Geographic coordinates: 42 50 N, 12 50 E
Map references: Europe
Area:
total:
301,230 sq km
land:
294,020 sq km
water:
7,210 sq km
note:
includes Sardinia and Sicily
Regions and capitals
- Valle d'Aosta[?] (Vallee d'Aoste) - Aosta[?] (Aoste)
- Piedmont (Piemonte) - Turin
- Lombardy (Lombardia) - MIlan
- Trentino - Alto Adige[?] (Trentino - Südtirol) - Trento
- Veneto - Venice
- Friuli - Venezia Giulia[?] - Trieste
- Liguria - Genoa
- Emilia-Romagna - Bologna
- Marches[?] (Marche) - Ancona
- Tuscany (Toscana) - Florence
- Umbria - Perugia[?]
- Latium (Lazio) - Rome
- Abruzzi - L'Aquila[?]
- Molise - Campobasso
- Campania - Naples
- Basilicata - Potenza[?]
- Puglia - Bari
- Calabria - Catanzaro[?]
- Sicily (Sicilia) - Palermo
- Sardinia (Sardegna) - Cagliari
Area - comparative: slightly larger than Arizona
Land boundaries:
total:
1,932.2 km
border countries:
Austria 430 km, France 488 km, Holy See (Vatican City) 3.2 km, San Marino 39 km, Slovenia 232 km, Switzerland 740 km
Coastline: 7,600 km
Maritime claims:
continental shelf:
200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
territorial sea:
12 nm
Climate: predominantly Mediterranean; Alpine in far north; hot, dry in south
Terrain: mostly rugged and mountainous; some plains, coastal lowlands
Elevation extremes:
lowest point:
Mediterranean Sea 0 m
highest point:
Mont Blanc (Monte Bianco) 4,807 m
Natural resources: mercury, potash, marble, sulfur, dwindling natural gas and crude oil reserves, fish, coal, arable land
Land use:
arable land:
31%
permanent crops:
10%
permanent pastures:
15%
forests and woodland:
23%
other:
21% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 27,100 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: regional risks include landslides, mudflows[?], avalanches, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, flooding[?]; land subsidence in Venice
Environment - current issues: air pollution from industrial emissions such as sulfur dioxide; coastal and inland rivers polluted from industrial and agricultural effluents; acid rain damaging lakes; inadequate industrial waste treatment and disposal facilities
Environment - international agreements:
party to:
Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxide Protocol, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds Protocol, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical timber[?] 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified:
Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
Geography - note: strategic location dominating central Mediterranean as well as southern sea and air approaches to Western Europe
- See also : Italy