Emilia-Romagna

Emilia-Romagna (, , both also ; ; or Emîlia-Rumâgna; ) is an administrative region of northern Italy, comprising the historical regions of Emilia and Romagna. Its capital is Bologna. It has an area of , and a population of 4.4 million. Emilia-Romagna is one of the wealthiest and most developed regions in Europe, with the third highest gross domestic product per capita in Italy, Emilia-Romagna is also a cultural, economic and tourist center, being the home of the University of Bologna, the oldest university in the world; containing Romanesque and Renaissance cities, such as Modena, Parma and Ferrara, and the once Western Roman Empire's capital city, Ravenna; encompassing eleven UNESCO heritage sites; being a center for food and automobile production (home of automotive companies such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Pagani, De Tomaso, Dallara, and Ducati); and having popular coastal resorts such as Cervia, Cesenatico, Rimini and Riccione. In 2018, the Lonely Planet guide named Emilia-Romagna as the best place to see in Europe. The region is home to the third largest community of foreign residents in the country, after Lombardy and Lazio. Etymology The name Emilia-Romagna is a legacy of Ancient Rome. Emilia derives from the via Aemilia, the Roman road connecting Piacenza to Rimini, completed in 187 BC, and named after the consul Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. Romagna derives from Romània, the name of the Eastern Roman Empire applied to Ravenna by the Lombards when the western Empire had ceased to exist and Ravenna was an outpost of the east (540–751). History