The province of Milan () was a

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

in the

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

region of

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Its capital was the city of

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. The area of the former province is highly urbanized, with more than 2,000 inhabitants/km², the third-highest population density among Italian provinces, just below the densities of the provinces of

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

and of Monza e Brianza, the latter of which was created in 2004 from the north-eastern part of the province of Milan. On 1 January 2015 the province was replaced by the

Metropolitan City of Milan The Metropolitan City of Milan (; , ) is a Metropolitan cities of Italy, metropolitan city (not to be confused with the Milan metropolitan area, metropolitan area) in the Lombardy region of Italy. It is the second most populous metropolitan ci ...

Geography

The province of Milan extended over the

Po Valley The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain (, , or ) is a major geographical feature of northern Italy. It extends approximately in an east-west direction, with an area of including its Venetian Plain, Venetic extension not actu ...

and was bordered by the

River Ticino The river Ticino ( , ; ; French and ; ) is the most important perennial left-bank tributary of the Po. It has given its name to the Swiss canton through which its upper portion flows. It is one of the four major rivers taking their source in t ...

to the west, and the River Adda to the east. It was shaped by its waterways – river and canals that traverse it and sometimes border it, from the

Lambro The Lambro ( or ''Lambar'' ) is a river of Lombardy, northern Italy, a left tributary of the Po. The Lambro rises from the Monte San Primo, elevation , near the Ghisallo, in the province of Como, not far from Lake Como. After Magreglio it fl ...

and

Olona The Olona (''Olona'' in Italian; ''Ulona'', ''Urona'' or ''Uòna'' in Western Lombard) is an Italian river belonging to the Po Basin, long, that runs through the Province of Varese and Metropolitan City of Milan whose course is developed entire ...

rivers to the numerous canals, like the Navigli Milanesi; these water runs link farmsteads and villages like Corneliano Bertario, the Castello Borromeo and ancient noble villas (such as the Inzago Villa near the Naviglio Martesana) to the Canale Villoresi, which is thought to be the longest man-made canal in Italy. The Villoresi is the natural southern border of Brianza, an area in Lombardy noted for its mountains, lakes and plains. It contains six regional natural parks: Parco Adda Nord,

Parco Agricolo Sud Milano Parco Agricolo Sud Milano ("Rural Park South Milan") is a large protected rural area located south and south-east of Milan, Italy. The park was established in 1990 with the purpose of preserving, safeguarding, and enhancing the natural and histo ...

, Parco delle Groane, Parco Nord Milano, Parco della Valle del Lambro and the Parco Lombardo della Valle del Ticino. Half of the province is agricultural and flood plain, and most of it is protected by reserves.

Largest municipalities by population

References

External links

*
Milan Quality of Life and Info Sheet

2015 disestablishments in Italy States and territories disestablished in 2015 {{Lombardy-geo-stub

Geography

Largest municipalities by population

See also

References

External links