Porto Viro is situated in the centre of the Po Delta and its name derives from the place where the river was cut. The centre was a small settlement on the Adriatic Sea, east of the dunes, at the mouth of the Gaurus, one of the many ditches-channels that intertwined in the area.
In addition to a fertile and productive soil, the territory is characterized by some typical elements of the delta: the marshy valleys, rich in fauna, the lagoons and the lagoons (islets of recent formation, due to the debris of the river).