Italy: Sardinian village emerges as a potential new Blue Zone, with women showing exceptional longevity

Bolotana: A small mountain village on the Italian island of Sardinia has emerged as a potential new longevity hotspot, with researchers finding that women living there have exceptionally high chances of reaching the age of 100.

A study published in Frontiers in Aging has identified Bolotana, a town of approximately 2,266 residents located about 110 kilometres west of Sardinia’s original Blue Zone, as a candidate for recognition as another geographical area associated with exceptional longevity.

Researchers analysed demographic data covering 2021–2025 and found that women in Bolotana appeared to have substantially better longevity prospects than women in the surrounding region and Italy as a whole.

According to the study, a 70-year-old woman in Bolotana has an estimated remaining life expectancy of 20.85 years. The corresponding figures are 18.61 years for Nuoro Province, where the village is located, 18.4 years for Sardinia and 18.06 years for Italy nationally.

The findings become even more striking when the probability of reaching 100 is considered. Researchers estimated that a 70-year-old woman in Bolotana has a 13.83 per cent chance of becoming a centenarian, compared with 4.33 per cent in Nuoro Province, 4.43 per cent across Sardinia and 3.54 per cent nationally.

The results place Bolotana among the world’s most remarkable populations in terms of female longevity, although researchers caution that the estimates are sensitive to the period examined because of the village’s relatively small population.

“We think this is the longest-lived female population in the world, or close to it,” said epidemiologist S. Jay Olshansky of the University of Illinois Chicago, a co-author of the study.

He said identifying the characteristics associated with such longevity could help researchers understand how other communities might adopt practices that support longer and healthier lives.

Bolotana’s apparent longevity advantage is especially pronounced among women. The researchers found that their estimated chances of surviving from 70 to 100 were more than three times those of women in the United States, according to the study’s international comparison.

The findings also placed Bolotana’s female longevity prospects second only to Hong Kong when the researchers considered life expectancy at 70 and the probability of reaching 100.

Men in the village also appear to benefit from favourable longevity prospects, although their results do not display the same extreme pattern observed among women.

A 70-year-old man in Bolotana has an estimated remaining life expectancy of 16.02 years, modestly above the Italian national average of 15.48 years. His estimated probability of reaching 100 is 4.92 per cent, compared with 1.41 per cent for men nationally.

However, the researchers stressed that the findings require careful interpretation, particularly because estimates based on small populations can fluctuate significantly between periods.

One of the study’s important limitations is the relatively small number of people living in Bolotana. When the researchers examined an earlier period, 2015–2019, the estimated probability of a 70-year-old woman surviving to 100 fell to 1.46 per cent, considerably below the 13.83 per cent estimated for 2021–2025.

Even during the earlier period, however, women’s life expectancy at 70 remained relatively high at 18.3 years, according to the study.

The substantial difference between the two survival estimates highlights the need for longer-term observations before drawing firm conclusions about the scale and consistency of the village’s longevity advantage.

Bolotana first attracted the researchers’ attention because of the unusually high number of centenarians in the community. Local recognition of these residents prompted further investigation into whether the village represented a genuine concentration of exceptional longevity.

The researchers also benefited from an unusually detailed historical record that enabled them to verify residents’ ages. Municipal documents and baptismal records dating back centuries helped establish the dates of birth and death of people who lived beyond 100.

Olshansky said these records provided an important advantage in assessing the population’s longevity, allowing researchers to independently verify ages rather than rely solely on reported information.

Although the study did not investigate the precise causes of longevity, the researchers identified several potential factors that could help explain the particularly strong survival advantage among women.

These include genetic characteristics, dietary habits, physical activity, family support, social cohesion, continuity of residence and access to healthcare. The researchers said further studies examining individuals and their lifestyles would be needed to determine how much each factor contributes.

The village’s physical environment may also be relevant. Residents live in a steep, hilly landscape, much of their food is grown locally, and close community relationships appear to limit social isolation.

Olshansky described a community in which people look after one another and walking forms an important part of everyday life rather than residents relying primarily on cars for movement.

Such characteristics have attracted considerable interest in longevity research because physical activity, social connections and dietary patterns are among the lifestyle factors commonly investigated in studies of healthy ageing. However, the Bolotana study has not established that any one of these factors directly causes its residents to live longer.

Researchers will need to conduct more detailed investigations to determine whether the village’s apparent advantage reflects a combination of biological, behavioural, environmental and social influences.

The original Sardinian Blue Zone was identified approximately two decades ago and became one of the best-known examples of a geographical area associated with exceptional longevity. The term Blue Zone is used to describe communities reported to have unusually high concentrations of people living to advanced ages.

Bolotana’s findings have now raised the possibility that another such area exists on the same island. The researchers have proposed the village as a candidate longevity Blue Zone, while emphasising that further investigation is needed to understand the factors behind its demographic profile.

Dan Buettner, a longevity researcher and founder of Blue Zones, Inc., who also co-authored the study, said the findings suggested that something unusual was happening in the village.

He said the next step would be to establish why residents, particularly women, appeared to enjoy such favourable longevity prospects and whether the lessons could help people elsewhere live longer, healthier lives.

For researchers, Bolotana offers an opportunity to examine the relationship between community life, everyday habits, social support and survival into old age. Its extensive historical records and unusually high concentration of centenarians could also help scientists investigate longevity with greater confidence.

The study does not yet establish a definitive explanation for the village’s exceptional results. Nevertheless, its findings provide a basis for further research into whether the characteristics of Bolotana’s population can offer broader insights into healthy ageing and the conditions that enable people to live longer lives.