Lombardy
Lombardy is an administrative region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is located between the Alps mountain range and tributaries of the river Po, and includes Milan, its capital, whose metropolitan area is the largest in the country and among the largest in the EU.
Its territory is divided into 1,502 comuni, distributed among 12 administrative subdivisions. The region ranks first in Italy in terms of population, population density, and number of local authorities, while it is fourth in terms of surface area, after Sicily, Piedmont, and Sardinia.
It is the second-most populous region of the European Union, and the second region of the European Union by nominal GDP. Lombardy is the leading region of Italy in terms of economic importance, contributing to approximately one-fifth of the national gross domestic product. It is also a member of the Four Motors for Europe, an international economic organization whose other members are Baden-Württemberg in Germany, Catalonia in Spain, and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in France. Milan is the economic capital of Italy and is a global centre for business, fashion and finance.
Of the 58 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Italy, 11 are in Lombardy, tying it with Castile and León in northwest-central Spain.
Etymology
The name Lombardy comes from Lombard, which is derived from Late Latin Longobardus, Langobardus, which derived from the Proto-Germanic elements *langaz + *bardaz; equivalent to long beard. According to some scholars, the second element derives from Proto-Germanic *bardǭ, *barduz, related to German Barte.The name of the region derives from the name of the people of the Lombards who arrived in Italy in 568 and made Pavia their capital. During the Early Middle Ages, "Lombardy" referred to the Kingdom of the Lombards. It was ruled by the Germanic Lombard raiders, who controlled most of early Christian Italy since the Lombard invasion of Italy of Byzantine Italy in 568, until the fall of Pavia, in 774 by Charlemagne on the Pope's behalf. As such, "Lombardy" and "Italy" were nearly interchangeable; by the mid-8th century, the Lombards ruled everywhere except the Papal possessions around Rome—roughly modern Lazio and northern Umbria—Venice and some Byzantine possessions in the south—southern Apulia and Calabria; some coastal settlements including Amalfi, Gaeta, Naples and Sorrento; Sicily and Sardinia; their culture is foundational to Italy in the Middle Ages. The term was also used until around 965 in the form Λογγοβαρδία as the name for the territory roughly covering modern Apulia, which the Byzantines had recovered from the Lombard rump state Duchy of Benevento.
Geography
Lombardy has a surface area of, and is the fourth-largest region of Italy, after Sicily, Piedmont, and Sardinia. It is bordered by Canton Ticino and Canton Grisons of Switzerland to the north, and by the Italian regions of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and Veneto to the east, Emilia-Romagna to the south and Piedmont to the west.Lombardy's northern border lies between the Valtellina and the valleys of the Rhine and the Inn. To the east, Lake Garda and the Mincio separate Lombardy from the other Italian regions, as does the Po River in the south, with the exception of the province of Mantua and Oltrepò Pavese. The western boundary is formed by the Lake Maggiore and the Ticino river, except for Lomellina. Lombardy has three natural zones: mountains, hills and plains—the last being divided into Alta and Bassa.
Soils
The surface area of Lombardy is divided almost equally between the plains and the mountainous areas. The remaining 12% of the region is hilly.The orography of Lombardy is characterised by three distinct belts; a northern mountainous belt constituted by the Alpine relief, a central piedmont area of mostly alluvial pebbly soils, and the Lombard section of the Padan Plain in the south of the region. The main valleys are Val Camonica, Val Trompia, Valle Sabbia, Valtellina, Val Seriana, Val Brembana, Valsassina, and Valassina.
The most important mountainous area is the Alpine zone, which includes the Lepontine and Rhaetian Alps, which derive their name, respectively, from the Raeti, a population of Etruscan origin who took refuge in the Central Alps during the Celtic invasion of the Italian peninsula, and from the Ligurian population of the Lepontii, who were settled in this area and then subjugated by the Roman emperor Augustus, the Orobic Alps which derive their name from the Orobii, population of Ligurian or perhaps Celtic origin, the Ortler Alps and the Adamello massif. It is followed by the Alpine foothills zone Prealps, which are followed by hills that smooth the transition from the mountain to the Po Valley, the main peaks of which are the Grigna Group, Resegone, and Presolana.
The plains of Lombardy, which are formed by alluvial deposits, can be divided into the Alta—an upper, permeable ground zone in the north—and the Bassa, a lower zone dotted by the line of fontanili, where spring waters rise from impermeable ground. Inconsistent with the three distinctions above is the small sub-region of Oltrepò Pavese, which is formed by the Apennine foothills beyond the Po, and Lomellina, an area particularly renowned for its rice paddies.
Hydrography
The Po marks the southern border of the region for approximately ; its major tributaries are the Ticino, which rises in the Val Bedretto in Switzerland and joins the Po near Pavia, the Olona, the Lambro, the Adda, the Oglio and the Mincio.The numerous lakes of Lombardy are all of glacial origin and are located in the northern highlands. From west to east, these lakes are: Lake Maggiore, Lake Lugano, Lake Como, Lake Iseo, Lake Idro, and Lake Garda. South of the Alps lies a succession of low hills of morainic origin that were formed during the Last Glacial Period,as well as small, barely fertile plateaux with typical heaths and conifer woods. A minor mountainous area, the Oltrepò Pavese lies in the Apennines range south of the Po.
The navigli are a system of interconnected canals in and around Milan, dating back as far as the Middle Ages. The system consists of five canals: Naviglio Grande, Naviglio Pavese, Naviglio Martesana, Naviglio di Paderno, and Naviglio di Bereguardo. The first three were connected through Milan via the Fossa Interna, also known as the Inner Ring. The urban section of the Naviglio Martesana was covered over at the beginning of the 1930s, together with the entire Inner Ring, thus sounding the death knell for the northeastern canals.
Alpine passes
The Lombard Alpine valleys are wider than those found in the Alps in Piedmont and Aosta Valley. Most of them are crossed by streams that descend towards the Po Valley, forming rivers that then flow into the Po on the hydrographic left. Thanks to the width of their valleys, the Lombard Alpine passes, although they are at a high altitude, are easily accessible.The most important international passes found in the Lombard Alps, which connect the region with Switzerland are the Splügen Pass, the Maloja Pass and the Bernina Pass, with the latter two which are located in Swiss territory. The most important national passes are the Stelvio Pass and the Tonale Pass, which connect Lombardy with Trentino-Alto Adige. These Alpine passes are also of great importance from a historical point of view, given that they have always allowed easy communication between Lombardy and its bordering territories. This has resulted in constant commercial traffic, which contributed to the development of the region.
Flora and fauna
The plains have been intensively cultivated for centuries, and little of the original environment remains. The most common trees are elm, alder, sycamore, poplar, willow, and hornbeam. In the area of the foothills lakes, however, olive, cypresses, and larches grow, as do varieties of subtropical flora such as magnolia, azalea and acacia. Numerous species of endemic flora in the Prealpine area include some species of saxifrage, Lombardy garlic, groundsel, and bellflowers.The highlands are characterised by the typical vegetation of the Italian Alps. At and below approximately, oaks or broadleaf trees grow; on the mountain slopes between, beech trees grow at the lowest limits, with conifer woods higher up. Shrubs such as rhododendron, dwarf pine, and juniper are native to the summit zone beyond.
Lombardy includes many protected areas. The most important is Stelvio National Park, established in 1935—the fourth-largest Italian natural park, with typically alpine wildlife such as red deer, roe deer, ibex, chamois, foxes, ermine, and golden eagles; and the Parco naturale lombardo della Valle del Ticino, which was instituted in 1974 on the Lombard side of the River Ticino to protect one of the last major examples of fluvial forest in northern Italy. There have also been efforts to protect the endangered Italian agile frog. The Parco naturale lombardo della Valle del Ticino is the first Italian regional park to be established as well as the first European river park. In 2022, the two parks were included by UNESCO in the World Network of Biosphere Reserves.
Other parks in the region are the Campo dei Fiori and the Cinque Vette Park, both of which are located in the Province of Varese. The system of protected areas in Lombardy consists of one national park, 24 regional parks, 65 natural reserves and 30 natural monuments. In total, protected areas cover more than 27% of the regional territory.
Climate
Lombardy has a wide array of climates due to variations in elevation, proximity to inland water basins, and large metropolitan areas. The climate is mainly humid subtropical, especially in the plains, though with significant variations from the Köppen model, especially in the normally long, damp, and cold winters. There is high seasonal temperature variation; in Milan, the average temperature is in January and in July. The plains are often subject to fog during the coldest months.In the Alpine foothills with an oceanic climate, numerous lakes have a mitigating influence, allowing typically Mediterranean crops to grow. In the hills and mountains, the climate is humid continental. In the valleys, it is relatively mild, while it can be severely cold with copious snowfalls above.
Precipitation is more intense in the Prealpine zone, with up to annually, but it is also abundant in the plains and alpine zones, with an average of annually. The average annual rainfall is. Lake Garda, thanks to its size and position, mitigates the climate of its coasts, creating a "Mediterranean" microclimate that makes the cultivation of olive trees and the production of olive oil possible; the so-called "Lombard oil" is also produced in other Lombard lake areas.