Italian Peninsula

Main article: Italy

"Lo Stivale" redirects here. For the Canadian newspaper, see Lo Stivale (newspaper).

Geography
Location	Southern Europe
Coordinates	42°N 14°E 37°N 15°E
Area	131,337 km2 (50,709 sq mi)
Administration
Italy
Demographics
Demonym	Apenninen
Population	26,171,000
Pop. density	199.27/km2 (516.11/sq mi)

The Italian Peninsula or Apennine Peninsula (Italian: Penisola italiana, Penisola appenninica) is the central and the smallest of the three large peninsulas of Southern Europe (between the Iberian Peninsula and the Balkan Peninsula). It extends 1,000 km (620 mi) from the Po Valley in the north to the central Mediterranean Sea in the south. The peninsula's shape gives it the nickname lo Stivale (the Boot). Three smaller peninsulas contribute to this characteristic shape, namely Calabria (the "toe"), Salento (the "heel") and Gargano (the "spur").

Geographically, 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. All of the peninsula lies within the territory of the Italian Republic except for the microstates of San Marino and Vatican City. Additionally, Sicily, Elba and other smaller islands, such as Palagruža (Italian: Pelagosa), (which belongs to Croatia) are usually considered as islands off the peninsula and in this sense geographically grouped along with it.

The peninsula lies between the Tyrrhenian Sea on the west, the Ionian Sea on the south, and the Adriatic Sea on the east. The backbone of the Italian peninsula consists of the Apennine Mountains, from which it takes one of its names. Most of its coast is lined with cliffs.

The Italian Peninsula's location between the centre of Europe and the Mediterranean Sea made it the target of many conquests.

The peninsula has mainly a Mediterranean climate, though in the mountainous parts the climate is much cooler. Its natural vegetation includes macchia along the coasts and deciduous and mixed deciduous coniferous forests in the interior.

Modern countries and territories

Political divisions of the peninsula sorted by area:

Country/ Territory	Peninsular area				Description
	Population	km2	sq mi	Share
Italy	26,140,000	131,275	50,686	99.9531%	Occupies almost the entire peninsula
San Marino	31,887	61.2	23.6	0.0466%	A north eastern enclave of peninsular Italy
Vatican City	829	0.44	0.17	0.0003%	An enclave of Rome, Italy

See also

• Apennine Mountains
• Roman Republic
• Roman Italy
• Insular Italy

External links

Media related to Italian Peninsula at Wikimedia Commons