Emilia-Romagna, Italy

🇮🇹 Emilia-Romagna is an administrative region of northern Italy, comprising the historical regions of Emilia and Romagna. Its capital is Bologna.

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 centre, 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 centre 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).

Economy Emilia-Romagna today is considered one of the richest European regions and the third wealthiest Italian region by gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. These results have been achieved by developing a very well balanced economy that comprises Italy's biggest agricultural sector as well as a long-standing tradition in automobile, motor and mechanics manufacturing and a strong banking and insurance industry.

Agriculture In spite of the depth and variety of industrial activities in the region, agriculture has not been eclipsed. Emilia-Romagna is among the leading regions in the country, with farming contributing 5.8% of the gross regional product. The agricultural sector has aimed for increased competitiveness by means of structural reorganisation and high-quality products, and this has led to the success of marketed brands. Cereals, potatoes, maize, tomatoes and onions are the most important products, along with fruit and grapes for the production of wine (of which the best known are Emilia's Lambrusco, Bologna's Pignoletto , Romagna's Sangiovese and white Albana). Alongside cereals, which for centuries remained the first local product, the cultivation of fruit trees has developed (especially peaches, but also apricots, plums, apples and pears).

Cattle and pig breeding are also highly developed. Farm cooperatives have been working along these lines in recent years. With their long tradition in the region there are now about 8,100 cooperatives, generally in the agricultural sector and mainly located in the provinces of Bologna (2,160) and Forlì-Cesena (1,300).

Economy: Industry The regional economy is more geared to export markets than other regions in the country: the main exports are from mechanical engineering (53%), the extraction of non-metallic minerals (13%) and the clothing industry (10%). Industry in the region presents a varied and complex picture and is located along the Via Emilia.

The food industry (e.g. Barilla, Parmalat, Granarolo, Zanetti, Grandi Salumifici Italiani, Cremonini, Fini, Conserve Italia) is particularly concentrated in Parma, Modena and Bologna. Very important is production of Parma ham, Parmesan and Grana Padano cheeses, Modena balsamic vinegar, Mortadella sausages. It is not restricted to these famous products, but also include production of sausages, other cheese, dairy products, coffee, sugar, fruit and vegetable conserves and stuffed pasta.

Automotive industry produces sports cars (Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Pagani), trucks (Astra), buses (Menarinibus) and motorcycles (Ducati, Bimota).

Machine building is well-developed and represented with fork-lifts (OM Still, FMTH Fantuzzi), skid-steer loader (CNH Industrial), tractors (Argo, Goldoni, Arbos), motors (VM Motori, Lombardini), vehicle gas-fuel equipment (Landi Renzo), undercarriages (ThyssenKrupp Berco), ceramic machine (SACMI), packaging machine (Coesia , SACMI, IMA), pumps (Interpump), wood-working machine tools (SCM Group), home appliance (Smeg, Saeco), automatic data capture equipment (Datalogic) etc.

There is a chemical industrial park  in Ferrara, where different companies manufacturing polyethylene, polypropylene, synthetic rubber and nitrogenous fertilizers. Other industrial park is Mirandola Biomedical District. In Parma there is pharmaceutical manufacturing from Chiesi Farmaceutici.

Sport and fitness articles is manufacturing by Technogym in Cesena.

The ceramic sector is concentrated in Faenza and Sassuolo.

Footwear industry is well developed and located in 2 industrial districts San Mauro Pascoli and between Fusignano and Bagnacavallo.

Economy: Tourist Industry Tourism is increasingly important, especially along the Adriatic coastline and the cities of art. The most popular location for seaside tourism is Rimini. Emilia-Romagna has many small and picturesque villages, 16 of them have been selected by I Borghi più belli d'Italia (English: The most beautiful Villages of Italy), a non-profit private association of small Italian towns of strong historical and artistic interest, that was founded on the initiative of the Tourism Council of the National Association of Italian Municipalities.

Transport The region of Emilia-Romagna has a very good system of transport, with 574 km of motorways, 1,053 km of railways and airports in Bologna, Forlì, Parma and Rimini. The main motorway crosses the region from north-west (Piacenza) to the south-east (Adriatic coast), connecting the main cities of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Bologna, and from here further to Ravenna, Rimini and the Adriatic coast.