Geography
Boot-shaped Italy possesses perhaps the most instantly identifiable physical shape of any country in the world, the result of its particular geography.In the north, the Alps join Italy to the southern underside of Europe. Near its border with Switzerland is the glacier-carved Lake Country. Flanking the Ligurian Sea, near the French border, is the Italian Riveria, with its famed beaches and beauty spots, including BAD LINKPortofino and the Cinque Terre. To the northeast, near Austria, the spectacularly craggy Alpine massif called the Dolomites rises up.
The wide and fertile Po River valley separates the Alps from the rest of Italy's more mountainous boot. This valley contains most of Italy's major industry, its large-scale agriculture, and the country's densest population. The cities of Turin, BAD LINKMilan, Padua, and BAD LINKBologna lie in this wide valley. North of the river's mouth on the Adriatic Sea is Venice, the "city of canals" built on a series of islands and lagoons.
Central Italy is characterized by its many hill towns, terraced farms and vineyards, and steep valleys. Florence is located in the Tuscan hills, while Rome is backed up against the peaks of the southern Apennines. To the south of Rome, the hills become more arid, and the underlying limestone more apparent in white cliffs and rocky outcrops. Small-scale farming and herding are the base of the dominantly agricultural economy. Naples, Italy's greatest port, sits at the base of Mount Vesuvius, the still smoldering volcano whose eruption in 79 BC smothered BAD LINKPompeii and Herculaneum. Off the toe of Italy is Sicily, whose eastern slopes are dominated by Mount Etna, another active volcano. The more remote Sardinia rises in the Tyrrhenian Sea west of the mainland.