歷屆世博會簡況：意大利1881年米蘭世博會

      Milan (Italian: Milano Italian pronunciation: [mi?la(?)no]; Western Lombard: Milan (listen)) in Italy, is the capital of the region of Lombardia and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while the urban area is the fifth largest in the E.U. with an estimated population of 4.3 million. The Milan metropolitan area, by far the largest in Italy, is estimated by OECD to have a population of 7.4 million.

　　Milan is renowned as one of the world capitals of design and fashion. The English word millinery, referring to women’s hats, is derived from the name of the city. The Lombard metropolis is famous for its fashion houses and shops (such as along Via Montenapoleone) and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in the Piazza Duomo (reputed to be the world’s oldest shopping mall). Milan is regarded as the true fashion capital of the world, according to the 2009 Global Language Monitor,and annually competes with other major international centres, such as New York, Paris, Rome and London. Some of the finest Italian fashion houses, such as Gucci, Prada, Versace, Missoni, Dolce & Gabbana, Armani, Valentino, Trussardi, Luxottica and Moschino, to name a few, are headquartered in the city. The city also contains boutiques and important offices of other major labels, such as Max Mara, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Dior, Ferragamo, Fendi and Hermès. Milan also contains the world’s first seven-star hotel, the ultra-luxurious Town House Galleria, located within the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, and is one of The Leading Hotels of the World.

　　An international and cosmopolitan city, 13.9% of Milan’s population is from abroad.Milan’s global importance and influence in fashion, opera, finance, business, culture, literature, commerce, industry and media make it one of GaWC’s major Alpha world cities, ranking amongst the top 18 global cities, along with Madrid, Seoul, Moscow, Toronto, Brussels, Mumbai, Buenos Aires and Kuala Lumpur.[9] Milan is one of the EU and the world’s most important centres for business and finance, with its economy (see economy of Milan) being the world’s 26th richest by purchasing power,[10] with a GDP of $115 billion, and the Milan metropolitan area has Europe’s 4th highest GDP, that of € 241.2 billion (US$ 312.3 billion) in 2004, which means that were Milan a country, it would be the world’s 28th richest, near in size to that of the economy of Austria. Milan, also, has one of Italy’s highest GDP (per capita), about €35,137 (US$ 52,263), which is 161.6% of the EU average GDP per capita. The city is also the world’s 11th most expensive city for expatriate employees.