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Carbonia: what to know before buying a home

A municipality in the province of Sulcis Iglesiente, Sardegna. Official data on earthquakes, population, services and transport.

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Carbonia

The report looks at the exact point: landslide and flood risk, seismic zone, price per square metre for the area, services and nearby stops.

For example: Via Lubiana 11, Carbonia.

Carbonia, a town born with the mine

Carbonia is a planned town: it was inaugurated in 1938 to house the miners of the Sulcis coalfield in south-west Sardinia. Its layout, with broad squares and rationalist buildings, still reflects that origin, and the great Serbariu mine is now a coal museum. Carbonia shares the role of capital of the province of Sulcis Iglesiente with Iglesias, in an area that also looks out towards the islands of Sant'Antioco and San Pietro.

Such a young town has a housing stock with a clear history: the town was built from the late 1930s onwards, and its original core is less than a century old. For a buyer, the most useful questions concern the state of repair, the work carried out over the years and the energy class shown on the energy performance certificate (attestato di prestazione energetica, APE). The report lists the documents to request, from the compliance declarations for the electrical and heating systems to the certificate of habitability (agibilità).

The report then adds the checks that depend on the exact spot: landslide and flood hazard from the official plans, elevation and slope of the ground, and nearby services.

On earthquakes, the information is short. The whole province of Sulcis Iglesiente, 24 municipalities, is classified in seismic zone 4, the minimum level.

The land registry is the standard one: the Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) publishes cadastral maps for Carbonia, and the report derives the land parcel from the address. As always, the data describe the plot and the building; for an individual flat you need the cadastral record (visura) and floor plan (planimetria catastale).

Key points

  • Town founded in 1938 for the Sulcis miners.
  • Buildings from the 1930s onwards: check condition and energy class.
  • All 24 municipalities in Sulcis Iglesiente in seismic zone 4.
  • Joint provincial capital with Iglesias.

Overview

Carbonia is the capital of the province of Sulcis Iglesiente, in Sardegna. At the end of 2023 it had 25,971 residents, the most populous municipality in the province. 22% of the province's residents live here.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Carbonia is in seismic zone 4, the lowest-risk zone, where strong earthquakes are very rare. All 24 municipalities in the province are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.050 g, a moderate value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

In zone 4 the risk is low, but for an older building it is still worth asking about the state of the structure.

Population

Compared with the 2011 census, the resident population has fallen by 10.1%. The estimated average age is 51 years, in line with the province. 33% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 27%). Foreign residents make up 1.7% of the population. On average, a household has 2.1 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Carbonia declared an average taxable income of 21,159 euros, above the provincial average (19,085 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Carbonia is in climate zone C, with 922 heating degree days: heating may be switched on from 15 November to 31 March, for up to 10 hours a day. The same table puts the town hall at 111 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Carbonia has 27 schools and 9 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 18 grocery shops and supermarkets, 17 healthcare facilities, 25 sports facilities and 6 parks and green areas.

There are 0.7 healthcare facilities per 1,000 residents, more than the province average (0.5).

Public transport

We do not yet have open public transport timetables for this municipality: the report says so explicitly, without inventing distances.

How built-up it is

Buildings, roads, car parks and other sealed surfaces cover 5.8% of the land in Carbonia, compared with 3.4% in the region. In 2024 built-up land grew by 29.3 hectares.

Radon and contaminated sites

Carbonia is not among the radon priority areas designated by the Regione Sardegna in 2022. Radon varies from building to building and can only be known by measuring it, especially on ground floors and in basements.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Carbonia: the report checks the address against the ISPRA maps.

House prices

The Revenue Agency's price ranges per square metre (OMI) apply to zones, not to whole municipalities: the report gives the range for the address's zone.

Land registry

The cadastral maps for Carbonia are public: from the address the report finds the sheet and parcel number.

Liveability area by area

The Vicinalia liveability index runs from 0 to 100 and looks at the place, not the people who live there: services within walking distance, transport, green space, natural hazards, air, quiet, buildings and connection. Here it is worked out at the centre of each of the 271 inhabited census areas in Carbonia. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 79 or more.

Residents by band

  • fair 5.6%
  • good 45.0%
  • very good 44.4%
  • excellent 5.0%

Vicinalia index by census area, licence CC BY-SA 4.0. Data: IdroGEO ISPRA (2026), Istat, INGV, EEA, AGCOM, Overture Maps and OpenStreetMap.

The colour is the value at the centre of the area. For an exact address, search for it above: the free check looks at that exact point. How the index is worked out

Data sources

ISTAT code 119003. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.