Italy is a European country located on the Apennine Peninsula. Many people easily recognize the Italian "boot" on the map. In the northern part it borders with Austria and Switzerland, in the northwestern part with France, and in the east with Slovenia. What is the area of this country? How many people live here? And what are the other peculiarities of Italy?
Geography of the country
The area of Italy is more than 300 thousand square meters. km. The population is about 60 million. However, this figure has been decreasing in recent years. There are four active volcanoes in Italy. These are Vesuvius, Etna, Vulcano, and also Stromboli. The climate of the country is subtropical and Mediterranean. Winter in Italy is short and wet. Summer, on the other hand, is very hot and dry.
Winter temperature rarely drops below zero degrees, in summer it rises to 25-30 degrees. At the same time, the temperature is very dependent on the height of the area above sea level. Even in the vicinity of Rome and Turin, which gently rise to the foothills, it is always a little colder than in the central parts of these cities. This picture is even more pronounced in the Alps. There is snow on the tops of the mountains, and at the foot they bear fruit almost all year round.citrus.
In the south of the country, from March to October, hot winds blow from the Sahara desert - "Sirocco". They make the air dry and hot, and the temperature rises to 35 degrees Celsius. On the territory of the island of Sicily, the climate is also Mediterranean. The only differences are slightly cooler winters and slightly hotter summers. Little rain falls in Sicily, most of it between October and March. The whole of Italy is surrounded by seas, so the air is humid almost everywhere.
Quite a large area of Italy on the east side is washed by the waters of the Adriatic Sea. To the south are the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas. And from the western part of the coast of the country are washed by the Ligurian, Tyrrhenian, and Mediterranean seas.
Mountains and rivers
The Alps are located in the northern part of the country. The highest mountain peak is Mont Blanc. Its height is 4807 m. And between the Alpine mountains and the Apennines is the Padana Plain. The area of Italy occupied by the Padana Plain is as much as 46 thousand square meters. km.
A lot of rivers in Italy. The main ones are Adige and Po. They are located in the northern part of the country, their waters rush into the warm Adriatic Sea. And on the Apennine Peninsula, the Tiber and Arno rivers flow.
Italy is also known for its lakes. The largest of them are Como, Lugano, Garda, Bolsena, Bracchiano and Lago Maggiore.
Italian forests
What area of Italy is occupied by forests? In recenthalf a century, this figure is becoming more and more. Throughout history, three inventories of forests have been made here. 11 million hectares - the territory occupied by forests approaches this figure. But some of the regions cannot be called wooded. For example, in Sicily there are only about 4% forests.
Reserves
Many national parks have been created in Italy. The area of Italy in thousand km2, occupied by reserves, is about 200. In the Alps, these are the reserves of Gran Paradiso and Stelvio. The Abruzzo National Park is located in the Apennines. Natural objects protected by the state are glaciers, oak and pine forests, wildlife.
Regions of Italy
The area of Italy is divided into 20 regions. If you visit even a few of them, you cannot confidently declare knowledge of this country. After all, each of them has its own age-old traditions, cuisine, historical secrets. Five of these regions are endowed with a special status. Each of the 20 regions, in turn, is divided into 110 provinces, each of which consists of communes. The total area of Italy is 8101 communes. The largest Italian cities are Rome, Naples, Turin and also Milan.
Population
Most of the area of Italy is inhabited, of course, by Italians - more than 96%. The remaining 4% are representatives of other nationalities. In the north, in the area of the borders, you can meet Romansh. Arabs and North Americans make up 0.9%. Germans - 0.4%. The same number of Austrians live in Italy. Italo-Albanians make up 0.8%.
Economy
Italy is considered a developed country both in terms of the agricultural sector and in production. The leading industrial areas of Italy are chemical production, mechanical engineering, metallurgy, as well as light industry. In addition, Italian producers of citrus fruits, tomatoes and olives are the largest in all of Europe.
Tourism is also developed here. The annual flow of tourists to Italy is about 50 million. The area and population of Italy allow receiving such a flow of guests, providing a warm welcome to all of them. The annual national product per capita is $30,000.
Religious composition of the population
The religious composition of the population in Italy is as follows. The main number are Christians (most of which are Roman Catholics, and religious minorities are represented by Protestant communities and Jehovah's Witnesses). In total, Christians in Italy are about 80%. The remaining 20% are atheists or agnostics.
Those who are planning a trip to Italy will be interested to know that there are no homeless animals in this country, and 60% of the entire cultural heritage of the planet is located on its territory.
