Italy: Geographic & Cultural Profile

Italy: The Boot in the Mediterranean

Location: Southern Europe, peninsula extending into central Mediterranean Sea.

Borders

• Land: France (NW), Switzerland (N), Austria (N), Slovenia (NE).
• Enclaves: San Marino, Vatican City.
• Coastline: 7,600 km — Adriatic (E), Ionian (SE), Tyrrhenian (W), Ligurian (NW).

Major Gulfs

• East: Venice, Trieste, Taranto.
• West: Genoa (largest), Naples, Gaeta, Salerno, Policastro, Sant'Eufemia, Squillace, Gioia Tauro.

Key Features

• Capital: Rome (Colosseum, Vatican, Forum).
• Regions: 20 (5 autonomous).
• Landscape: Alps (N), Po Valley, Apennines (spine), volcanoes (Vesuvius, Etna), islands (Sicily, Sardinia).
• EU/Schengen: Founding member.

Italy's geography — mountains, sea, latitude — created its diverse climates, cuisines, and historic city-states.