Venice city centre

Municipal coat of arms Country

Italy Region Veneto Province Venice (VE) Mayor Massimo Cacciari (since April 18, 2005) Elevation 0 m (0 ft) Area 412 km² (159 sq mi) Population (as of January 1, 2004)  - Total 271,251  - Density 658/km² (1,704/sq mi) Time zone CET, UTC+1 Coordinates 45°26'N 12°19'E? / ?45.433, 12.317Coordinates: 45°26'N 12°19'E? / ?45.433, 12.317 Gentilic Veneziani Dialing code 041 Postal code 30100 Frazioni Chirignago, Favaro Veneto, Mestre, Marghera, Murano, Burano, Giudecca, Lido, Zelarino Patron St. Mark the Evangelist  - Day April 25 Website: www.comune.venezia.it Venice and its Lagoon* UNESCO World Heritage Site

State Party

 Italy Type Cultural Criteria i, ii, iii, iv, v, vi Reference 394 Region† Europe and North America Inscription history Inscription 1987  (11th Session) * Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. † Region as classified by UNESCO. Venice (Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venezsia) is a city in northern Italy, the capital of region Veneto, and has a population of 271,251 (census estimate January 1, 2004). Together with Padua, the city is included in the Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area (population 1,600,000). Venice has been known as the "La Dominante", "Serenissima", "Queen of the Adriatic", "City of Water", "City of Bridges", and "The City of Light". The city stretches across 117 small islands in the marshy Venetian Lagoon along the Adriatic Sea in northeast Italy. The saltwater lagoon stretches along the shoreline between the mouths of the Po (south) and the Piave (north) Rivers. The population estimate of 272,000 inhabitants includes the population of the whole Comune of Venezia; around 62,000 in the historic city of Venice (Centro storico); 176,000 in Terraferma (the Mainland), mostly in the large frazione of Mestre and Marghera; and 31,000 live on other islands in the lagoon. Because the Adriatic is part of the larger Mediterranean Sea, Venice is the northermost major city and seaport on the Mediterranean. The Venetian Republic was a major maritime power during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and a staging area for the Crusades and the Battle of Lepanto, as well as a very important center of commerce (especially silk, grain and spice trade) and art in the 13th century up to the end of the 17th century.