Padua

The city of Padua (Lat. Patavium, It. Padova) is the economic and communications hub of the Veneto region in northern Italy. The capital of Padova province, it stands on the Bacchiglione River, 40km west of Venice and 29km southeast of Vicenza, with a population of 211,985 (2004). The city is included, with Venice (Italian Venezia), in the Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area, population 1,600,000. Its agricultural setting is the Pianura Padovana, the "Paduan plain," edged by the Euganaean Hills praised by Lucan and Martial, Petrarch and Ugo Foscolo. The city is picturesque, with a dense network of arcaded streets opening into large communal piazze, and many bridges crossing the various branches of the Bacchiglione, which once surrounded the ancient walls like a moat.

Demographics

Despite the fact that a major anti-immigrant party the Lega Nord has set up office in the city, the commerce and jobs attract many immigrants into the city. Many of the labourers are those of eastern European origin, and North African origin. Many hate crimes have been committed in the city, thought to be started by the notorious Lega Nord.

Related Topics:
Lega Nord - European origin - North African

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The racial makeup of the city is 94.5% Italian, 1.3% Romanian, 0.5% Albanian, and 0.5% Moldovan. Other races include very small numbers of Filipino, Croatians, Serbs, and Moroccans.

Related Topics:
Italian - Romanian - Albanian - Moldovan

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