city, Lombardia ( Lombardy) regione, northern Italy. The city is surrounded on three sides by lakes formed by the Mincio River, southwest of Verona. It originated in settlements of the Etruscans and later of the Gallic Cenomani. Roman colonization began about 220 BC, and the great Latin poet Virgil was born at nearby Andes in 70 BC. In the 11th century, Mantua became a fief of Boniface of Canossa, marquis of Tuscany. After the death of Matilda of Tuscany in 1115, the city secured a communal government, and during that period (1167) Mantua joined the Lombard League (an alliance of northern Italian towns) against the policies of the Holy Roman emperor Frederick I Barbarossa. The Bonacolsi family gained control of Mantua in 1276. In 1328 the Bonacolsi were driven out by the Gonzagas (Gonzaga Dynasty), under whom the city enjoyed a long period of political prestige and cultural splendour that endured until the 17th century. The Gonzagas' rule of Mantua ended in 1707, when the city became a fief of the Austrian Habsburgs' empire and was heavily fortified as the southwest corner of the imperial “Quadrilateral.” Napoleon took the city after a long siege in 1797, and Mantua was dominated by the French until it was returned to Austria in 1814. Mantua contributed to the cause of the Risorgimento (movement for national independence) and was joined to the Kingdom of Italy in 1866.

Mantua's economy is primarily concerned with the processing and shipping of agricultural products. The city is a centre of road, rail, and water transportation; its industrialization increased after World War II, and the population grew rapidly. Pop. (2006 est.) mun., 47,671.