The Metropolitan City of Bologna is part of the region of
Emilia-Romagna in northwestern Italy. It is in the centre of the region and is bounded on the east by the
province of Ravenna, while the
province of Ferrara lies to the north and the
province of Modena lies to the west. To the south are the
Metropolitan City of Florence, the
province of Prato and the
province of Pistoia, all in the region of
Tuscany. The metropolitan territory is largely flat, and stretches from the alluvial
Po Plain into the
Apennine Mountains; the highest point in the metropolitan city is the peak of
Corno alle Scale in the commune of
Lizzano in Belvedere, at above sea level. The
municipality with the lowest average altitude is
Molinella which is 8 metres above sea level. The municipality with the highest average altitude is
Monghidoro 841 metres above
sea level. The metropolitan city of
Bologna includes south-eastern Emilia and seven municipalities whose territory is entirely included in the historical-geographical region of Romagna:
Borgo Tossignano,
Casalfiumanese,
Castel del Rio,
Dozza,
Fontanelice,
Imola and
Mordano. The provincial territory extends mainly across plains and hills. The mountain occupies 21.3% of the province, against a regional average of 25%, and is divided between the Bolognese
Apennines and the Imola Apennines. The main rivers that cross the territory are the
Reno (211 km), which collects almost all the waters of the Bolognese area, the
Santerno (85 km), the
Idice (77 km), the
Sillaro (66 km), the
Savena (54 km), the Samoggia (53 km) and the (40 km). Worthy of note for its particularity is the Dardagna torrent, the only river in the territory of the metropolitan city which, flowing into the Panaro, is part of the Po water basin. In the extensive hill system, two ridges stand out which are located transversally to the main valleys: the Pliocene Buttress and the Chalk Vein. Characteristic are the gullies, hilly formations dug by the flow of rain on the clayey slopes of different densities, present along the Chalk Vein on the hills from
Reggio nell'Emilia to the
province of Rimini.
Natural areas The
flora and
fauna heritage of the
metropolitan area is managed through a system represented by 21 protected areas and 31 sites of community importance. The total surface area in October 2004 amounted to 710.684 acres (equal to 19.36% of the provincial surface area). Inside the Metropolitan city of Bologna are present 5 Regional
Parks (Corno alle Scale, Gessi Bolognesi and Calanchi dell'Abbadessa, Monte Sole,
Monteveglio Abbey, Suviana and Brasimone
Lake), 2 Provincial Parks (Montovolo, La Martina), 1 Nature Reserve (Countrafforte Nature Reserve Pliocene), 13 Ecological Rebalancing Areas (ARE). Furthermore, 70 different species among those listed in
Annex I of the "Birds" Directive have been registered in the area. == Demographics ==