Po Valley

The Po Valley, also called the Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain (Italian: Pianura Padana), is a big and important area in northern Italy. It stretches about 650 km (400 mi) from west to east and covers 46,000 km² (18,000 square miles). This flat land runs from the Alps down to the Adriatic Sea, and it is home to about 17 million people — that's one-third of all the people who live in Italy.

This valley is very flat and is formed on top of old canyons filled over time. Many rivers and streams flow through it, including the Po River and its tributaries like the Tanaro, Adda, and Oglio. These rivers come from the Alps in the north and the Apennines in the south.

Because of its rich soil and smooth land, the Po Valley is a key place for farming and living. It plays a big role in Italy's economy and environment. Different groups and governments may define the exact borders of the Po Valley differently, but it is clearly one of the most important areas in Southern Europe.

Geology

Main article: The river Po

The Po Valley sits over an old basin and ancient deep valleys formed when land masses bumped into each other long ago. Over time, soil and rocks from the mountains have filled this area. The shape of the coast near the Adriatic Sea changes because of how much soil is added and how the land moves up and down.

In 1973, people found a place with natural gas deep underground, about 6 km (4 miles) below the surface.

Geography

The Po Valley is a large, flat area in northern Italy. It stretches about 650 kilometers from the Alps to the Adriatic Sea. The land here is mostly flat, but it has some hilly parts near the edges.

The valley has two main parts. The upper part is drier and less good for farming. The lower part is very fertile and good for growing crops. Many towns and cities are in this lower part, which is also where a lot of industry is found today.

In the past, some parts of the valley were wet and swampy. Over time, people built channels and drained the water to turn the land into farmland. This work began in very old times and continued for many centuries. Today, the whole valley is used for farming.

Tributaries

The Po Valley has many rivers that flow into the main Po River. These smaller rivers, called tributaries, come from different directions and help water the lands around them. They are important for the environment and the people living there.

Major cities

From upstream to downstream:

Piedmont

• Paesana
• Sanfront
• Martiniana Po
• Villafranca Piemonte
• Turin
• Chivasso
• Casale Monferrato
• Valenza

Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna

• Pavia
• Piacenza
• Cremona
• Casalmaggiore
• Ferrara

Veneto

• Po Delta – where the river flows into the Adriatic Sea

Climate and vegetation

The Po Valley has a humid subtropical climate. Being surrounded by the Alps and the Apennines, and close to the Adriatic Sea, the area experiences a lot of relative humidity all year. Winters are cool and damp, with temperatures between 0 and 5 °C (32 and 41 °F). Fog and mist used to be common, but they happen less now because of changes in the climate and less pollution. Summers are warm and humid, with temperatures between 22 and 25 °C (72 and 77 °F). Sometimes there are thunderstorms and hailstorms that can damage crops.

Rainfall in the Po Valley ranges from 700 to 1,200 mm (30 to 45 inches) each year, mostly in autumn and spring. Winds are usually gentle, but strong winds or storms can clear the air quickly. The area can get quite polluted in winter when cold air stays close to the ground. Originally, the land was covered with forests of pedunculate oak, poplars, European hornbeam, alders, elderberry, elms, willows, maples, ash, and other trees. Some of the last forests remain near the River Ticino and are protected.

History

Prehistory and antiquity

The Po Valley has had people living there for a very long time — since about 780,000 years ago. During cold times, called glaciations, people from Northern Europe may have used the valley as a safe place to live. When the climate was warm, the valley would fill with water, but when it got cold again, people and animals could walk through it to reach places like France and Spain.

Big cities started to appear in the Po Valley much later than in places like Greece or southern Italy. The first known people there were the Ligurians. Later, people called the Celtic Insubres came and settled in the area. After them, a group called the Etruscans arrived and brought with them new ways of building cities. They named places like Parma, Ravenna, and Bologna. But their time there didn’t last long. Eventually, other groups like the Venetics and Greeks came and changed the valley even more.

Middle Ages

As time went on, the Po Valley saw many changes. After a long period of peace called the Pax Romana, the area faced many invaders, including Attila and his Huns. Many people moved to the mountains for safety. Then came a group called the Lombards, who named the area Lombardy. They ruled the land and split it into smaller parts called duchies. Over time, their strict rules became softer.

Later, a leader named Charlemagne took over the area and made it part of a big empire. As years passed, people began to change the land more, clearing forests and draining wetlands to grow food. This helped the population grow and led to bigger towns and more trade. By the time of the Medieval Warm Period, many new farms appeared, and cities like Milan became very important.

Economy

The Po Valley is a very important place for both industry and farming in Europe. The flow of the Po River helps create electricity, and the river is also used a lot to water crops in the area.

Pollution

The Po Valley has some of the worst air in Europe. Satellite images show a large area of harmful gases and tiny particles hanging over the valley, including cities like Milan, Turin, and Bologna. Cars, factories, and farms all add to this pollution. This bad air can shorten people's lives by about half a year.

Research shows that many cities in the Po Valley, such as Brescia and Bergamo, have very high levels of harmful tiny particles in the air. Other cities like Turin and Milan also have a lot of a harmful gas made mostly by traffic. This poor air quality affects many people living in these areas.