Lombardy

A villa on the shore of Lake Como, in Lombardy, Italy. The steep hillsides bordering the lake are covered with walnut and chestnut plantations.

Bellagio, a village on Lake Como, Italy, traditionally an agricultural area is now a popular destination for tourists.

Region of northern Italy, between the Alps and the River Po, comprising the provinces of Bergamo, Brescia, Como, Cremona, Mantua, Milan, Pavia, Sondrio, and Varese; area 23,861 sq km/9,213 sq mi; population (2001 est) 8,922,500. Its capital is Milan. It is the country's chief industrial area with chemical, pharmaceutical, textile, and engineering operations, and its most productive agricultural region yielding wheat, maize, wine, meat, and dairy products.

Physical Lombardy is very mountainous in the north, the highest point being Piz Bernina at 3,430 m/11,257 ft, and is part of the great Plain of Lombardy in the south. The chief rivers are the Po and its tributaries the Ticino, Adda, Oglio, and Mincio, which flow through their respective lakes Maggiore, Como, Iseo, and Garda.

Economy Lombardy is now Italy's most populous and most industrialized region. The industrial conurbation consisting of Milan and the area to the north (including Como, Varese, Busto Arsizio, Legnano, Gallarate, and Monza) has mainly large factories making a wide range of products, but dominated by engineering, textile, chemical, and rubber industries. Bergamo and Brescia are also major industrial centres. The region's agriculture is the most mechanized in Italy. Helped by the irrigation of the plain, it produces a vast range of foods. This prosperous economic base has made it the wealthiest region in Italy and has attracted a large influx of people from other parts of Italy.

History The region was conquered by Rome in 223 BC, by the Lombards in AD 568, and in 774 by Charlemagne. A military alliance, called the Lombard league and consisting mainly of cities in the region, was formed in the 12th century against the imperialistic advances of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick (I) Barbarossa. Frederick was defeated by the Lombard League at Legnano in 1176; the League was renewed in 1226 to resist Barbarossa's grandson, Frederick II, who was defeated in 1237. Lombardy was subsequently in the hands of Spain, Austria, France (under Napoleon I), and Austria for a second period. In 1859 it became part of the kingdom of Italy.