Emilia-Romagna

Overview

An administrative region in north-central Italy, Emilia-Romagna is actually composed of two regions that were eventually combined into one. Just west of the Adriatic Sea, the region is comprised of eight provinces in total. Located in Emilia are Bologna, which is the region's capital, along with Ferrera, Modena, Parma, and Piacenza. In Romagna on the other hand, are the provinces of Forlì and Ravenna.

Emilia was named after the Roman road that cut through the region, from Piacenza and Rimini, called the Aemilian Way. On the other hand, Romagna comes from the word Romània when one of its provinces, Ravenna, was under the Byzantine Empire in the 6th century. It was only in 1860 when Emilia and Romagna were included in the kingdom of Sardinia. A year later, it became the kingdom of Italy.

Mostly agricultural, Emilia-Romagna is a healthy region, with a bustling food industry due to the abundance of cattle and hog breeding, in addition to various crops such as grain, corn, potatoes, onions, tomatoes and fruits. Perhaps the most popular of this regions agricultural produce are its wines from its plush vineyards. With a long heritage of culinary art, tourism is also highly evident especially along the Adriatic coastline.

To support its agricultural economy, it has developed its transportation and electrical industries. Sufficient hydroelectric power and an impeccable transportation circuit has been the key to major leaps in commerce. Processed food, motor vehicles, farm machinery, electrical equipment, refined petroleum, and chemicals are among the regions manufacturing strengths.

Emilia-Romagna also boasts of beautiful beaches like Marina di Romeo and Rimini, which help in drawing in more tourists. Taking all of these into account, it is considered to be one the more prosperous regions in the whole of Italy.