Bari is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is one of the most important economic centres of mainland southern Italy. It is a port and university city as well as the city of Saint Nicholas. The city itself has a population of 315,473 inhabitants, and an area of over 116 square kilometres (45 mi2), while the urban area has approximately 750,000 inhabitants. Its metropolitan province has 1.2 million inhabitants.