Italy - Geography

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

Geographic coordinates: 42 50 N, 12 50 E 

Map references: Europe

Area:
total: 301,230 sq km 
land: 294,020 sq km 
water: 7,210 sq km 
note: includes Sardinia and Sicily 

Area - comparative: slightly larger than Arizona 

Land boundaries:
total: 1,932.2 km 
border countries: Austria 430 km, France 488 km, Holy See (Vatican City) 3.2 km, San Marino 39 km, Slovenia 232 km, Switzerland 740 km 

Coastline: 7,600 km 

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

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

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

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m 
highest point: Mont Blanc (Monte Bianco) de Courmayeur 4,748 m (a secondary peak of Mont Blanc) 

Natural resources: coal, mercury, zinc, potash, marble, barite, asbestos, pumice, fluorospar, feldspar, pyrite (sulfur), natural gas and crude oil reserves, fish, arable land 

Land use:  
arable land: 26.41% 
permanent crops: 9.09% 
other: 64.5% (2005) 

Irrigated Land: 27,500 sq km (2003) 

Natural hazards: regional risks include landslides, mudflows, avalanches, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, flooding; land subsidence in Venice 

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; inadequate industrial waste treatment and disposal facilities 

Environment - international agreements: 
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

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

This information comes from the CIA World Factbook August 2008.