Province of Brescia


The Province of Brescia is a Province in Lombardy, northern Italy. It has a population of some 1,265,964 and its capital is the city of Brescia.
With an area of 4,785 km², it is the biggest province of Lombardy. It is also the second province of the region for the number of inhabitants and fifth in Italy.
It borders the province of Sondrio to the north and north west, the province of Bergamo to the west, the province of Cremona to the south west and south, the province of Mantua to the south, and to the east the province of Verona and Trentino.
The province stretches between Lake Iseo in the west, Lake Garda in the east, the Southern Rhaetian Alps in the north and the Lombardian plains in the south. The main rivers of the province are the Oglio, the Mella and the Chiese.
Besides Brescia, other important towns in the province are Darfo Boario Terme, Desenzano del Garda, Palazzolo sull'Oglio, Montichiari, Ghedi, Chiari, Rovato, Gussago, Rezzato, Concesio, Orzinuovi, Salò, Gardone Val Trompia and Lumezzane.

Geography

The province of Brescia is the largest in the region, boasts three main lakes, Lake Garda, Lake Iseo and Lake Idro, plus several other smaller lakes, three valleys, Val Camonica, Val Trompia and Valle Sabbia, as well as a wide flat area south of the city, known as the Bassa Bresciana, and several hilly areas surrounding the city landscape and extending eastwards towards Veneto and west to Franciacorta.
Due to the altitude and morphological variety and the presence of large lakes, the province includes all kinds of biomes in Europe: from something similar to the maquis shrubland up to the perennial snow of Adamello.

Valleys

The three main valleys on the territory of Brescia are the Val Camonica, crossed by the river Oglio and inserted in the northwestern part of the province from Adamello to Lake Iseo; Val Trompia, the river Mella basin, between the municipalities of Concesio and Collio; and the Valle Sabbia which includes the municipalities from Serle to Bagolino along the course of the river Chiese.
All the three valleys have the point of union the Croce Domini Pass, which takes the name from the "cross" formed by the union of the three basins.

Lakes

Within the province there are eight lakes. The main lake basin, in both dimensional, climatic and cultural terms, is Lake Garda, shared with the Veneto and Trentino regions, which with its 370 km² of surface is the biggest lake in Italy. Because of its size, the lake has a considerable influence on the climate and the surrounding environment, generating a micro-geographic area in a more mitigated climate both in summer and winter.
Lake Iseo is the second lake of the area, and is situated at about 180 m above sea level, in an area called Sebino, between Val Camonica and Franciacorta, which divides the provinces of Bergamo and Brescia.
Lake Idro, the third lake within the provincial territory, is located in Valle Sabbia, on the border between Brescia and the province of Trento, and differs from the other two main lakes for its modest size. The waters of the lake are mainly exploited for the irrigation of crops in contiguous territories, as well as for the production of energy through a small power plant located in the municipality of Vobarno.
Other small lakes in the province are: Lago della Vacca, Lago d'Arno, Lago Aviolo, Lago Baitone, Lago Moro and Lago di Valvestino.

Rivers

There are about 45 watercourses crossing the territory of the province, but almost all of them are torrents. The only watercourses that can be defined as real rivers are just three: Oglio, Chiese and Mella; divided into the three main valleys.
in summer

Extreme points

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

The Province of Brescia is an administrative body of intermediate level between a municipality and Lombardy region.
The three main functions devolved to the Province of Brescia are:
As an administrative institution, the Province of Brescia has its own elected bodies. From 1945 to 1995 the President of the Province of Brescia was chosen by the members of the Provincial Council, elected every five years by citizens. From 1995 to 2014, under provisions of the 1993 local administration reform, the President of the Province was chosen by popular election, originally every four, then every five years.
On 3 April 2014, the Italian Chamber of Deputies gave its final approval to the Law n.56/2014 which involves the transformation of the Italian provinces into "institutional bodies of second level". According to the 2014 reform, each province is headed by a President assisted by a legislative body, the Provincial Council, and an executive body, the Provincial Executive. President and members of Council are elected together by mayors and city councilors of each municipality of the province respectively every four and two years. The Executive is chaired by the President who appoint others members, called assessori. Since 2015, the President and other members of the Council do not receive a salary.
In each province, there is also a Prefect, a representative of the central government who heads an agency called prefettura-ufficio territoriale del governo. The Questor is the head of State's Police in the province and his office is called questura. There is also a province's police force depending from local government, called provincial police.
This is a list of the Presidents of the Province since 1945:

Centre-left coalition
Far-left
The center-left coalition currently detains the majority thanks to an agreement with the far-left councillor and the vote of the President.
PresidentTerm startTerm end Party
Arturo Reggio19 May 194528 May 1951PLI
Ercoliano Bazoli28 May 195110 May 1970DC
Mino Martinazzoli10 May 197022 June 1972DC
Tarcisio Gitti22 June 197215 May 1975DC
Bruno Boni15 May 197512 June 1985DC
Vittorio Marniga12 June 198530 November 1987PSI
Costanzo Valli30 November 19878 May 1995PSI
Andrea Lepidi8 May 199528 June 1999PPI
Alberto Cavalli28 June 19998 June 2009FI
Daniele Molgora8 June 200913 October 2014LN
Pier Luigi Mottinelli13 October 20142 November 2018PD
Samuele Alghisi2 November 2018incumbentPD

Municipalities

Here is a list of the most populated municipalities of the province.
RankMunicipalityPopulation
as of 31 May 2017		Area
Density
Altitude
1stBrescia196,69690.68149
2ndDesenzano del Garda28,93460.167
3rdMontichiari25,59281.19108
4thLumezzane22,40531.52460
5thPalazzolo sull'Oglio20,12023.06166
6thRovato19,11926.1192
7thChiari18,92338.02145
8thGhedi18,75960.7685
9thGussago16,63825.02190
10thLonato del Garda16,37170.5188

Subsequently a list of the municipalities divided into their geographical zone :
Here is a list of the municipal government in cities and towns with more than 15,000 inhabitants:
MunicipalityMayor PartyExecutiveTerm
BresciaEmilio Del BonoPDPDLeU2018–2023
Desenzano del GardaGuido MalinvernoFIFILNFdIInd2017–2022
MontichiariMarco TogniLNFILNFdI2019–2024
LumezzaneJosehf FacchiniLNFILNFdI2019–2024
Palazzolo sull'OglioGabriele ZanniPDPDInd2017–2022
RovatoTiziano BelottiLNFILN2015–2020
ChiariMassimo VizzardiPDPDInd2019–2024
GhediFederico CasaliLNFILNFdI2019–2024
GussagoGiovanni CoccoliIndInd2017–2022
Lonato del GardaRoberto TardaniFIFILNInd2015–2020
ConcesioAgostino DamioliniLNFILNFdI2019–2024
Darfo Boario TermeEzio MondiniPDPDInd2017–2022

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