Geography of Italy
Italy is located in southern Europe and comprises the long, boot-shaped Italian Peninsula, the southern side of Alps, the large plain of Po Valley and some islands including Sicily and Sardinia. Corsica, although belonging to the Italian geographical region, has been a part of France since 1769.
Italy borders with Switzerland (740 km or 460 mi), France (488 km or 303 mi), Austria (430 km or 270 mi) and Slovenia (199 km or 124 mi). San Marino (39 km or 24 mi) and Vatican city (3.2 km or 2.0 mi) are enclaves.
Mountains and plains
Almost 40% of the Italian territory is mountainous, with the Alps as the northern boundary and the Apennine Mountains forming the backbone of the peninsula and extending for 1,350 km (840 mi). In between the two lies a large plain in the valley of the Po, the largest river in Italy, which flows 652 km (405 mi) eastward from the Cottian Alps to the Adriatic. The Po Valley is the largest plain in Italy, with 46,000 km2 (18,000 sq mi), and it represents over 70% of the total plain area in the country.
Worldwide-known mountains in Italy are Matterhorn (Cervino), Monte Rosa, Gran Paradiso in the West Alps, and Bernina, Stelvio and Dolomites along the eastern side of the Alps. The highest peak in Italy is Mont Blanc, at 4,810 metres (15,780 ft) above sea level.
Many elements of the Italian territory are of volcanic origin. Most of the small islands and archipelagos in the south, like Capraia, Ponza, Ischia, Eolie, Ustica and Pantelleria are volcanic islands. There are also active volcanoes: Etna, in Sicily, the largest active volcano in Europe; Vulcano, Stromboli, and Vesuvius, near Naples, the only active volcano on mainland Europe.
Rivers and seas
Most of Italy's rivers drain either into the Adriatic Sea (like Po, Piave, Adige, Brenta, Tagliamento, Reno) or into the Tyrrhenian (like Arno, Tiber and Volturno), though the waters from some border municipalities (Livigno in Lombardy, Innichen and Sexten in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol) drain into the Black Sea through the basin of the Drava, a tributary of the Danube, and the waters from the Lago di Lei in Lombardy drain into the North Sea through the basin of the Rhine.
- Contiguous zone: 24 nmi (44.4 km; 27.6 mi)
- Continental shelf: 200-metre depth (660 ft) or to the depth of exploitation
- Territorial sea: 12 nmi (22.2 km; 13.8 mi)
In the north of the country are a number of subalpine moraine-dammed lakes, the largest of which is Garda (370 km2 or 143 sq mi). Other well known of these subalpine lakes are Lake Maggiore (212.5 km2 or 82 sq mi), whose most northerly section is part of Switzerland, Como (146 km2 or 56 sq mi), Orta, Lugano, Iseo, Idro.
Italy includes several islands. The largest are Sicily 25,708 km2 (9,926 sq mi) and Sardinia 24,090 km2 (9,300 sq mi). The third largest island is Elba, the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago (224 km2 or 86 sq mi).
||It has been suggested that this section be split into a new article titled Extreme points of Italy. (Discuss) Proposed since January 2014.|
Latitude and longitude
- Northernmost point — Testa Gemella Occidentale/Westliches Zwillingsköpfl, Prettau (Predoi), South Tyrol at
- Southernmost point — Punta Pesce Spada, Lampedusa, Sicily at (whole territory); Capo Spartivento, Palizzi, Calabria at (mainland)
- Westernmost point — Rocca Bernauda, Bardonecchia, Piedmont at
- Easternmost point — Capo d'Otranto, Otranto, Apulia at
- Highest: Mont Blanc, Courmayeur (4807.5 m) at
- Lowest: Le Contane, Jolanda di Savoia (-3.44m) at
- Highest settlement: Trepalle, Livigno (2,209 m) at
- Artificial (urban, industrial etc.): 4.9%
- Agricultural: 52.2%
- Arable land: 27.9%
- Permanent: 7.1%
- Other: 17.2%
- Wood: 41.4%
- Wetlands: 0.4%
- Water (lakes etc.): 1.1%
- 39,510 km2 (2007)
Total renewable water resources
- 191.3 km3 (2011)
Asinara island with the Aragonese Torre della Pelosa (16th century), Sardinia.
The coastal areas of Liguria have a Mediterranean climate.
Landscape of Tuscany.
Marmore waterfall, the world's tallest man-made waterfall, was created by the ancient Romans.
Mount Vesuvius looms over the ruins of Pompeii.
Panorama of Venice and its lagoon.
The Strait of Messina as seen from mainland.
'La Canna' rock off the coast of Filicudi.
- 2006 estimates.
- Riganti], [dir. da Alberto (1991). Enciclopedia universale Garzanti. (Nuova ed. aggiornata e ampliata. ed.). Milano: Garzanti. ISBN 88-11-50459-7.
- "Analisi dei cambiamenti della copertura ed uso del suolo in Italia nel periodo 2000-2006". ISPRA. Retrieved 23 November 2011.