Lombardy, Italy

Lombardy (Latin: Langobardia, Italian: Lombardia, Western Lombard: Lumbardìa, Eastern Lombard: Lombardia) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fourth of Italy's GDP is produced in this Region. The languages are Italian, Western Lombard and Eastern Lombard. The religion is Catholic, of Ambrosian rite or Roman rite.

The area of current Lombardy was settled at least since the 2nd millennium BC, as shown by the archaeological findings of ceramics, arrows, axes and carved stones. In the following centuries it was inhabited first by some Etruscan tribes, who founded the city of Mantua and spread the use of writing; later, starting from the 5th century BC, the area was invaded by the Celt (Gaul) tribes. This people founded several cities (including Milan) and extended their rule to the Adriatic Sea. Their development was halted by the Roman expansion in the Padan Plain from the 3rd century BC onwards: after centuries of struggle, in 194 BC the entire area of what is now Lombardy became a Roman province with the name of Gallia Cisalpina ("Gaul on the nearer side of the Alps"). The Roman culture and language overwhelmed the former civilization in the following years, and Lombardy became one of the most developed and rich areas of Italy with the construction of a wide array of roads and the development of agriculture and trade. Important figures like Pliny the Elder (in Como) and Virgil (in Mantua) were born here. In late antiquity the strategic role of Lombardy was emphasized by the temporary moving of the capital of the Western Empire to Milan. Here, in 313 AD, emperor Constantine issued the famous edict that gave freedom of confession to all religions within the Empire.

Lombardy is one of the engines of the global economy with a GDP calculated by ISTAT at $400 billion and a per capita GDP of $49,216. The Lombard per capita GDP is higher than those of United States, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland or Sweden. The region is one of the three richest in Europe, with a per capita gross domestic product that is 50 percent higher than the rest of Italy. In fact, the latest Eurostat figures shows that Lombardy in 2003 had the highest GDP for a region in the whole of the EU. Many foreign and national companies have their headquarters in Milan. Manufactures include iron and steel, cars, mechanics components, chemical products, textiles, furnitures, leather, shoes and many others. The province of Brescia is well-known for the production of weapons and the province of Como for silk and lace. The productivity of agriculture is enhanced by a well-developed use of fertilizers and the traditional abundance of water, boosted since the Middle Ages by the construction (partly designed by Leonardo Da Vinci) of a wide net of irrigation systems. Lower plains are characterized by fodder crops, which are mowed up to eight times a years, cereals (rice, wheat and maize) and sugarbeet. Productions of the higher plains include cereals, vegetables, fruit trees and mulberries. The higher areas, up to the Prealps and Alps sectors of the north, produce fruit, vines, olives. Cattle (with the highest density in Italy), pigs and sheep are raised.