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Italy: Geography
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Location:
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Southern Europe, a peninsula extending into the central Mediterranean Sea, northeast of Tunisia
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Geographic coordinates:
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42 50 N, 12 50 E
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Map references:
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Europe
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Area:
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total: 301,230 sq km
note: includes Sardinia and Sicily
water: 7,210 sq km
land: 294,020 sq km
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Area - comparative:
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slightly larger than Arizona
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Land boundaries:
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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
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Coastline:
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7,600 km
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Maritime claims:
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continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
territorial sea: 12 NM
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Climate:
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predominantly Mediterranean; Alpine in far north; hot, dry in south
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Terrain:
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mostly rugged and mountainous; some plains, coastal lowlands
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Elevation extremes:
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lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mont Blanc (Monte Bianco) de Courmayeur 4,748 m (a secondary peak of Mont Blanc)
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Natural resources:
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mercury, potash, marble, sulfur, natural gas and crude oil reserves, fish, coal, arable land
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Land use:
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arable land: 28.07%
permanent crops: 9.25%
other: 62.68% (1998 est.)
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Irrigated land:
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26,980 sq km (1998 est.)
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Natural hazards:
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regional risks include landslides, mudflows, avalanches, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, flooding; land subsidence in Venice
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Environment - current issues:
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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
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Environment - international agreements:
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party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
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Geography - note:
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strategic location dominating central Mediterranean as well as southern sea and air approaches to Western Europe
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