International

Territory

The Province of Milan is one of the 12 provinces of Lombardy and has an area of 1,575 km², with a population in June 2009 of 3,083,955 inhabitants.

Half of its territory, i.e. 728.69 km², is used for agriculture. Out of its total area, 765.54 km² are reserved for parks, and there are 84.88 km² of wooded areas. The urban areas, on the other hand, cover 547.76 km² and are mainly concentrated in the northern part of the province, where the urbanisation is compact and develops without breaks between the communes.

The territory is mainly flat, with an abundance of water: It is crossed by important rivers, namely the Ticino and the Adda, by a network of shallow water courses, such as the Olona, the Seveso and the Lambro, as well as by a very old system of canals. Of these, the Naviglio Martesana and the Naviglio Grande play an important role in irrigation. Its agricultural potential, which has been long developed, depends to a large degree on this abundance of water sources.

The economically predominant agricultural areas are the dairy industry, with a production of 3.3 million quintals sold in 2007, flower nurseries and cereals (mainly corn and rice), with total cereal sales of 3.2 million quintals. 

Territorial distribution of the Province of Milan
 
Click on the map to see a full-size image.

 The map shows regional parks (light green), local multi-communal parks - PLIS (dark green) and urban areas. In percentage terms, the urban areas, shown in grey, represent 35% the territory.