Lombardy
Lombardy (; ) is an administrative region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern part of the country and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. It is the third most populous region in the European Union. Over a fifth of Italy's gross domestic product (GDP) is produced in the region. The Lombardy region is located between the Alps mountain range and tributaries of the river Po, and includes Milan, the largest metropolitan area in the country, and among the largest in the European Union (EU). Of the fifty-eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Italy, eleven are in Lombardy. Virgil, Pliny the Elder, Ambrose, Gerolamo Cardano, Caravaggio, Claudio Monteverdi, Antonio Stradivari, Cesare Beccaria, Alessandro Volta and Alessandro Manzoni; and popes John XXIII and Paul VI originated in the area of modern-day Lombardy region. Etymology The name Lombardy comes from Lombard, which is derived from Late Latin ("a Lombard"), which derived from the Proto-Germanic elements + ; equivalent to long beard. According to some scholars, the second element derives from Proto-Germanic *bardǭ, *barduz ("axe"), related to German , or the whole word comes from the Proto-Albanian *Lum bardhi "white