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Geography
Italy occupies a peninsula that
protrudes into the central
Mediterranean Sea in Southern
Europe. It also administers the
islands of Sardinia and Sicily which
altogether form a total land area of
about 294,020 sq km. The country is
bordered by Slovenia in the
north-east, Austria and Switzerland
in the north, and France in the
north-west. The Ligurian Sea, the
Sardinian Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea
wash its shores in the west, whereas
the Sicilian Sea and the Ionian Sea
lap in the south and the Adriatic
Sea gurgles in the east.
There are two prominent mountain
chains that constitute the landscape
of Italy. The first is the eastern
arm of the Alps which consists of
great massifs in the western sector
with high-rise peaks such as Monte
Bianco (Mont Blanc), Monte Rosa and
Cervino (the Matterhorn). The Alps
slopes down in the eastern sector to
greet the vast plain of the Po
Valley whose course of the Po,
Italy's longest river (652 km),
flows to the Adriatic through its
midsection. Four huge lakes are
located at the Alpine foothills, and
they are the lakes of Garda, Iseo,
Como and Maggiore.
However, it is the Apennines that
forms the spine of the peninsula.
The chain reaches to the Tyrrhenian
Sea in a wide arc and has the Corno
Grande (Gran Sasso d'Italia) as its
highest peak. The southern section
of the chain pushes out to the east
forming the Gargano promontory and,
sloping down further south, the
Salentine peninsula. It then
proceeds to the west with the
Calabrian and Peloritano massif
stretching across the Strait of
Messina into Sicilia. The central
Italy is largely characterized by a
green hilly landscape, through which
the rivers Arno and Tevere (Tiber)
run.
Italy's principal islands are
Sicilia which is the base of Etna,
the great volcanoe with the imposing
height of 3,320 m, and Sardegna. The
main archipelagos are the Tremiti
Islands in the Adriatic Sea, the
Pontine Islands, the Tuscan
Archipelago, the Egadi Islands and
the Aeolian Islands in the
Tyrrhenian Sea off the coast of
Sicilia.
Climate
Because of its geographical
properties, Italy's climate varies
widely from north to south and from
lowland to mountain top. The
distinction between seasons are
often clear-cut and extreme in the
north, while conditions become more
moderate and pleasant the further
you go south. The Alps generally
exhibits a long and severe winter,
with snow falling more than half of
the year.
Summer in Italy is hot and dry,
but the area closer to the coast is
moderated by sea breezes. The
sirocco, the hot and humid African
wind that affects regions south of
Rome, produces at least a couple of
stiflingly hot weeks in summer.
However, this is the season perfect
for excursions, hiking and
watersports. Winter in Italy is
ideal for skiing because there are
many ski resorts with beautiful
scenery engendered by the Alps and
the Apennines. For cities that are
rich in art treasures, they are best
to visit in spring or autumn.
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Geography & Climate 
