It has a population of 530,740 in an area of around 2,292 square kilometres (885 mi2) across its 42 municipalities.[2][1]
The province is home to the historicalCanossa Castle, property of the countessMatilde; it is where theWalk to Canossa ofHenry IV occurred. Representatives of the free municipalities of Reggio, Modena, Bologna and Ferrara met in Reggio Emilia'sSala del Tricolore in 1797 to proclaim theRepubblica Cispadana, adopting the three colour green-white-red flag to represent their newly formed Republic; it was later adopted in 1848 as the national flag.[4]
There are 42 municipalities (comuni) in the province.[5]Rolo, the smallest municipality in the province by area, is the municipality farthest to the East.Ventasso is the municipality farthest to the West. The border towns of the province are Ventasso, which is the smallest municipality by population, to the south andLuzzara in the north. Luzzara is the second largest municipality in Emilia-Romagna and has the highest number of foreign nationals in the region.[5]
As of 2025, the province has a population of 530,740, of which 49.6% are male and 50.4% are female, compared to the national average of 49.0% and 51.0% respectively. Minors make up 15.8% of the population, and seniors make up 22.9%, compared to the national average of 14.9% and 24.7% respectively.[2]
As of 2025, the foreign-born population is 85,174, making up 16.0% of the total population. The 5 largest foreign nationalities areMoroccans (9,227),Albanians (7,876),Indians (7,544),Pakistanis (6,176) andUkrainians (5,204).[8]
TheReggio Emilia approach to preschool education was started by the schools of Reggio Emilia afterWorld War II and it's well-known all over the world, being one of the most advanced systems at present times. It is based and inspired on theories of Malaguzzi, Bruner, Vygotsky, Dewey, Piaget and Gardner.Reggio Emilia holds theInternational Centre Loris Malaguzzi, a modern structure where theReggio Emilia approach is implemented, exported and spread around the world.[11]
With sports arenas including theStadio Giglio andPalaBigi, Reggio Emilia is home to the basketball teamPallacanestro Reggiana.[12] TheCamparini Gioielli Cup is a yearly challenger-level tennis tournament played on clay in Reggio Emilia.[13]AC Reggiana 1919 is the historical soccer team ofReggio Emilia; it currently plays in the second national soccer leagueSerie B. Stadio Giglio (actual attendance is 29,650) is the home play ground for AC Reggiana 1919.[14]
