This Tiny Sardinian Village Might Be a New 'Blue Zone'—and Could Hold the Secrets to Female Longevity

A small village in the mountains of Sardinia may hold the secrets to female longevity. In Bolotana, a town on the Italian island with about 2,300 residents, women who reach the age of 70 are about three times as likely to live to 100 than women in the United States, researchers report in a study published October 4 in the journal Frontiers in Aging. The findings suggest Bolotana might be a previously unidentified “blue zone,” a place where people live exceptionally long lives.

If confirmed, it would join destinations including another region of Sardinia; Okinawa, Japan; Ikaria, Greece; and Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula as one of the world’s recognized longevity hotspots. The study’s co-authors first learned of Bolotana because they heard about its abundance of centenarians, or people who live to be at least 100 years old. Intrigued, the researchers decided to dig into the data.

Using the town’s extensive historic records, which date back more than a century, they were able to independently verify the ages of Bolotana’s identified centenarians, living or dead. Of the 3,060 individuals born in Bolotana between 1900 and 1925, they confirmed that 38 lived to be at least 100. Around the world, women tend to live longer than men.

But the team’s analysis revealed that Bolotana’s female residents were exceptionally long-lived. In Bolotana, women who reach age 70 have a 13.83 percent chance of surviving to 100 years old, compared to just 4.92 percent for men. (That’s different from Sardinia’s original blue zone, which is known for male longevity.) For comparison, 70-year-old women across Italy have only a 3.5 percent chance of making it to 100, and in the U.S., that chance is 3.6 percent. Once the women of Bolotana reach the age of 70, they have nearly 21 years of life remaining, based on the researchers’ estimates.

The village appears to have one of the longest-lived female populations in the world, second only to Hong Kong. The study doesn’t explain why Bolotana’s residents, particularly its women, lead such long lives—but the researchers have a few ideas. Community members eat little meat, and their largely plant-based diets consist primarily of foods they grow or make themselves, including wheat grown in their fields and cheese made from their sheep’s milk.

They drink modest amounts of wine and consume a variety of olive oils. Bolotana doesn’t have a gym, and its residents don’t exercise intentionally—but they do walk pretty much everywhere, including up and down the village’s steep, hilly streets. Additionally, Bolotana’s residents live in multi-generational households, and many men stay home and share in the household responsibilities.