Administrative identity
Eleven provinces plus the Metropolitan City of Milan, ordinary statute, capital Milan. No minority language recognised at national level; Milan's patron saint is St Ambrose (7 December), when the city stops.
Sections: Geography · History · Population · Languages · Time zone · Public holidays
- Metropolitan City of Milan – Milan
- Bergamo – Bergamo
- Brescia – Brescia
- Como – Como
- Cremona – Cremona
- Lecco – Lecco
- Lodi – Lodi
- Mantua – Mantua
- Monza e Brianza – Monza
- Pavia – Pavia
- Sondrio – Sondrio
- Varese – Varese
Statute and languages
Lombardy is an ordinary-statute region; a 2017 consultative referendum asked for greater autonomy, but negotiations with the State have not yet produced an implementing agreement. The only official language is Italian; Lombard dialects (Milanese, Bergamasque, Brescian, Mantuan) are alive mostly in the provinces but are not protected by law 482/1999. The health system and service management are strongly regionalised compared with the Italian average.
Holidays
There are no regional holidays. 7 December is the feast of St Ambrose, Milan's patron saint: municipal offices and many city schools close, La Scala opens its season and the Oh bej! Oh bej! fair takes place. Every other municipality has its own patron (in Brescia Saints Faustinus and Jovita, 15 February; in Bergamo St Alexander, 26 August).
Data
Sources
Updated: 2026-10-14
Updated: 2026-10-14
Reviewed: 10/22/2026 · by piero.avolio · rev. 1 · Period: → 2027-10-31
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