What is "padania"

n. A region of northern Italy, centered on the valley of the river Po, that seeks independence

Padania is an alternative name for the Po Valley, a major plain in the north of Italy. The term was sparingly used until the early 1990s, when Lega Nord, a federalist and, at times, separatist political party in Italy, proposed "Padania" as a possible name for an independent state in Northern Italy. Since then, it has carried strong political connotations.