Italian Peninsula

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The Italian Peninsula or Apennine Peninsula (Penisola italiana or Penisola appenninica) is one of the greatest peninsulas of Europe, spanning 1,000 km from the Po Valley in the north to the central Mediterranean Sea in the south. The peninsula is well-known for its boot shape, in fact it is known as Lo Stivale (Italian for "The boot".) Three smaller peninsulas contribute to giving the Italian Peninsula its characteristic shape, namely Calabria, Salento and Gargano.

Nearly all of the peninsula is part of the state of Italy, apart from two small areas, San Marino and the Vatican City.

The peninsula is bordered by the Ligurian Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea on the west, the Ionian Sea on the south, and the Adriatic Sea on the east. The interior part of the Apennine Peninsula consists of the Apennine Mountains, from which it takes its name, the northern part is largely plains and the coasts are lined with cliffs.

One natural resource that this peninsula contains is petroleum.

This peninsula has mainly a Mediterranean climate, though in the mountainous parts the climate is cooler. Its natural vegetation includes chaparral and deciduous and mixed deciduous coniferous forests.

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Last updated on Tuesday March 11, 2008 at 10:04:30 PDT (GMT -0700)
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