Geography

Italy is a 1,200 km long peninsula in the shape of a boot, flanked by two large islands (Sicily and Sardinia) and numerous smaller ones (Elba, Capri, Ischia, Aeolian Islands, La Maddalena). Two mountain ranges dominate: the Alps in the north (bordering France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia) and the Apennines, which run like a backbone through the entire peninsula from Liguria to Calabria.

In between: the Po Valley (Italy's most fertile region and economic heart), the northern Italian lakes (Garda, Como, Maggiore — formed by glacial melt), and a coastline ranging from the sandy beaches of the Adriatic to the rocky coasts of Liguria and the Amalfi to the volcanic islands of Sicily.