 Milan (Italian: Milano; Milanese: Milán) is the main city of northern Italy, and is located in the plains of Lombardy, the most populated and developed region in Italy. The city proper has about 1,308,500 inhabitants (2004), but the population of the urban area (La Grande Milano, Greater Milan) is 4,280,820 people (2006 estimate).
The city is one of the major financial and business centres in Europe. The city is famous for fashion firms and shops (via Montenapoleone) and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in the Piazza Duomo, reputed to be the world's oldest shopping mall. Milan is one of the world capitals of fashion—like New York City, Paris, London, Tokyo—and design. Indeed the English word milliner is derived from the name of the city. |
