Scientists have found an amazing village: women live there for an exceptionally long time
Twenty years after the discovery of the first Blue Zone in Sardinia, researchers have found another such place, Bolotan, where municipal records and baptism books have been kept for centuries, allowing the age of each centenarian to be independently confirmed.
In a mountain village in the heart of Sardinia (Italy) recorded something interesting. On the same island about 20 years ago, scientists identified the world’s first so-called “Blue Zone,” a geographic cluster in Sardinia where people exhibited “extreme longevity.” Now, in the small town of Bolotana, located about 110 kilometers west of the original Blue Zone, researchers have discovered another similar site of exceptional durability. In a new study, researchers found evidence that women, especially in Bolotan, tend to live extremely long lives.
According to the analysis, which used demographic data for 2021-2025, the average life expectancy of a 70-year-old woman in Bolotan is 20.85 years, compared to 18.61 years in the province of Nuoro, in which Bolotan is located, 18.4 years in Sardinia as a whole and 18.06 years throughout Italy.
Even more striking, however, is that the estimated probability of a 70-year-old woman in Bolotan living to 100 is 13.83 percent, compared with much lower odds elsewhere: 4.33 percent in Nuoro province, 4.43 percent in Sardinia and 3.54 percent in Italy as a whole. The total life expectancy of Bolotana women is 70 years, and survival rates up to 100 years estimate their chances of longevity as exceptionally high worldwide, second only to Hong Kong.
“We believe this is the longest-lived female population in the world, or close to it,” says epidemiologist Jay Olshansky. If we can identify the characteristics behind this longevity and help people adopt them, the rest of the world can benefit from an understanding of the values held by these communities.
By contrast, men in Bolotan, while living long lives, do not exhibit such extreme longevity. The researchers claim that a 70-year-old man in Bolotan has a “slightly higher” life expectancy of 16.02 years compared to the Italian average of 15.48 years, yet their chances of living between 70 and 100 years are noticeably higher than their compatriots. It is estimated at 4.92 per cent, more than three times the national average of 1.41 per cent.
“What makes Bolotana extraordinary is that it has incredible historical data that allow us to accurately determine the age at birth and death,” Olshansky said. Municipal records and baptism records date back centuries and allow us to independently determine age. We can confirm every person whose rating has exceeded 100. There is no ambiguity here.”.
As for what gives Bolotana women such a long life, it remains unknown. Olshansky notes that Italians live in a steep hilly landscape where most food is grown locally and social isolation is rare.
“It’s a close-knit community where people care about each other,” Olshansky concludes. The movement is mainly carried out on foot, not while driving.”.
