Demographic findings in Bolotana

A demographic study published in Frontiers in Aging has identified the Sardinian village of Bolotana as an area of exceptional female longevity. Coordinated by Giovanni Mario Pes from the University of Sassari alongside researchers from Alabama, California, and the University of Illinois at Chicago, the team analyzed municipal and parish archives spanning more than a century. The village, situated at the foot of the Marghine mountains in Nuoro province, has a population of approximately 2,300 to 2,500 residents. Demographers examined records for 3,060 individuals born in the municipality between 1900 and 1925, discovering that 38 reached 100 years of age. This established an Extreme Longevity Index nearly 57% higher than the Italian national average for the same birth cohort.

Female longevity rates

The study revealed distinct demographic outcomes between genders, with women driving the elevated survival rates. Over the past five years, women in Bolotana who reached age 70 had a 13.83% probability of reaching age 100. By comparison, the probability is 4.92% for local men, 8.76% in the traditional Sardinian Blue Zone across Barbagia and Ogliastra, and 3.54% across Italy. Women in Bolotana reaching age 70 can expect to live nearly 21 additional years, more than two years above the Italian national average.

We measured two parameters: life expectancy at 70 and the percentage of reaching 100 years of age. For women, only Hong Kong has higher values.

Community centenarians

Bolotana currently has six centenarians, all of whom are women, down from 12 when researchers began their fieldwork. Two residents were born in 1924 (Antonia Giglio and Maddalena Falchi), two in 1925 (Giovannina Marras and Pietrina Serra), and two in 1926 (Filomena Scarpa and Giuseppa Piras). When visiting 101-year-old Marras, researchers asked who prepared her meals.

I cook everything myself.

Mayor Francesco Manconi stated that two additional residents could turn 100 before the end of the year, with further milestone birthdays expected for individuals born in 1927. Manconi expressed hope that the recognition could draw visitors and new residents to counter local population decline.

Diet, genetics, and daily habits

Researchers are examining genetic factors alongside lifestyle habits to determine what drives longevity in Bolotana. The municipal lifestyle historically combined agricultural and textile work, requiring residents to walk distances of up to 20 kilometers daily to reach mountain fields. The local diet consists of vegetables, cereals, and meat from pasture-grazed livestock rather than intensive farms, including traditional items like seadas and low-sugar mustazzolus pastries. Study co-author S. Jay Olshansky emphasized the scale of the findings while noting researchers are checking to ensure the data does not reflect a temporary statistical fluctuation.

We think this is the longest-lived female population in the world, or almost.