Situation
The peninsula and the islands that make up Italy total 301,277 km². The country is bordered to the north by Switzerland and Austria, to the northeast by Slovenia, and to the northwest by France. It encompasses the enclaves of the Republic of San Marino (61 km²) and the State of the Vatican (0.44 km²).
Northern Italy
The Alps: the Italian side of the Alps, very narrow in Piedmont but with the highest peaks (Mont Rose, 4,638 metres), widens in Lombardy (Bergamasque Alps) and especially in Venetia (Trentino Alps, Dolomites). Quaternary glaciers carved elongated lakes at their outlets (Maggiore, Como, Garda).
The Po Plain
it is a marine gulf filled in by the alluvium of the watercourses descending from the Alps: torrents of Venetia (Brenta, Piave), Adige and above all the Po (650 km) which raises its bed (embanked over 450 km) and whose delta advances by 50 metres per year; hence a low coastline with lagoons.
Peninsular Italy
Its backbone is a chain of young mountains, the Apennines, bordered by ancient volcanoes where earthquakes are frequent.
The foreland of the Apennines consists of narrow plains in the north on the Adriatic side (terraces of the Marches), which widen in the south (marshy Tavoliere, fertile Apulia).
The Tyrrhenian side, wider and more varied, has the most active volcanoes of the peninsula: hills of Tuscany around the Arno, extinct volcanoes and coastal plains of Latium, around the Tiber, and the rich plain of Campania dominated by Vesuvius (1,250 metres). The Apennines comprise: the Ligurian and Tuscan Apennines, the Central Apennines (2,921 metres at the Gran Sasso) in the hard limestones of the Abruzzi plateau, and the Calabrian Apennines.
The Islands
Besides the two large islands, Sicily (25,708 km²) and Sardinia (24,090 km²), the Italian islands include two small archipelagos: the Tuscan archipelago, halfway to Corsica, with the island of Elba, and the Aeolian Islands, north of Sicily, with Lipari and Stromboli.
Climate
Situated in the temperate zone (north of the peninsula) and the warm temperate zone (centre and south), Italy enjoys favourable climatic conditions owing to the length of its coastlines, where the moderating influence of the sea is felt, and to the Alps, which form a barrier against cold winds.
However, over a territory extending 850 km in latitude, the climate is varied: continental in the north (cold winters), Mediterranean in the south and on the islands (mild and wet winters, dry summers), it presents multiple variants and microclimates.
See: Italian climate
Main cities
Rome
With 2,850,000 inhabitants (3 million for the metropolitan area), the capital of Italy today lives mainly on service, commercial and especially administrative activities. It is the seat of several international organisations. Tourism also represents an important activity there, due to its great wealth of archaeological remains and historical monuments. It is home to the Vatican City, seat of the papacy and an independent state.
Milan
Capital of Lombardy, it is the economic capital of the country. A communication crossroads between north and south, it is an industrial centre, where all activities are represented, commercial and financial, seat of all the major Italian companies, but also cultural, housing numerous museums and libraries. The city has 1,500,000 inhabitants (3 million for the metropolitan area).
Naples
Capital of Campania, a lively city with a very dense population (1,000,000 inhabitants and 3 million for the metropolitan area), Naples presents itself as an amphitheatre of hills terraced on the sea, at the foot of Vesuvius. A major port and industrial centre of the Mezzogiorno (oil refinery, chemical, mechanical and textile industries). It is also a tourist city.
Turin
Capital of Piedmont, a communication hub at the outlet of the Alps, Turin is an important commercial and industrial centre: steelmaking, automobile manufacturing (FIAT), chemical and textile industry. A city of 1,050,000 inhabitants, it is built according to a regular plan.
Genoa
Capital of Liguria, 660,000 inhabitants, it is the leading port of Italy. Shipbuilding is the most important industrial activity; metallurgy, chemicals and food processing are also present there.
Venice
Capital of Venetia, a port on the Adriatic, Venice, built on a lagoon, has 118 islets and 200 canals. With 300,000 inhabitants, 80,000 of them in the historic centre overrun by tourists, it develops a cultural activity of quality.
Florence
An important tourist centre with Gothic and Renaissance architecture, Florence, with its 430,000 Tuscans, is also a very lively city through its industrial (mechanical, chemical), artisanal (jewellery, leather goods…), artistic and scientific activities.
Source: diplomatie.gouv.fr (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) 2007
