"Geography - Map, Altimetrical zones of Region, Mountain, Hill, Plain Land, Islands, Lakes, Rivers, Climate.." submitted by RomeTour Editorial Team and last updated on Tuesday 10th January 2012
Italy is a mountainous country, with the Alps as the northern boundary and the Apennine Mountains forming the backbone of the peninsula, but 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. 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 Apulia and the Southeastern Plains is the fifth land region. It is located in the heel of the boot-shaped Italian peninsula. This region has a lot of plateaus that end as cliffs at the Mediterranean Sea. It has a lot of farming room. Fishing is important along the coast of Italy. Bari and Taranto are the chief industrial centers.
Most of Italy's rivers drain either into the Adriatic Sea (like Po, Piave, Adige, 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.
Mountain Ranges: There are two major mountain ranges in Italy, the Alps and the Appennino or Apennines. The Alps, divided into regions called, from west to east the Occidentali, the Centrali, and the Orientali, border with France, Austria and Switzerland. The backbone of Italy is formed by the north-south trending Appennino chain. You may hear of the Dolomites, which are really part of the Alps, located in the regions of South Tyrol, Trentino and Belluno The highest point in Italy is Mont Blanc, in the alps at 15,770 feet.
Location: Southern Europe, a peninsula extending into the central Mediterranean Sea, northeast of Tunisia
Geographic coordinates: 42 50 N, 12 50 E
Map references: Europe
Land: 294,020 sq km
Water: 7,210 sq km
note: includes Sardinia and Sicily
Area Comparative: Slightly larger than Arizona
1 meter (m) = 39.37 inches = 3.2808 feet
1 kilometer (km) = 0.621 mile = 3280.8 feet
1 square meter (sq.m) = 1549.9 square inches = 1.196 square yards
1 square kilometer (sq.km) = 0.386 square mile = 247.1 acres
Territory 301 277 sq.km, population 60,221,211, density of the population 191 inh./sq.km Area: 301,225 sq. km. (116,303 sq. mi.); about the size of Georgia and Florida combined. Cities: Capital--Rome (pop. 2.8 million, 3.7 million metro). Other cities--Milan (1.3 million, 3.9 metro), Naples (975,000, 3 million metro), Turin (900,000, 2.1 million metro).
Altimetrical zones (sq.kms) (A subdivision of the national territory in homogeneous zones deriving from the aggregation of neighboring municipalities, normally built on the base of altimetric threshold values. Mountain, hill and plain altimetric zones are distinguished.)
| Region | Mountain | Hill | Plain | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Piedmont | 10 990 | 7 700 | 6 710 | 25 400 |
| Valle d'Aosta | 3 260 | - | - | 3 260 |
| Lombardy | 9 670 | 2 970 | 11 220 | 23 860 |
| Liguria | 3 530 | 1 890 | - | 542 |
| Trentino-Alto Adige | 13 610 | - | - | 13 610 |
| Veneto | 5 340 | 2 660 | 10 360 | 18 360 |
| Emilia-Romagna | 5 560 | 5 990 | 10 57 | 22 120 |
| Tuscany | 5 740 | 15 320 | 1 930 | 22 990 |
| Umbria | 2 480 | 5 980 | - | 8 460 |
| Marche | 3 020 | 6 670 | - | 9 690 |
| Latium | 4 490 | 9 280 | 3 430 | 17 200 |
| Abruzzi | 7 020 | 3 770 | - | 10 790 |
| Molise | 2 460 | 1 980 | - | 4 440 |
| Campania | 4 200 | 6 910 | 1 990 | 13 600 |
| Apulia | 2 90 | 8 760 | 10 300 | 19 350 |
| Basilicata | 4 680 | 4 510 | 800 | 9 990 |
| Calabria | 6 310 | 7 410 | 1 360 | 15 080 |
| Sicily | 6 250 | 15 820 | 3 640 | 25 710 |
| Sardinia | 3 290 | 16 350 | 4 450 | 24 090 |
| Italia | 106 030 | 125 490 | 69 750 | 301 270 |
| The highest mountains (m) | |
|---|---|
| M.Bianco (western Alps) | 4 810 |
| M.Rosa (central Alps) | 4 633 |
| M.Palla Bianca (eastern Alps) | 3 736 |
| M.Cimone (northern Apennines) | 2 163 |
| Gran Sasso d'Italia (central Apennines) | 2 914 |
| M.Pollino (southern Apennines) | 2 248 |
| Etna (Sicily) | 3 340 |
| P.ta La Marmora (Sardinia) | 2 834 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Surface (km) | Depth max (m) | ||||
| Sicily | 25 426 | Garda | 370 | 346 | ||
| Sardinia | 23 812 | Maggiore | 212.2 | 372 | ||
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Como | 145.9 | 410 | |
| Trasimento | 128 | 6 | ||||
| Bolsena | 114.5 | 146 | ||||
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Iseo | 65.3 | 251 | |
| Varano | 60.5 | 6 | ||||
|
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Bracciano | 57.5 | 160 | |
| Lesina | 51.4 | 2 | ||||
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Lugano | 50.5 | 288 | |
| Omodeo | 22 | 61 | ||||
| Asinara | 51 |  |
Orta | 18.2 | 143 | |
| Ischia | 46 |  |
Varese | 15 | 26 | |
| Lipari | 37 |  |
Vico | 12.1 | 50 | |
| Salina | 26 |  |
Idro | 10.9 | 122 | |
| Giglio | 21 |  |
Santa Croce | 7.8 | 44 | |
| Vulcano | 21 |  |
Massaciuccoli | 6.9 | 3 | |
| Lampedusa | 20 | Albano | 6 | 170 | ||
| La Maddalena | 20 | Mezzola | 5.9 | 69 | ||
| Favignana | 20 | Viverone | 5.8 | 50 | ||
| Capraia | 19 | |||||
| Caprera | 16 | |||||
| The greatest rivers (length in km) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Po | 652 | Tirso | 150 |  |
| Adige | 410 | Basento | 149 | |
| Tevere | 405 | Panaro | 148 | |
| Adda | 313 | Aterno-Pescara | 145 | |
| Oglio | 280 | Imera-Salso | 144 | |
| Tanaro | 276 | Sesia | 138 | |
| Ticino | 248 | Isonzo | 136 | |
| Arno | 241 | Ofanto | 134 | |
| Piave | 220 | Flumendosa | 127 | |
| Reno | 211 | Mannu-Coghinas | 123 | |
| Sacra-Mincio | 194 | Bacchiglione | 118 | |
| Volturno | 175 | Sangro | 117 | |
| Secchia | 172 | Bradano | 116 | |
| Tagliamento | 170 | Tronto | 115 | |
| Ombrone | 161 | Simeto | 113 | |
| Brenta | 160 | Livenza | 112 | |
| Dora Baltea | 160 | Sinni | 101 | |
| Liri-Carigliano | 158 | Cervaro | 93 | |
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