Metropolitan City of Cagliari


The Metropolitan City of Cagliari is a metropolitan city in the autonomous region of Sardinia in Italy. Its capital is the city of Cagliari and includes 70 other municipalities. It was established by law in 2016 and replaced the province of Cagliari, and was expanded by 53 municipalities on 1 June 2025 with the disestablishment of the Province of South Sardinia. The current president is the mayor of Cagliari, Massimo Zedda. The population is 536,245 as of 2025, while the population of the functional urban area is approximately 477,000.
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Geography

The Metropolitan City of Cagliari extends over the southern part of the Campidano plain, between two mountain ranges. The Sulcis Range is to the west and includes Monti Arcosu,, and Punta Sebera. To the east is the Monte Linias Range, including and Sette Fratelli. These mountains are composed of Ordovician shale and Carboniferous granite and do not exceed. An exception is which is.

Climate

The Metropolitan City of Cagliari has a Mediterranean climate with hot, dry Summers and mild Winters. It is unusual for Summer temperatures to rise above, often with high humidity, while in winter, the record lows are below zero. Heavy snowfalls occur rarely; on average, every thirty years. January is the coldest month with an average temperature of about. August is the warmest month with an average temperature of that of about. African anticyclone activity can cause heat waves starting in June. From mid-June to mid-September rain is rare and appears in afternoon storms. The rainy season starts in September, but the first cold days come in December, usually the wettest month. Winds are frequent, especially the mistral and sirocco; in Summer days a marine sirocco breeze lowers the temperature and the humidity.
On the surrounding mountains, the climate is very different with plentiful average rainfall, cold winters, and mild warm summers.

Government

Municipalities

On 12 April 2021, per the Sardinian Regional Council's Regional Law Nr. 7, the metropolitan city was set to expand, following the suppression of the province of South Sardinia, as it would absorb its municipalities that do not become part of the reconstituted provinces of Medio Campidano and Sulcis Iglesiente. Whilst the Italian government challenged the law, thus stalling its implementation, on March 12, 2022, the Constitutional Court ruled in favor of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia. On April 13, 2023, the regional council, at the proposal of the regional government, approved an amendment to the 2021 reform, defining the timeframe and manner of its implementation, which had its full implementation on 1 June 2025.

Demographics

As of 2025, the metropolitan city of Cagliari has a population of 536,245, of which 48.8% are male and 51.2% are female, compared to the nationwide average of 49.0% and 51.0% respectively. Minors make up 12.4% of the population, and seniors make up 26.4%, compared to the Italian average of 14.9% and 24.7% respectively.
In 1861, the current metropolitan city had 137,808 inhabitants, while the city proper had 37,243. Since then, the city had a population growth of 293%, while the metropolitan city as a whole had an increase of 289%. In that year Cagliari had a population that was 27.0% of the metropolitan city, only slightly increasing to 27.4% in 2025.
The foreign-born population is 27,045, making up 5.0% of the total population.

Economy

According to 2014 data from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the per capita income of the residents of Cagliari was 122% of the national average; for the metropolitan area it was 103% and for Sardinia as a whole it was 86%. The 26% of the island population that lives in Cagliari Metropolitan City produces 31% of the island's GDP and the urban-area income is greater than that of the rest of Sardinia. According to Eurostat in 2009 the metropolitan area of Cagliari had a per capita purchasing power standard of 21.699 euros, which is 92.4% of the European Union data.
The Metropolitan City has an unemployment rate of 17.7%. This is higher than the national rate of 12.2% and higher than the regional unemployment rate of 17.5%.
The traditional economy was based on agriculture: the cultivation of wheat, olive groves and vineyards, gardens and orchards wherever there was plenty of water in the dry Summers. The mountains were exploited for firewood and coal that were sold in Cagliari. There were mines, particularly the Iron mine of San Leone in the territory of Assemini. The large salt pans east and west of Cagliari were also exploited.
Currently the capital city holds most of the administrative offices, the retail trade, financial services, professional offices, and health services. Industry, warehousing, and major shopping centers are concentrated in the other municipalities of the metropolitan area. Tourism is concentrated along the coast.
In 2014, the Cagliari-Sarroch port system was the third largest in Italy, as measured by amount of goods transferred.
The Macchiareddu-Grogastru area between Cagliari and Capoterra, in conjunction with the Port of Cagliari, is the most important industrial area of Sardinia. The port includes the Cagliari International Container Terminal at Giorgino, which had an annual traffic capacity of 1,000,000 Twenty-Foot equivalent units in 2002. Multinational corporations like Coca-Cola, Heineken, Unilever, Bridgestone and Eni Group have factories in this area. Within the metropolitan area at Sarroch there is one of the six oil refinery supersites in Europe, called Saras.
The communications provider, Tiscali, has its headquarters in the boroughs of Cagliari.

Main sights

Churches

There are religious buildings in the metropolitan area that date back to the beginnings of the Christian presence in Sardinia. The crypts of the churches of Santa Restituta and Saint Ephysius in Cagliari are examples of cave churches officiated in the first centuries of the Christian era. The first church built after the Edict of Thessalonica of Theodosius I, who made Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire, was the church of Saint Saturninus in Cagliari. Little now remains of the Byzantine period: the only building that survives, is the small church of San Giovanni in Assemini. However, there are many Romanesque churches, including the church of Saint Mary in Uta, and Baroque churches, such as the Shrine of Our Lady of Bonaria.

Archaeological sites

In the metropolitan area there are ruins of Neolithic and Chalcolithic villages, and several domus de Janas. There are also many nuraghes; the Nuraghe Diana on the coast of Quartu Sant'Elena and the nuraghes Sa Domu de S'Orcu and Antigori on the coast of Sarroch are particularly important. A deep, sacred well is located in Settimo San Pietro and a giants' grave, Is Concias, in the territory of Quartucciu.
In the city of Nora, there are ruins of the Punic and Roman periods. The Tuvixeddu necropolis and a Roman Amphitheatre are located in Cagliari.

Metropolitan forests

The metropolitan area is delimited to the east and west by high mountain ranges, largely covered by Mediterranean forests, dominated by evergreen, oak, cork oak, and arbutus. The forests are managed by the Regional Forest Agency and extend for, about 22% of the total surface. To the west is the Monte Arcosu – Piscinamanna Forest which is. Within this forest is the WWF Monte Arcosu Oasis, created to protect the subspecies of Sardinian deer. The oasis is.
The Regional Agency manages other forests west of Cagliari City: Is Cannoneris is, Monti Nieddu is, and Gutturu Mannu is. To the east, the Agency manages the Campidano Forest which is, and the forest of the Sette Fratelli which is about. The mountain of Sette Fratelli, which is covered by the forest, is a vast massif with many crested peaks, seven of which are visible from Cagliari.
The environment of the metropolitan city varies with altitude in both temperature and precipitation. In the municipality of Pula, for example, the coastal plain has an annual average rainfall of about, while the mountains have more than. The forests are populated by Sardinian deer, now saved from near-extinction, the fallow deer, reintroduced after its extinction from the area, wild boars, foxes, and European pine martens.

Metropolitan beaches

In the municipalities of the metropolitan area there are numerous beaches. One of the biggest is the Poetto beach of Cagliari and Quartu Sant'Elena, of fine sand in front of the Sella del Diavolo. To the east of Cagliari are the beaches of Geremeas and Solanas, and to the west are the beaches of Nora and Santa Margherita.The surrounding municipalities not part Metropolitan City of Villasimius, Castiadas and Domus de Maria possess some of the most famous beaches of Sardinia.

Folk customs and traditional dresses

The Sagra or feast of Saint Ephisius, 1 May, is the most gorgeous folk rite of the area. The statue of the Saint, loaded on a pompous carriage, is carried from the crypt where he was being held, to Nora where he was martyred. Its carriage, accompanied by Sardinian militiamen, the Alter Nos, folk groups wearing traditional clothes, on foot or on elaborately decorated waggons, and finally believers, proceeds for 32 km. Thousands of people, peasants and tourists alike, attend the event. On May 4, at dusk, the saint returns to the city, in a more intimate procession.
Another folk custom is sa coja antiga, the traditional wedding ceremony typical of Selargius. Accompanied by religious songs in Sardinian language, the engaged couple approaches the altar, where they sign the marriage contract with the exchange of a love written promise that will be unveiled only after 25 years of marriage. After the ceremony, the groom puts his pinkie in the ring of a chain that surrounds the waist of the bride, an ancient token of bond.

Language

The Metropolitan City's indigenous language is Sardinian in its Campidanese variety, but it is losing ground to Italian almost everywhere.

Transportation