General · EdgepediaSeptember 17, 20266 min read

Milan

Milan (Italian: Milano; ancient Mediolanum) is the capital of Lombardy in northern Italy, the second largest city in the country, and its chief financial and manufacturing center. The municipality has about 1,305,000 inhabitants, and the surrounding metropolitan area holds a population estimated at between 3.9 and 7.4 million.¹ The city stands on the little river Olona near the middle of the Lombard plain, about 400 ft above sea level and 93 miles by rail east-northeast of Turin.²

Key fact	Detail
Location	Lombard plain, on the river Olona, 400 ft above sea level; 93 miles by rail E.N.E. of Turin²
Ancient name	Mediolanum, capital of Cisalpine Gaul, subject to Rome from about 190 B.C.³
Population	Municipality about 1,305,000 inhabitants; metropolitan area 3.9 to 7.4 million¹
Historic population	321,839 (1881); 560,613 (1906)²
Duomo	After St Peter's at Rome and the cathedral of Seville, the largest church in Europe; covers 14,000 sq. yds. and can hold 40,000 people²
Mobility planning	Urban Sustainable Mobility Plan (PUMS) approved by the City Council, Resolution no. 38 of 12 November 2018⁴
Air policy	Signatory of the C40 Clean Air Accelerator, with a low emission zone in place and an Air Quality and Climate Plan targeting 2030 and 2050⁵^•⁶

Ancient Mediolanum

According to Livy, as reported in the eighth edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, Mediolanum was founded in the territory of the Insubres by migratory Gallic hordes that crossed the Alps in the reign of Tarquinius Priscus, and was named after a village in Transalpine Gaul. It stood in the center of the great plain of Northern Italy, at an equal distance between the Ticinus (Ticino) on the west and the Addua (Adda) on the east.³

Although the capital of the Insubres, the town did not pass beyond the condition of a village until it became subject to the Romans about 190 B.C. Its pleasant site in the middle of a large fertile plain then recommended it as a place of residence and raised it to importance; Strabo called it "a considerable city," and in the time of Pliny the Younger it had become a favorite seat of learning. As capital of Cisalpine Gaul it was often the headquarters of the Roman emperors. Wrested from the Goths by Belisarius, it was retaken and reduced to ashes in A.D. 539, yet regained its prosperity in the Middle Ages.³

Medieval commune

After the establishment of the Lombard capital at Pavia in 569, Milan remained the center of Italian opposition to the foreign conquest. After the battle of Legnano in 1174, and despite the Lombard cities falling back into mutual jealousy, Milan began to grow in material prosperity. Following the Peace of Constance in 1183, Milan enlarged its walls and enjoyed a flowering of the arts, with every craft housed in its own district beneath a syndic responsible for protecting that trade's concerns; at this time armor-making stood as the city's chief industry.²

During the struggles with Barbarossa many Milanese vowed themselves, their goods, and their families to the Virgin should the city come safely out of its troubles, giving rise to the powerful fraternity of the "Umiliati," headquartered at the Brera, which developed the wool trade and later gave the first impetus to silk production. Irrigation works dating from this period helped make the Lombard plain a fertile garden.²

The communal government consisted of a parlamento or consiglio grande, open to all who possessed bread and wine of their own and progressively reduced from an unmanageable assembly to 800 members; a credenza, a committee of 12 elected for urgent or secret business; and the consuls, the executive, elected for one year and required to report to the great council at the end of their term.²

Landmarks

The Duomo of Milan, after St Peter's at Rome and the cathedral of Seville, is the largest church in Europe. It covers an area of 14,000 sq. yds. and can hold 40,000 people.² Standing in the Piazza dei Mercanti, just to the west of the Piazza del Duomo, here was the heart of the medieval city, the Palazzo della Ragione was constructed between 1223 and 1238 under the podestà Oldrado da Tresseno, who is commemorated by a high-relief equestrian likeness on the building, and it survives in excellent condition.²

Economy

At the opening of the twentieth century Milan was described as the chief financial center of Italy and the wealthiest manufacturing and commercial town in the country.² Machine-making on a large scale produced locomotives, railway trucks and carriages, steam-boilers and motors, turbines, pumps, and metal bridges and roofs; minor industries ranged from surgical, musical, and geodetic instruments to dynamos, sewing machines, bicycles, and automobiles. In textiles, silk held first place, with the amount of silk handled and woven in Milan greater than that dealt with at Lyons, and Milan was also the center of the Italian cotton industry. Manufactures of articles in caoutchouc and of electric cables had acquired a worldwide reputation, and the city was an important theatrical center whose workshops also made theatrical costumes and appliances.²

The industrial development extended to neighboring towns such as Monza, Gallarate, Saronno, Busto Arsizio, and Legnano. Much house industry, especially work in gold, silver, vulcanite, bronze, and leather, was powered by electricity partly furnished by hydraulic works at Paderno, 24 miles from Milan.²

Mobility and air quality planning

On 12 November 2018 the City Council adopted Milan's Urban Sustainable Mobility Plan (PUMS) through Resolution no. 38; the document sets out the approaches and directions guiding how mobility in Milan will develop, and the Lombardy Region makes it available on its SIVAS website.⁴ The PUMS instrument is the strategic planning tool identified by the European Union for addressing urban mobility of people and goods, combining the fight against air pollution and climate change with mobility needs over a ten-year horizon, and it connects to Sustainable Development Goal 11.2 on access to safe, affordable, and sustainable transport.⁷ A parallel metropolitan PUMS for the Città Metropolitana di Milano was begun with guidelines approved by the Metropolitan Council on 30 January 2019.⁸

On air quality, Milan is a signatory of the C40 Clean Air Accelerator, a group of 50 cities committed to reaching World Health Organization air quality guidelines, and it has a low emission zone in place regulating polluting vehicles.⁵ The city has developed an Air Quality and Climate Plan with objectives for 2030 and 2050; its 2017 emission inventories identify civil energy, mobility and transport, and the tertiary-productive sector as the areas of highest consumption.⁶ The Agency for Mobility, Environment and Territory (AMAT), working with the municipality and with C40 Cities and the INGKA Group, has run a two-year project on urban goods distribution to advance zero-emission freight.⁵

Population statistics

The municipality publishes annual resident population statistics; its summary data for 31 December 2024 divide the resident population by municipality, age class, Local Identity Units (NIL), and nationality.⁹ Historical census figures show the city's growth through the industrial era: 321,839 inhabitants in 1881 and 560,613 in 1906.²

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Places and geography › Settlements and neighborhoods › Cities and towns › Cities, towns, and villages of Western, Northern, and Southern Europe › Comuni of Italy › Comuni of Northern Italy

Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026

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