The territory was administered within these boundaries since the time of the Republic of Venice, but the modern province comes directly from the administrative divisions of Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia.

There is a small part of the Venetian Lagoon lying inside the province, the Valle Millecampi ("one-thousand-fields valley"); and also the river landscapes of the countryside include naturalistic routes, even for cycling or horse-riding.

The winter is usually moderately cold in the province, avoiding both warm and cold extremes; frost is very common at plain (below the thermal inversion line) with about 60–70 frost days a year, and temperatures usually do not get lower than −8/−12 °C in the plains during the year; but the all-times record for Padua is −19.2 °C by January 1985.

Spring and autumn are changeable seasons, which may experience wintry or sultry weather, heavy rainfalls or pleasant sunny days.

[citation needed] Two motorways cross the territory, one being the A4, the other being the A13; Padua has also a highway ring surrounding the city and connecting it to its hinterland.

The most popular is football: every village as well as every city parish has its own little team, out of the most important ones playing in the Italian professional or amateur championships; and futsal is widespread too.

Rugby union and volleyball are popular sports too; there are several teams also for basketball and field hockey; water polo, American football and baseball are played too.

Among individual sports, cycling, athletics, swimming, rowing, tennis, fencing, golf, and horseback riding are often practiced, as well as martial arts.