[3] The province is divided into three zones from north to south: the pianura (plains), the collina (hills) and the montagna (mountains).

The part in the North of the Province comprises Parma, Fidenza and various smaller towns, and covers from the Po river to the foothills at an altitude of 50 to 100 m amsl.

The centre part of the Province comprises only smaller towns, built in the valleys along rivers or on top of hills for defensive purposes, from the foothills to where the Apennine begin to grow into fully developed mountains, between 100 and around 700 m amsl.

Due to the geographical nature of this mountain range, the Parmesan side, facing North, has considerably longer nights than the rest of Pianura padana and the Italian Alps, even during summer.

In this area the climate is Alpine, with long winters, temperatures frequently reaching double digits negatives and snow falling from October to May, typically leaving the tops snow-free only from mid June to the end of September.

The whole area is renowned for its salami production (particularly the well known salame Felino), as well as for the Parmesan cheese and some kinds of pasta like gnocchi di patate, cappelletti (or anolini) in brodo (a kind of round tortelli stuffed with a filling made of stewed donkey, Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs, cooked and served in hot broth), tortelli with different stuffing (erbetta, potatoes, pumpkin, mushrooms, chestnuts, tortél dóls di Colorno) and chicche.

There are two main highways that go through Parma: A1, to Milan to the west and to Bologna to the east, and A15, to La Spezia and the sea to the south.

[citation needed] Also volleyball, women's basketball and baseball have large popularity in the city and have scored relevant successes.

[citation needed] According to the CGIA of Mestre, in 2021 the province of Parma had the highest annual gross salaries for the private sector employees, after Milan.