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 the 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 is part of the Northern Hemisphere.
Its total area is, of which is land and. It lies between latitudes 35° and 48° N, and longitudes 6° and 19° E.
Italy borders Switzerland, France, Austria and Slovenia. San Marino and Vatican city are enclaves. The total border length is.
Including islands, Italy has a coastline of on the Adriatic Sea, Ionian Sea, Tyrrhenian Sea, Ligurian Sea, Sea of Sardinia and Strait of Sicily.

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. In between the two lies a large plain in the valley of the Po, the largest river in Italy, which flows eastward from the Cottian Alps to the Adriatic. The Po Valley is the largest plain in Italy, with, and it represents over 70% of the total plain area in the country.
The Alpine mountain range is linked with the Apennines with the Colle di Cadibona pass in the Ligurian Alps.
Worldwide-known mountains in Italy are Monte 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 above sea level.

Volcanoes

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 or into the Tyrrhenian, though the waters from some border municipalities 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.

Maritime claims

In the north of the country are a number of subalpine moraine-dammed lakes, the largest of which is Garda. Other well known of these subalpine lakes are Lake Maggiore, whose most northerly section is part of Switzerland, Como, Orta, Lugano, Iseo, Idro.
Other notable lakes in the Italian peninsula are Trasimeno, Bolsena, Bracciano, Vico, Varano and Lesina in Gargano and Omodeo in Sardinia.

Islands

Italy includes several islands. The largest are Sicily and Sardinia. The third largest island is Elba, the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago.

Latitude and longitude