Location: Southern Europe, a peninsula extending into the central Mediterranean Sea

Map references: Africa, Europe, Standard Time Zones of the World

Area:
total area: 301,230 sq km
land area: 294,020 sq km
comparative area: slightly larger than Arizona
note: includes Sardinia and Sicily

Land boundaries: total 1,899.2 km, Austria 430 km, France 488 km, Holy See (Vatican City) 3.2 km, San Marino 39 km, Slovenia 199 km, Switzerland 740 km

Coastline: 4,996 km

Maritime claims:
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to depth of exploitation
territorial sea: 12 nm

International disputes: none

Climate: predominantly Mediterranean; Alpine in far north; hot, dry in south

Terrain: mostly rugged and mountainous; some plains, coastal lowlands

Natural resources: mercury, potash, marble, sulfur, dwindling natural gas and crude oil reserves, fish, coal

Land use:
arable land: 32%
permanent crops: 10%
meadows and pastures: 17%
forest and woodland: 22%
other: 19%

Irrigated land: 31,000 sq km (1989 est.)

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
natural hazards: regional risks include landslides, mudflows, avalanches, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, flooding; land subsidence in Venice
international agreements: party to - Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur, Antarctic Treaty, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified - Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Law of the Sea

Note: strategic location dominating central Mediterranean as well as southern sea and air approaches to Western Europe

NOTE: The information regarding Italy on this page is re-published from the 1995 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Italy Geography 1995 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Italy Geography 1995 should be addressed to the CIA.