Geography of Italy
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Italy is located in southern Europe and comprises the long, boot-shaped Italian Peninsula, the land between the peninsula and the Alps, and a number of islands including Sicily and Sardinia. Its total area is 301,230 km², of which 294,020 km² is land and 7,210 km² is water.
Including islands, Italy has a coastline of 7,600 km on the Adriatic, Ionian, Tyrrhenian and Ligurian regions of the central Mediterranean Sea. Italy claims territorial waters to 12 nautical miles and the continental shelf to a depth of 200 m or any exploitation.
Land borders with neighbouring countries total 1932.2 km, split predominantly between Switzerland (740 km), France (488 km), Austria (430 km) and Slovenia (232 km). San Marino (39 km) and the Vatican City (3.2 km), both entirely surrounded by Italy, account for the remainder.
Italy is a mountainous country, with the Alps as the northern boundary and the Apennine Mountains forming the backbone of the peninsula, but in between the two lies a large plain in the valley of the Po, the largest river in Italy, which flows 652 km(405 miles) eastward from the Cottian Alps to the Adriatic.
In the north of the country, are a number of subalpine lakes, the largest of which is Garda (143 sq mi; 370 km²).
Several islands form part of Italy. The largest are Sicily (9,926 sq mi; 25,708 km²) and Sardinia (9,301 sq mi; 24,090 km²).
There are also a few active volcanoes in Italy: Etna, the largest active volcano in Europe; Vulcano; Stromboli; and Vesuvius, the only active volcano on the mainland of Europe.
[edit] Extreme points of Italy
[edit] Compass Points
- Northernmost Point — Testa Gemella Occidentale, Bolzano-Bozen at
- Southernmost Point — Capo Maluk, Lampedusa, Sicily at
- Westernmost Point — Rocca Bernauda, Piedmont at
- Easternmost Point — Capo d'Otranto, Apulia at
[edit] Elevation
- Highest: Mont Blanc (4807.5 m) at
- Lowest: Le Contane (-3.44m)
