Milan

Milan (Italian: Milano) is an Italian municipality, capital of Lombardy, the province of Milan, with about 1,308,735 inhabitants. The urban area of ​​Milan is the fifth largest in the European Union, with an estimated population of 4.3 million inhabitants. The metropolitan area of ​​Milan is the largest and most populous of Italy, with an estimated population of 7.4 million inhabitants of According to OECD estimates.
In European terms, Milan’s metropolitan area covers a land area equivalent to that of Paris with a population of over seven million inhabitants. This area meets the criteria of combined statistical areas (CSAs) of the United States. By population, Milan is Italy’s second largest city and third largest metropolitan area in the European Union.
The city was founded under the name of Mediolanum by Insubria, a Celtic people. It was later captured by the Romans in 222 BC, making it very successful under the Roman Empire. Later, Milan was ruled by the Visconti, Sforza, in 1500 the Spanish and the Austrians in 1700. In 1796, Milan was conquered by Napoleon I, who made it the capital of his Kingdom of Italy in 1805. During the Romantic period, Milan was an important cultural center in Europe, attracting many artists, writers and important literary figures. Later, during World War II, the city was severely damaged by Allied bombing, and after the German occupation in 1943, Milan became the main center of the Italian Resistance. Nevertheless, Milan saw a post-war economic growth, attracting thousands of immigrants from southern Italy and abroad. An international and cosmopolitan city, 13.9% of the population of Milan is appropriate foreign origin. The city remains one of the main industrial centers transportacionais and Europe and is one of the most important centers of the European Union for business and finance, with its economy being one of the richest in the world with a GDP of U.S. $ 115 billion. The metropolitan area of ​​Milan has the highest GDP in Europe: U.S. $ 241.2 billion (2004 estimates). Milan also has one of the highest GDPs of Italy (per capita), about € 35,137, which represents 161.6% of average EU GDP per capita. Moreover, Milan is the 11th most expensive city in the world toexpatriate employees. The city has also been classified as one of the most powerful and influential in the world.
Milan is known worldwide as the capital of design, with greater global influence in commerce, industry, music, sports, literature, art and media, making it one of the major cities of the world. The city is especially famous for its fashion houses and shops (such as Via Montenapoleone) and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in the Piazza Duomo (the world’s oldest shopping mall). The city has a rich cultural heritage and has a cuisine rich in variety of dishes (it is home to many famous dishes, such as Christmas cake and panettone). The city has a particularly famous music, especially opera, by tradition, is home to several major composers (such as Giuseppe Verdi) and theaters (including the Teatro alla Scala). Milan is also known to contain several major museums, universities, academies, palaces, churches and libraries (such as the Academy of Brera and the Castello Sforzesco) and two world famous football clubs: Associazione Calcio Milan and Internazionale Milano Football Club. This is one of Milan’s most popular tourist destinations in Europe, with more than 1.914 million foreign tourists in the city in 2008. The city hosted the Universal Exhibition of 1906 and will host the Universal Exhibition of 2015.
The people of Milan are referred to as “Milanese” (Italian: Milanesi or informally Meneghini and Ambrosian).