Bolotana’s long-lived women put Sardinian village in blue-zone spotlight

Bolotana, a mountain village in central Sardinia, has emerged as a potential new longevity ‘blue zone’, the Guardian reported on 8 October 2026. Research identifies unusually high survival to 100 among its women, extending attention beyond the island’s original longevity cluster while leaving the causes and durability of that advantage unresolved.

The village lies about 110 kilometres from Sardinia’s original blue zone. The term describes a geographic area with an unusually high concentration of centenarians. Bolotana’s candidacy rests on demographic findings, rather than an established explanation of why its residents live so long.

What the Bolotana survival estimate shows

The study, published in Frontiers in Aging on 5 October, used mortality data from 2021–2025 to estimate women’s survival from age 70 to 100 at 13.83%, compared with 3.54% for Italy. These are period estimates based on mortality during those years, rather than predictions that a fixed share of women now aged 70 will reach their hundredth birthdays.

The uncertainty around the village estimate is substantial: its 95% confidence interval runs from 7.33% to 23.75%. Small numbers limit the precision of the analysis. The findings identify an exceptional pattern during the period studied without establishing how long it will persist.

That historical count is distinct from the recent survival estimate. The Guardian’s current reporting puts the village’s remaining centenarians at six, all women, with the oldest two aged 102. It reports further hundredth birthdays expected before the end of 2026 and during 2027; those milestones remain prospective.

Why women distinguish Bolotana from Sardinia’s original blue zone

Giovanni Mario Pes, the University of Sassari scientist who led the study and helped create the blue-zone concept, told the Guardian that the original Sardinian zone had an unusual balance between the sexes. In Bolotana, female longevity predominates. That difference is central to the village’s proposed place in the island’s longevity geography.

Pes declined to identify a secret behind the pattern, saying the study was ‘limited to pointing out the existence of the phenomenon’. He nevertheless described the enduring social connections he observed among elderly women, including 101-year-old Giovanna Marras, who lives, cooks and talks with her sister.

Mayor Francesco Manconi suggested that food, the surrounding natural environment and extensive walking might contribute, according to comments to Corriere della Sera reported by the Guardian. He explicitly said he was not a scientist. Those suggestions and Pes’s observations do not establish causes; the analysis cannot determine dietary, genetic or social explanations.

Italy’s centenarian figures provide a wider comparison

Women also dominate Italy’s national centenarian population. Istat’s November 2025 demographic release counted 23,548 residents aged at least 100 on 1 January 2025, with women accounting for 82.6%. The total compared with 21,211 a year earlier and 10,158 in 2009. These are historical national figures, not an October 2026 population count.

At that same reference date, Italy had 724 residents aged at least 105, including 657 women. Of the 19 residents aged at least 110, 18 were women. Istat’s figures for ages 100–104 were estimates pending final census results; its figures for those aged 105 and above were definitive.

The national statistics provide independent context for the predominance of women at extreme ages. They do not independently replicate Bolotana’s survival analysis or explain the village’s distinctive results.

What remains unresolved about blue-zone status

The village’s results have not been consistently exceptional across periods. In the study’s 2015–2019 comparison, Bolotana’s estimates fell below those of the original Sardinian zone for both sexes. The comparisons are descriptive, and the contrast leaves open whether the more recent advantage will endure.

The study also includes relevant commercial disclosures: co-author Dan Buettner owns Blue Zones, Inc., while S. Jay Olshansky is a compensated consultant on a proposed Blue Zone Research Institute.

The authors call for longer observation, continued age validation and individual-level comparisons before established blue-zone status is justified. Bolotana is therefore a candidate supported by striking recent estimates, with both the persistence of its advantage and the reasons behind it still unresolved.