Italian Peninsula

42°00′N 14°00′E / 42.000°N 14.000°E / 42.000; 14.000

Italian Peninsula
Satellite view of the peninsula in March 2003

The Italian Peninsula (Italian: penisola italica or penisola italiana), also known as the Italic Peninsula, Apennine Peninsula or Italian Boot, is a peninsula extending from the southern Alps in the north to the central Mediterranean Sea in the south.

Overview

It is nicknamed lo Stivale (the Boot). Three smaller peninsulas contribute to this characteristic shape, namely Calabria (the "toe"), Salento (the "heel") and Gargano (the "spur"). The backbone of the Italian Peninsula consists of the Apennine Mountains, from which it takes one of its names. The peninsula comprises much of Italy and also includes the microstates of San Marino and Vatican City.

Physical geography

Italian Peninsula 
Minimum extent (excluding Northern Italy) of the Italian Peninsula in dark green and maximum extent (including Northern Italy) in light green

Geographically, the minimum extent of the Italian Peninsula consists of the land south of a line extending from the Magra to the Rubicon rivers, north of the Tuscan–Emilian Apennines. It excludes the Po Valley and the southern slopes of the Alps. The Italian Peninsula has the only active volcano on continental Europe, Mount Vesuvius.

Political geography

In general discourse, "Italy" and the "Italian Peninsula" are often used as synonymous terms. However, Northern Italy may be excluded from the Italian Peninsula. From a political point of view, the Italian Peninsula in the strict sense (therefore excluding Insular Italy and Northern Italy) is divided into various states listed in the following table:

Country Population Peninsular area Description
km2 sq mi Share
Italian Peninsula  Italy 26,140,000 131,275 50,686 99.9531% Effectively the entire peninsula
Italian Peninsula  San Marino 31,887 61.2 23.6 0.0466% A central-eastern enclave of peninsular Italy
Italian Peninsula  Vatican City 829 0.49 0.19 0.0003% An enclave of Rome, Italy

See also

References

Tags:

Italian Peninsula OverviewItalian Peninsula Physical geographyItalian Peninsula Political geographyItalian Peninsula

🔥 Trending searches on Wiki English:

2024 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournamentWojciech SzczęsnyCaliforniaBad Boys Ride or DieTyla (South African singer)ArgylleOutlook.comAaliyahSoham murdersBrittany SnowPete RoseLate Night with the DevilJennifer AnistonDinesh KarthikRicky StanickySunshine Skyway BridgeRhea RipleyLorenzo MusettiRonald ReaganSwitzerlandEurovision Song Contest 2024Chennai Super KingsJan VertonghenWinona RyderLeave the World Behind (film)Ekaterina AlexandrovaAnsel AdamsKevin Von ErichLove Lies Bleeding (2024 film)Sri LankaNvidiaLindsay LohanFrances Xavier CabriniSpain national football teamCowboy Carter2023 Indian Premier LeagueJimmy CarterDave CalhounJ. Robert OppenheimerSolo LevelingBharatiya Janata PartyProsopometamorphopsiaInstagramDrake BellBramayugamLyle and Erik MenéndezBenson BooneMumbai IndiansJason StathamQueen VictoriaThe Zone of Interest (film)Seven deadly sinsDeadpool & WolverineJeffrey EpsteinAndrew TateMarch 26Digital World Acquisition CorpAdolf HitlerEmma StonePaul AtreidesKathy GriffinDragon's Dogma 2Dark webAlbert EinsteinDaniel James (footballer)Tupac ShakurAndrew HubermanKhabib NurmagomedovXXXTentacionThe Bachelor (American season 28)Princess Margaret, Countess of SnowdonMexicoKelly LynchHardik PandyaWorld War IIGreece national football teamTihar JailPriss Fotheringham🡆 More