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Italy is a country
located in south-
central Europe. It is
a boot-shaped
Peninsula. To the
north it borders
France, Switzerland,
Austria and Slovenia
along the Alps. To
the south, Sicily,
Sardinia are the two
largest islands in the
Mediterranean Sea
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The country's total area is
301,230 km², of which 294,020 km²
is land and 7,210 km² is water.
Including the islands, Italy has a
coastline and border of 7,600 km on
the Adriatic, Ionian, Tyrrhenian seas
and northern borders
The Apennine Mountains form the
peninsula's backbone and the Alps
form its northern boundary, where
Italy's highest point is located on
Mont Blanc (4,810 m). The Po, Italy's
longest river (652 km), flows from the
Alps on the western border with
France and crosses the Padan plain
on its way to the Adriatic Sea. The
five largest lakes are Garda,
Maggiore, Como, Trasimeno and
Bolsena.
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The country is situated at the meeting point of the Eurasian Plate
and the African Plate, leading to considerable seismic and volcanic
activity. There are 14 volcanoes in Italy, three of which are active:
Etna, Stromboli and Vesuvius. Vesuvius is the only active volcano
in mainland Europe and is most famous for the destruction of
Pompeii and Herculanum.
Italy's capital, Rome, was for
centuries the political centre of
Western civilisation as the capital of
the Roman Empire. After its decline,
Italy endured numerous invasions
by foreign peoples, from Germanic
tribes to the Normans. Centuries
later, Italy would become the
birthplace of the Renaissance, an
immensely fruitful intellectual
movement that shaped the
subsequent course of European
thought.
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Italy is a parliamentary, democratic republic, and has a
multi-party system.
Italy has a capitalist economy with developed
infrastructure. According to the International Monetary
Fund, in 2008 Italy was the seventh-largest economy in
the world and the fourth-largest in Europe. Italy is
member of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized
nations and the European Union .
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Climate
The climate of Italy is highly diverse and can be far from the
stereotypical Mediterranean climate, depending on location.
Most of the inland northern regions of Italy, for example
Piedmont and Lombardy, have a climate variously described as
humid continental or temperate: Po valley region is continental
with harsh winters and hot summers. The coastal areas of
Liguria and most of the peninsula south of Florence generally fit
the Mediterranean stereotype. The coastal regions have mild
winters and warm and generally dry summers, although lowland
valleys can be quite hot in summer.
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Bibliography:
Text: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy
Image page 2:
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policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Satellite_image_of_Italy_in
_March_2003.jpg
Image page 4:
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Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin."
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/usage_statement.html?maps=yes
image page 3, 5, 6: personal pictures
