National Geographic researchers believe they may have discovered a new "blue zone."A blue zone is a geographic region where residents show unusually high rates of longevity and survival into old age.The newest blue zone candidate is a small village called Bolotana, located on the Italian island of Sardinia.In a 2024 snapshot, 10 of the village's 2,262 residents were at least 100 years old, according to National Geographic — roughly 10 times the Sardinian average and 11 times the U.S.
average.PEOPLE WHO LIVE TO 100 HAVE 3 DRINKS IN COMMON, LONGEVITY EXPERT SAYSA team of researchers, including Dan Buettner — founder of Blue Zones, a company focused on longevity, and a National Geographic Fellow — set out to investigate Bolotana’s exceptional lifespan.The findings were published in Frontiers in Aging.Bolotana’s hilly streets encourage residents to walk as part of their daily routines.(Marisa Montibeller)Buettner highlighted three lifestyle habits that are common among Bolotana’s long-lived residents."Here, men are participating more, and that could explain why women are doing better."The study did not establish that these habits directly cause longevity, but researchers are examining how the village’s environment and traditions may contribute to its unusually high survival rates."The international team of demographers, their population scientists … were able to examine the birth records, death records and baptismal records and see that this is probably the richest, most complete data on centenarians in the world," Buettner told Fox News Digital.AMERICA'S LIFESPAN HAS DOUBLED SINCE 1776 — EXPERTS REVEAL WHAT CHANGED"For those of us who want to make it into our 90s and 100s in full health, this place does it better than anyplace else in the world."The strongest longevity advantage appeared among Bolotana’s women, who ranked second only to Hong Kong for life expectancy at age 70 and survival from age 70 to 100.Bolotana, Sardinia is home to ancient ol...