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Lombardy covers approximately the centre of the Po Valley, as well as extending over the middle of the Italian Alps. It borders with Switzerland to the north, Emilia-Romagna to the south, Piedmont to the west and Trentino-Alto Adige and Venetia to the east. The region (23,856 sq km.) is only the fourth largest in Italy though it is unquestionably the most densely populated (c. 8,879,000); the population density (372 inhabitants per sq.km) makes Lombardy the second region, after Campania; 1/14 of the country's entire population is concentrated in the Province of Milan.

History. Three distinct natural zones can be fairly easily distinguished in the Lombardy region: mountain, hill and plain. The first is an alpine zone including the Lepontine and Rhaetian Alps (Piz Bernina, 4 055 m.), the Orobic Alps, the Ortles and Adamello massifs; a pre-alpine zone, its main peaks being the Grigne Group (2,410 m.), Resegone (1,875 m.) and Presolana (2,521 m.). The great Lombard lakes, all of glacial origin, lie in this zone. From west to east these are Lake Maggiore, Lake Lugano (only a small part is Italian), Lake Como, Lake Iseo, Lake Idro, then Lake Garda, the largest in Italy. South of the Prealps lie the hills characterized by a succession flow heights of morainic origin, formed during the last Ice Age and small barely fertile plateaux (locally called `groane'), with typical heaths and conifer woods. mabbio, Pusiano, Monate and Annone, are dotted amongst the hills.

The Plains of Lombardy, formed from alluvial deposits, can be divided into `upper' (permeable ground), and `lower' to the south of the so-called line of `fontanili' the spring waters rising on impermeable ground. Anomalous compared with the three distinctions already made is the `Oltrepò Pavese', the Preapennine hills beyond the Po River. A number of rivers, all direct or indirect tributaries of the Po, cross the Plains of Lombardy. Major rivers, flowing west to east, are the Ticino, the outlet of Lake Maggiore, the Lambro, the Adda, outlet of Lake Como, the Mincio, outlet of Lake Garda, and the Oglio, the Lake Iseo outflow. There is a wide network of canals for irrigation purposes.

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