The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain is a major geographical feature of Northern Italy. It extends approximately 650 km (400 mi) in an east-west direction, with an area of 46,000 km2 including its Venetic extension not actually related to the Po river basin; it runs from the Western Alps to the Adriatic Sea. The flatlands of Veneto and Friuli are often considered apart since they do not drain into the Po, but they effectively combine into an unbroken plain, making it the largest in Southern Europe. It has a population of 17 million, or a third of Italy's total population.
The Padan Plain in Northern Italy (green) and the Po river basin in the Plain (red circle)
Po near source in the western Alps
Carmagnola, countryside near the river Po
Rice fields in the province of Vercelli, eastern Piedmont.
Northern Italy is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. The Italian National Institute of Statistics defines the region as encompassing the four northwestern regions of Piedmont, Aosta Valley, Liguria and Lombardy in addition to the four northeastern regions of Trentino-Alto Adige, Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Emilia-Romagna.
Migration of the Lombards towards northern Italy
The defence of the Carroccio during the battle of Legnano (1176) by Amos Cassioli (1832–1891)
San Michele Maggiore, Pavia, where almost all the kings of Italy were crowned up to Frederick Barbarossa
The Iron Crown of Lombardy, for centuries a symbol of the Kings of Italy
