Lombardy is a region of northern
Italy, placed south of
Switzerland and north of the
Po river; on its east there is
Veneto and on the west there is
Piemonte (
Piedmont).
It is divided into eleven provinces, namely
- Milano or Milan (population 1,302,808)
- Bergamo (town population 949,862)
- Brescia (town population 1,080,212)
- Como (population 83,637)
- Cremona (population 72,129)
- Lecco (population 45,324)
- Lodi (population 41,990)
- Mantova or Mantua (population 49,064)
- Pavia (population 74,065)
- Sondrio (population 22,045)
- Varese (population 84,187)
The overall population as of
1997 was of 8,988,951 persons, the total extension is of 2,387,196 square kilometers.
The main centre is Milan, the financial and industrial capital of Italy. Important industrial districts exist in the Bergamo-Brescia area and in the Varese-Como-Lecco area. In fact, there are hardly any non urbanized lands between Milan and any of the other centres (but Sondrio).
The most important airport is Malpensa international airport near Varese; Linate is used mostrly for shuttles to and from Rome and Orio al Serio, near Bergamo, is trying to replace Linate as the downtown gateway for Milan.