Rdxfbgrtj

Italian Peninsula Apennine Peninsula Penisola italiana, Penisola appenninica, Terraferma, Continente, lo Stivale  (Italian)
Satellite view of the peninsula in March 2003.
Italian Peninsula in dark green
Geography
Location	Southern Europe
Coordinates	42°N 14°E / 42°N 14°E / 42; 14 37°N 15°E / 37°N 15°E / 37; 15
Area	150,000 km2 (58,000 sq mi) (44% of Italy's area)
Highest point	Corno Grande
Administration
Italy
Largest settlement	Rome
San Marino
Largest settlement	Dogana
Vatican City
Largest settlement	Itself (City-state)
Demographics
Demonym	Apenninen
Pop. density	199.27 /km2 (516.11 /sq mi)
Ethnic groups	Italian

The Italian Peninsula or Apennine Peninsula (Italian: Penisola italiana, Penisola appenninica) extends 1,000 km (620 mi) from the Po Valley in the north to the central Mediterranean Sea in the south (about 44% of total Italy's area). 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.^[1][2]
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 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/territories

Political divisions of the peninsula sorted by area:

Country/ Territory	Peninsular area				Description
	Population[3]	km2	sq mi	Share
Italy	60,589,445	131,275	50,686	99.9531%	Effectively the entire peninsula
San Marino	31,887	61.2	23.6	0.0466%	A central-eastern enclave of peninsular Italy
Vatican City	829	0.44	0.17	0.0003%	An enclave of Rome, Italy

See also

• Apennine Mountains


• History of Italy


• Roman Republic


• Roman Italy


• Insular Italy

References

External links

• 
  Media related to Italian Peninsula at Wikimedia Commons

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