  We analyse a sample of 52,000 Milky Way (MW) type galaxies drawn from the
publicly available galaxy catalogue of the Millennium Simulation with the aim
of studying statistically the differences and similarities of their properties
in comparison to our Galaxy. Model galaxies are chosen to lie in haloes with
maximum circular velocities in the range 200-250 km/seg and to have
bulge-to-disk ratios similar to that of the Milky Way. We find that model MW
galaxies formed quietly through the accretion of cold gas and small satellite
systems. Only 12 per cent of our model galaxies experienced a major merger
during their lifetime. Most of the stars formed in situ, with only about 15 per
cent of the final mass gathered through accretion. Supernovae and AGN feedback
play an important role in the evolution of these systems. At high redshifts,
when the potential wells of the MW progenitors are shallower, winds driven by
supernovae explosions blow out a large fraction of the gas and metals. As the
systems grow in mass, SN feedback effects decrease and AGN feedback takes over,
playing a more important role in the regulation of the star formation activity
at lower redshifts. Although model Milky Way galaxies have been selected to lie
in a narrow range of maximum circular velocities, they nevertheless exhibit a
significant dispersion in the final stellar masses and metallicities. Our
analysis suggests that this dispersion results from the different accretion
histories of the parent dark matter haloes. Statically, we also find evidences
to support the Milky Way as a typical Sb/Sc galaxy in the same mass range,
providing a suitable benchmark to constrain numerical models of galaxy
formation
