People living past 100 in one tiny village share 3 daily habits

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.

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A team of researchers, including Dan Buettner — founder of Blue Zones, a company focused on , and a National Geographic Fellow — set out to investigate Bolotanas exceptional lifespan.

The findings were published in Frontiers in Aging.

Buettner highlighted three lifestyle habits that are common among Bolotanas long-lived residents.

The study did not establish that these habits directly cause longevity, but researchers are examining how the villages 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.

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"For those of us who want to make it into our 90s and 100s in , this place does it better than anyplace else in the world."

The strongest longevity advantage appeared among Bolotanas women, who ranked second only to Hong Kong for life expectancy at age 70 and survival from age 70 to 100.

The original Sardinian blue zone was identified in the late 1990s and formally described in research published around 2000. Located in the mountainous region roughly 68 miles from Bolotana, it is known for unusually strong , according to Buettner.

Although Bolotana remains partly pastoral, it is also an agricultural community. Buettner suggested that this may mean men spend more time at home helping with household responsibilities, potentially on women.

"In the original blue zone in the highlands, the [women] worried about the finances and raising children and the leaky roof," he said. "They're all alone. Here, men are participating more, and that could explain why women are doing better, because they're only bearing half the stress load instead of almost all of it."

Buettner believes the villages strong social connections may be one factor behind the womens longevity, although the study did not establish a cause.

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"We see women gathering in the library, baking bread together, making sweets together and going to church together," he said. "So, you see a much more socially connected society among the women in Bolotana than in the other blue zones."

As in many parts of Italy, Bolotana has a strong . Buettner said church attendance may provide residents with faith, social connection and a sense of belonging.

"Its a sense of community, but it's also people proactively understanding that sitting down with a friend and talking about your troubles and your day with somebody wh