region in NC Italy, near the head of the Adriatic: 8,541 sq mi (22,121 sq km); pop. 3,910,000; cap. Bologna
See Emilia-Romagna in American Heritage Dictionary 4
(ĕ-mēlˈyə-rō-mäˈnyä)
A region of northern Italy bordering on the Adriatic Sea. Named for the Aemilian Way, a Roman road laid out in 187 B.C. that connected Piacenza with Rimini, the area was conquered by the Lombards in the fifth century A.D. and became part of the kingdom of Italy in 1861.