Geography of Italy

Italy viewed from space

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. Corsica, although belonging to the Italian geographical region, has been a part of France since 1769.

Its total area is 301,230 km² (116,310 sq mi), of which 294,020 km² (113,520 sq mi) is land and 7,210 km² is water (2,784 sq mi). It lies between latitudes 35° and 48° N, and longitudes 6° and 19° E.

Italy borders with Switzerland (740 km/460 mi), France (488 km/303 mi), Austria (430 km/270 mi) and Slovenia (232 km/144 mi). San Marino (39 km/24 mi) and Vatican city (0.44 km/0.27 mi) are enclaves.

Including islands, Italy has a coastline of 7,600 kilometres (4,700 mi) on the Adriatic, Ionian, Tyrrhenian and Ligurian Sea.

Mountains and plains

Mont Blanc seen from Aosta Valley.

Topographic map of Italy

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.

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 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. Mont Blanc is also the highest mountain in Europe.

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 (like Po, Piave, Adige, Brenta, Tagliamento, Reno) or into the Thyrrenian (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.

Maritime claims

• Contiguous zone: 24 nmi (44.4 km; 27.6 mi)^{citation needed}
• Continental shelf: 200-metre depth (660 ft) or to the depth of exploitation^{citation needed}
• Territorial sea: 12 nmi (22.2 km; 13.8 mi)^{citation needed}

Lakes

In the north of the country are a number of subalpine moraine-dammed lakes, the largest of which is Garda (370 km²/143 sq mi). Other well known of these subalpine lakes are Lake Maggiore (212.5 km²/82 sq mi), whose most northerly section is part of Switzerland, Como (146 km²/56 sq mi), 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 comprises 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 km²/86 sq mi).

Extreme points

Latitude and longitude

• Northernmost point — Westliches Zwillingsköpfl, Prettau (Predoi), South Tyrol at 47°5′N 12°11′E
• Southernmost point — Punta Pesce Spada, Lampedusa, Sicily at 35°29′N 12°36′E (whole territory); Capo Spartivento, Calabria at 37°55′N 15°59′E (mainland)
• Westernmost point — Rocca Bernauda, Bardonecchia, Piedmont at 45°6′N 6°37′E
• Easternmost point — Capo d'Otranto, Otranto, Apulia at 40°6′N 18°31′E

Elevation

• Highest: Mont Blanc, Courmayeur (4807.5 m) at 45°50′N 6°51′E
• Lowest: Le Contane, Jolanda di Savoia (-3.44m) at 44°53′N 11°59′E
• Highest settlement: Trepalle, Livigno (2,209 m) at 46°32′N 10°11′E

Land use

• Artificial (urban, industrial etc.): 4.9%
• Agricultural: 52.2%
  • Arable land: 27.9%
  • Permanent: 7.1%
  • Other: 17.2%
• Wood: 41.6%
• Wetlands: 0.2%
• Water (lakes etc.): 1.1%

Gallery

• 

  Italy's cities and main towns.

• 

  Astronaut photograph highlighting the night-time appearance of southern Italy.

• 

  Southern Italy and Sicily on the 1849 map.

• 

  Etna, the highest active volcano in Europe.

See also

• Climate of Italy
• List of islands of Italy