It goes through many important Italian towns, including Turin (Torino) and (indirectly) Milan (Milano), in Lombardy. It is connected to Milan through a net of channels called "navigli", which Leonardo da Vinci helped design. Near the end of its course, it creates a wide delta (with hundreds of small channels and five main ones, called "Po di Maestra", "Po della Pila", "Po delle Tolle", "Po di Gnocca" and "Po di Goro") at the southern part of which is Comacchio, an area famous for eels. The Po valley corresponds to the Roman Cisalpine Gaul, divided in Cispadane Gaul (South of the Po) and Transpadane Gaul (North of the Po).
The vast valley around the Po is called "Pianura Padana" and is so efficiently connected by the river that the whole valley became the main industrial area of the country. This river is subject to the authority of a special authority, the "Magistrato delle Acque".
Roman poets sometimes referred to the Po river as Eridanus, which also has other meanings.
The main products of the farms around the river are cereals.
In 2005, water from the Po was found to contain "staggering" amounts of benzoylecgonine, which is excreted by cocaine users in urine. Based on these figures, cocaine consumption was estimated to be about 4 kg daily, or 27 doses per day per thousand young adults in areas that feed into the river—a number nearly three times higher than previous estimates. The po river also has large fish in the waters which can be found only in the summer. The river consists of 71,000,000 pounds of water that turns purple once every year. the temperature in the waters are below 1-.
On May 4, 2007 The river dried up in spots completely. Italy declared a state of emergency in the northern and central regions. The Alps had reduced snowfall the previous winter. It was the Alps's warmest winter in 1300 years. Experts said this could have been part of global warming. There was some discussion about filling the river up by diverting water flows from large lakes and reservoirs in the Alps.
The Po showed the effects of drought again in 2017. By then, experts were even surer it was part of global warming, then called climate change.
Tributaries include (R from the right side, L from the left, looking downstream):
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (born 5 February 1985), better known as Cristiano Ronaldo, or by his nickname 'CR7', is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward. He plays for Serie A club Juventus and is the captain of the Portuguese national team. He is considered to be one of the greatest footballers of all time, and, by some, as the greatest ever.
Ronaldo began his professional career with Sporting CP at age 17 in 2002, and signed for Manchester United a year later. He won the FA Cup in his first season, and then won three back-to-back Premier League titles: in 2006-07, 2007-08, and 2008-09. In 2007-08, Ronaldo helped United win the UEFA Champions League. In 2008-09, he won his first FIFA Club World Cup in December 2008, and he also won his first Ballon d'Or. At one point Ronaldo was the most expensive professional footballer of all time, after moving from Manchester United to Real Madrid for approximately £80 m in July 2009.
He won his first trophy with Real Madrid in 2011, the 2010-11 Copa del Rey. In the next season, he won his first La Liga title with the club, the 2011-12 La Liga. In the 2012-13 season he won the Supercopa de España. In the next season, the 2013-14 season, he won his second Ballon d'Or. Then he won the Copa del Rey, and he also won his second Champions League with a record 17 goals. The following year, Ronaldo won the Ballon d'Or again, along with his second FIFA Club World Cup in December 2014. In 2016, Ronaldo won his third Champions League, and scored the winning penalty in the final against Atlético Madrid. He won his fourth Ballon d'or the next season, his second La Liga title for the first time in five years, another Champions League, and his second Club World Cup. Ronaldo's last season with Real Madrid was the 2017-18 season, where he won his fifth Ballon d'Or in 2017, and also won his fifth Champions League and scored two goals in the final against Juventus. With his third consecutive Champions League, he became the first player to win the UEFA Champions League five times. He would later go on to transfer to Juventus in July 2018. Ronaldo left the club by holding the record for being the top goal scorer in Real Madrid's history, and remaining as the only player in La Liga's history to score 30 or more goals in six consecutive seasons.
Ronaldo began his career with Portugal at age 18. He scored his first goal at UEFA Euro 2004 and helped Portugal reach the final, although they lost to Greece 1-0. The first World Cup he played at was the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He scored a goal and helped Portugal earn fourth place. Two years later, he became Portugal's full captain. Since then, he has appeared at three Euro's: 2008, 2012, and 2016, and two World Cups: 2014 and 2018. He helped Portugal win their first major international trophy at Euro 2016, and their second three years later with the UEFA Nations League.
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro was born in Funchal, Madeira Islands to Maria Dolores dos Santos and José Dinis Aveiro. He has one brother named Hugo, and two sisters named Katia and Elma. Ronaldo was diagnosed with a racing heart (Tachycardia) at age 15, but he got surgery to treat it. In 1997, 12-year-old Ronaldo went on a trial with Sporting CP. He impressed the club enough to be signed for £1,500. He then moved from Funchal to Lisbon, to join the Sporting youth academy.
Ronaldo played his first professional match against Inter Milan on 14 August 2002. He came in as a sub during the second half. On 7 October 2002, Ronaldo played his first game in the Portuguese Primeira Liga, against Moreirense. He scored two goals and Sporting won 3–0. Ronaldo came to the attention of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson in August 2003, when Sporting defeated United 3–1 in the first game ever played at the Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon. His performance impressed the United players, who told Ferguson to sign him.
On 12 August 2003, Ronaldo joined Manchester United from Sporting CP for a fee of £12.24 million. He was Manchester United's first Portuguese player. He wanted the number 28, the number he wore at Sporting, but was eventually given the number 7. This number had been worn by George Best, Eric Cantona and David Beckham before him. He played his first game for the club on 16 August 2003 in a 4-0 win against Bolton Wanderers. Many people were impressed with his debut, including legendary United player George Best. Ronaldo's first goal with Manchester United was a free kick. He scored it in a 3-0 win against Portsmouth on 1 November 2003.Ronaldo won his first trophy in England, the 2003-04 FA Cup, in May 2004, when Manchester United beat Millwall 3-0. Ronaldo scored the first goal of the match.
Ronaldo scored his first UEFA Champions League goals in a 7-1 victory against A.S. Roma in April 2007. He scored two goals that day in what was his 30th Champions League match. He played the FA Cup Final that year, but United lost 1-0 to Chelsea. Even though he lost the FA Cup final, he didn't end the season without a title, because he won his first Premier League title.