
| Cesena |
93,857 |
| Imola |
66,340 |
| Carpi |
64,517 |
| Faenza |
54,749 |
Further Information
Get more info on 'Emilia-romagna'.
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