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.
Its total area is 301 230 km², of which 294 020 km² is land and 7
210 km² is water.
Including islands, Italy has a coastline of 7 600 km on the Adriatic,
Ionian, Tyrrhenian (740 km), France (488 km), Austria (430 km),
Slovenia (232 km)and Switzerland. San Marino (39 km) and the Vatican
City (3.2 km), both entirely surrounded by Italy, account for the
remainder.
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 miles)
eastward from the Cottian Alps to the Adriatic.
In the north of the country are a number of subalpine lakes, the
largest of which is Garda (370 km², 143 sq mi).
Several islands form part of Italy. The largest are Sicily (25 708
km², 9,926 square miles) and Sardinia (24 090 km², 9,301 sq mi).
There are also a few active volcanoes in Italy: Etna, the largest
active volcano in Europe; Vulcano; Stromboli; and Vesuvius, the only
active volcano on the mainland of Europe.
The climate in Italy is highly diverse and can be
far from the stereotypical Mediterranean climate depending on the
location. Most of the inland northern areas of Italy, for example
Turin, Milan and Bologna, have a continental climate often
classified as humid subtropical (Köppen climate classification Cfa).
The coastal areas of Liguria and most of the peninsula south of
Florence generally fit the Mediterranean stereotype (Köppen climate
classification Csa). The coastal areas of the peninsula can be very
different from the interior higher altitudes and valleys,
particularly during the winter months when the higher altitudes tend
to be cold, wet, and often snowy. 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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