Emilia-Romagna

Emilia–Romagna (, Emélia–Rumâgna, Romagnol: Emélia–Rumâgna) is an administrative region of Northern Italy comprising the two historic regions of Emilia and Romagna. The capital is Bologna; it has an area of 22446 km² and about 4.4 million inhabitants.

Emilia–Romagna today is considered as one of the richest and most developed regions in Europe and has the third highest GDP per capita in Italy. Bologna, the region's capital, has one of Italy's highest quality of life, and has highly advanced and modern social services. Emilia–Romagna is also a major cultural and touristic centre, being the home of the oldest university in the Western World, containing numerous Renaissance cities (such as Modena, Parma and Ferrara), being a major centre for food and automobile production (Emilia–Romagna is home of numerous iconic gastronomical and automotive industries, such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati and Ducati) and having a lively and colourful coastline, with numerous tourist resorts, such as Rimini and Riccione.

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. The Via Aemilia was completed by, and named after, the Roman consul Marcus Aemilius Lepidus in 187 BC. Romagna represents a sound development from 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 before control passed to the Gauls and then the Romans. The Romans built 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.

During the Middle Ages trading activities, culture and religion flourished thanks to the region's monasteries and the University of Bologna - the oldest university in Europe - its bustling towns, and its politics - embodied in the historic figure of Empress Matilda of Canossa. In the Renaissance, it became the seat for refined seigniories such as the House of Este of Ferrara and the Malatesta of Rimini. In the centuries that followed, the region was divided between the rule of the Papal State, the Farnese Duchy of Parma and Piacenza, and the Duchy of Modena and Reggio. 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.

After the referendum of 2006, 7 municipalities of Montefeltro were detached from the Province of Pesaro and Urbino (Marche) to join the one of Rimini on 15 August 2009. The municipalities are Casteldelci, Maiolo, Novafeltria, Pennabilli, San Leo, Sant'Agata Feltria and Talamello.

Geography


The region of Emilia–Romagna consists of nine provinces and covers an area of 22,446 km2 (8,666 sq mi), ranking 6th in Italy. Nearly half of the region (48%) consists of plains while 27% is hilly and 25% mountainous. The region's section of the Apennines is marked by areas of flisch, badland erosion (calanques) and caves. The mountains stretch for more than 300 km from the north to the south-east, with only three peaks above 2,000 m - Monte Cimone (2,165 m), Monte Cusna (2,121 m) and Alpe di Succiso (2,017 m).

The plain was formed by the gradual retreat of the sea from the Po basin and by the detritus deposited by the rivers. Almost entirely marshland in ancient times, its history is characterised by the hard work of its people to reclaim and reshape the land in order to achieve a better standard of living.

The geology varies, with lagoons and saline areas in the north and many thermal springs throughout the rest of the region as a result of groundwater rising towards the surface at different periods of history. All the rivers rise locally in the Apennines except for the Po, which has its source in the Alps in Piedmont and follows the northern border of Emilia–Romagna for 263 km.

Vegetation in the region may be divided into belts: the common oak belt which is now covered (apart from the mesóla forest) with fruit orchards and fields of wheat and sugar beet, the pubescent and Adriatic oak belts on the lower slopes up to 900 m, the beech belt between 1,000 and 1,500 m and the final mountain heath belt.

Government and politics
The Regional Government (Giunta Regionale) is presided by the President of the Region (Presidente della Regione), who is elected for a five-year term, and is composed by the President, the Ministers (Assessori), who are currently 12, including a Vice President and one Under-Secretary for in President's office.

Emilia–Romagna, except the province of Piacenza, was historically a stronghold of the Italian Communist Party, and now is a stronghold of center-left coalitions, forming with Tuscany, Umbria and Marche the famous Italian political "Red Quadrilateral". This is probably due to the strength of anti-fascist resistance around the time of World War II as well as 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.

Administrative divisions
Emilia–Romagna is divided into nine provinces:



Demographics
The population density, which was equal to 197 inhabitants per km2 in 2010 is just below the national average. The population of this region is traditionally well distributed, so there is not a dominant metropolis but an axis of medium size cities along the Via Emilia, where the majority of regional industrial production is concentrated. Also the coast of Romagna is densely populated thanks to the huge boom of the seaside tourism in the last decades. In the peripherical areas of the Apennine Mountains and the agricultural plains around Ferrara and Piacenza the population is less dense.

Emilia–Romagna has thirteen cities above 50,000 (based on 2006 estimates): Bologna (pop. 381,860 (metropolitan area est. 1,000,000)), Modena (pop. 185,228), Parma (pop. 187,159), Reggio Emilia (pop. 170,355), Ravenna (pop. 149,084), Rimini (pop. 138,060), Ferrara (pop. 131,907), Forlì (pop. 112,477), Piacenza (pop. 99,340), Cesena (pop. 93,857), Imola (pop. 66,340), Carpi (pop. 64,517) and Faenza (pop. 54,749).

Between 1876 and 1976 about 1.2 million people emigrated from Emilia–Romagna to other countries. As of 2008 there were 119,369 people from this region living outside of Italy, particularly in Argentina, Switzerland, France, the United Kingdom and Brazil. As of 2008, the Italian national institute of statistics (ISTAT) estimated that 365,687 foreign-born immigrants lived in Emilia–Romagna, equal to 8.5% of the total regional population.

Language
Apart from Standard Italian, Emiliano–Romagnolo, (also known as Emilian–Romagnolo) is the local language of Emilia–Romagna. It is a Romance language mostly spoken in the region and San Marino. It belongs to the Northern Italian group within Romance languages (like Piedmontese, Lombard, Ligurian and Venetian), which is included in the wider group of western Romance languages (like French, Occitan, Catalan, or Spanish). It is considered as a minority language, structurally separated from Italian by the Ethnologue and by the Red Book of Endangered Languages of UNESCO. The two dialect sub-groups of Emiliano–Romagnolo are Emiliano and Romagnolo.

Economy


Emilia–Romagna today is considered as one of the richest European regions and the third Italian region by GDP per capita. These results were achieved developing a very well balanced economy based on the biggest agricultural sector in Italy, and on a secular tradition in automobile, motor and mechanic productions.

In spite of the depth and variety of industrial activities in the region, agriculture has not been eclipsed. Emilia–Romagna is among the leading regions in the country, with farming contributing 5.8% of the regional agricultural product. The agricultural sector has aimed for increased competitiveness by means of structural reorganisation and high-quality products, and this has led to the success of marketed brands. Cereals, potatoes, maize, tomatoes and onions are the most important products, along with fruit and grapes for the production of wine (of which the best known are Emilia's Lambrusco, Romagna's Sangiovese, Bologna's Pignoletto and the white Albana). Cattle and hog breeding are also highly developed. Farm cooperatives have been working along these lines in recent years. With their long tradition in the region there are now about 8,100 cooperatives, generally in the agricultural sector and mainly located in the provinces of Bologna (2,160) and Forlì-Cesena (1,300).

Industry in the region presents a varied and complex picture and is located along the Via Emilia. The food industry (e.g. Barilla Group) is particularly concentrated in Parma, Modena and Bologna as well as the mechanical and automotive (e.g., Ferrari, Ducati, Lamborghini, Maserati, Pagani). The ceramic sector is concentrated in Faenza and Sassuolo. Tourism is increasingly important, especially along the Adriatic coastline and the cities of art. The regional economy is more geared to export markets than other regions in the country: the main exports are from mechanical engineering (53%), the extraction of non-metallic minerals (13%) and the clothing industry (10%).

The region of Emilia–Romagna has a very good system of transport, with 574 km of motorways, 1,053 km of railways and airports in Bologna, Forlì, Parma and Rimini. The main motorway crosses the region from north-west (Piacenza) to the south-east (Adriatic coast), connecting the main cities of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Bologna, and from here further to Ravenna, Rimini and the Adriatic coast.

Cinema
Emilia–Romagna is the main setting for Bernardo Bertolucci's epic 1900. It also gave birth to Federico Fellini and Michelangelo Antonioni.

Cuisine and Gastronomy


Emilia–Romagna is known for its egg and filled pasta made with soft wheat flour. Bologna is notable for pasta dishes like tortellini, lasagne, gramigna and tagliatelle which are found also in many other parts of the region in different declinations. Romagna subregion is known as well for pasta dishes like, garganelli, strozzapreti, spoglia lorda and tortelli alla lastra. In Emilia subregion, except Piacenza which is heavily influenced by the cuisines of Lombardy, rice is eaten to a lesser extent. Polenta, a maize-based dish, is common both in Emilia and Romagna. The celebrated balsamic vinegar is made only in the Emilian cities of Modena and Reggio Emilia, following legally binding traditional procedures. Parmigiano Reggiano cheese is produced in Reggio Emilia, Parma, Modena and Bologna and is much used in cooking, whilst Grana Padano variety is produced in Piacenza. Although the Adriatic coast is a major fishing area (well-known for its eels and clams), the region is more famous for its meat products, especially pork-based, that include: Parma's culatello and Felino salami, Piacenza's pancetta, coppa and salami, Bologna's mortadella and salame rosa, Modena's zampone, cotechino and capello di prete and Ferrara's salama da sugo. Reggio Emilia is famous for its fresh egg-made pasta cappelletti (similar to Bologna's tortellini but differing in size), the typical erbazzone a spinach and Parmigiano Reggiano salted cake and its Gnocco Fritto some kind of mixed flour stripes fried in boiling oil, enjoyed in combination with ham or salami. Piacenza and Ferrara are also known for some dishes prepared with horse and donkey meat. Regional desserts include zuppa inglese (custard-based dessert made with sponge cake and Alchermes liqueur) and panpepato (Christmas cake made with pepper, chocolate, spices, and almonds). An exhaustive list of the most important regional wines should include Sangiovese from Romagna, Lambrusco from Reggio Emilia or Modena, Cagnina di Romagna, Colli Piacentini and Trebbiano from Piacenza.

Sport
The most popular sport in Emilia–Romagna is by far football. Several famous clubs from Emilia–Romagna compete at a high level on the national stage. Bologna, Parma and Cesena compete in the top-flight of Italian football – in Serie A. Bologna have won seven scudetti and two Coppa Italia trophies. Four sides compete at the next level down in Serie B: Modena and Sassuolo.