Italy, tourist guide, all the things you need to know to visit the regions of the Italian peninsula and all its islands, climate and highways.
Italy in short
- Capital: Rome
- Area in sq km: 301 338 sq km
- Population: 59,448,163 (first half 2007)
- Religion: Catholic majority
Where Italy is located
Italy has a territory that, starting from the southern side of the Alps, extends into the Mediterranean Sea as a peninsula with a similar shape to that of a boot.
The Italian territory also includes some islands including Sardinia and Sicily which are the two major islands. The seas that bathe Italy are the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west, the Ligurian Sea to the northwest.
The mountain ranges extend for most of the territory with the major peaks located in the Western Alps, where there are mountains above 4000 m above sea level including 4634 meters Monte Rosa, 4478 meters Monte Cervino and 4810 Monte Bianco meters which is the highest mountain in Europe.
The Po Valley, a large alluvial expanse formed by the river Po and its tributaries, is located south of the Alps while the Apennine chain extends the entire length of the boot from Liguria to Sicily.
There are also some volcanoes including Vesuvius in the Pompeii area near Naples, Etna near Catania which, exceeding 3000 meters, is the highest volcano in Europe, and Stromboli located on the island of the same name.
Regions Italy
Italy is made up of 20 regions, 5 of which have special status. Regions regions with ordinary statute have forms and conditions dictated by the Italian constitution while the statute is approved by the regional council. Regions with special status have instead defined particular forms and conditions of autonomy.
The twenty regions that make up the Italian state are Aosta Valley, Piedmont, Liguria, Lombardy, Veneto, Trentino Alto Adige, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Emilia Romagna, Tuscany, Marche, Umbria, Lazio, Abruzzo, Sardinia, Molise, Campania, Puglia , Basilicata, Calabria and Sicily.
Northern Italy
Northern Italy includes the regions between the northern part of the Apennines and the southern part of the Alps. The regions belonging to this geographical area of Italy are Piedmont, Valle d'Aosta, Liguria, Lombardy, Trentino-Alto Adige, Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Emilia-Romagna and in them almost half of the Italian population resides.
central Italy
The territory belonging to Central Italy includes the regions of Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Lazio.
southern Italy
From a strictly geographical point of view, southern Italy includes the southern part of the Italian peninsula with the exception of Sicily and Sardinia which as islands belong to island Italy. The regions of Abruzzo, Molise, Campania, Puglia, Basilicata and Calabria belong to Southern Italy.
Recommended readings- Artimino (Tuscany): what to see
- Giulianova (Abruzzo): what to see
- Alessandria (Piedmont): what to see in 1 day
- Corigliano Calabro (Calabria): what to see in the medieval village
- San Galgano (Tuscany): what to see
Speaking of Southern Italy, on the other hand, we mean the geographical area which includes not only Southern Italy but also Sicily and Sardinia.
Hydrography Italy
As a consequence of the large number of mountains, the Italian territory is also crossed by many rivers, the largest of which is the Po, over 650 kilometers long. The Po is the river that crosses the Po valley created by the debris dragged downstream by this large stream and its tributaries.
Italy climate
Surrounded largely by the seas that make up the Mediterranean, Italy has a temperate climate that can be divided into further subtypes:
- Temperate subtropical climate characteristic of the coastal areas of Sicily, southern Sardinia and central and southern Calabria.
- Warm temperate climate present in most of Sardinia, Sicily, Calabria and Puglia.
- Sublittoral temperate climate typical of the Marche coast, of the hills of Tuscany, Umbria, Lazio, Molise, Campania, Basilicata, Sardinia and Sicily.
- Temperate sub-continental climate widespread in most of the Veneto-Friuli plain, in the mountainous areas of Sardinia and Sicily and in the hills located in central and southern Italy.
- Temperate continental climate of the Po Valley and western Venetian plain.
- Cool temperate climate in the pre-Alpine areas and in most of the Apennines.
- Cold temperate climate typical of the major peaks present in the Apennine ridge.
- Cold climate of characteristic altitude in the Alpine arc above 2,000 meters above sea level and affected by rigid night and winter temperatures and abundant rainfall.
- Snowy climate of the highest peaks in the Alps and covered by perennial snow above 3,500 meters.
Tourism Italy
For economic tourism in Italy it is possible to seize the numerous travel offers with last minute formula Italy having for destinations many suggestive places in the beautiful country.
Art, nature and landscape in Italy
Tourism is among the most interesting activities in Italy, thanks to the significant artistic treasures present in many Italian cities, which hand down great historical and archaeological memories.
In addition to the cultural heritage, no less important is the naturalistic and landscape one, which includes areas suitable both for seaside or mountain holidays, as well as places with a large agritourism vocation.
Highway network Italy
Some of the motorway sections that make up the network of Italian motorways are as follows:
- A1 Autostrada del Sole (Milan - Naples)
- A3 (Naples - Reggio Calabria)
- A4 Serenissima motorway (Turin - Trieste)
- A5 Aosta Valley motorway (Turin - Aosta - Mont Blanc)
- A6 La Verdemare (Turin - Savona)
- A7 Autostrada dei Fiori (Milan - Genoa)
- A8 Autostrada dei Laghi (Milan - Varese)
- A9 Autostrada dei Laghi (Lainate - Como - Chiasso)
- A10 Autostrada dei Fiori (Genoa - Ventimiglia)
- A11 Firenze-Mare (Florence - Pisa North)
- A12 Autostrada Azzurra (Genoa - Rosignano / Civitavecchia - Rome)
- A13 (Padua - Bologna)
- A14 Adriatic Highway (Bologna - Taranto)
- A15 Cisa motorway (Parma - La Spezia)
- A16 Due Mari Highway (Naples - Canosa)
- A18 (Messina - Catania / Siracusa - Cassibile)
- A19 (Palermo - Catania)
- A20 (Messina - Palermo)
- A21 Autostrada dei Vini (Turin - Piacenza - Brescia)
- A22 Brenner motorway (Brennero - Modena)
- A23 Alpe-Adria highway (Palmanova - Tarvisio)
- A24 Strada dei Parchi (Rome - L'Aquila - Teramo)
- A25 Strada dei Parchi (Torano - Pescara)
- A26 Autostrada dei Trafori (Voltri - Gravellona Toce)
- A27 Alemagna highway (Mestre - Belluno)
- A28 (Conegliano - Portogruaro)
- A29 Salt Highway (Palermo - Mazara del Vallo)
- A30 (Caserta - Salerno)
- A31 Val d’Astico motorway (Piovene Rocchette - Vicenza)
- A32 Autostrada del Frejus (Turin - Bardonecchia)
- A33 (Asti - Cuneo)
