Located in the northern central part of Italy, Emilia-Romagna is one of the country's wealthiest areas.  It is known for its cuisine all over the world, and has made a name for itself within the country as a producer of high-quality farm products and the home of exclusive vacation resorts.  Emilia-Romagna began its life, however, in the early centuries BC as a nation-state first run by the Gauls, then the Etruscans, before being taken over by the ancient Romans.  It was the Romans who built many of the roads and market towns that Emilia-Romagna is still famous for today.

After the fall of Rome, the region was taken over by the Byzantines and then the Franks, the former bringing the area into an extended period of economic and prosperity, evidence of which can still be seen in the area's towns and cities today in the form of art and architecture.  Under the Franks, the region, along with other parts of central Italy, was donated to the papacy by Constantine, bringing an end to its secular growth for several hundred years until the invasion of Napoleon in the 19th Century upset the political order, allowing several regions to declare independence in its aftermath.

In the middle of the 19th Century, Emalia-Romagna became a strong advocate for Italian unity was among the first of the young country's regions to join it in 1859.