# Italy

By [ROma](https://paragraph.com/@motoaptos) · 2023-01-21

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**Italy**, [country](https://www.britannica.com/topic/nation-state) of south-central [Europe](https://www.britannica.com/place/Europe), occupying a peninsula that juts deep into the [Mediterranean Sea](https://www.britannica.com/place/Mediterranean-Sea). Italy [comprises](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/comprises) some of the most varied and scenic landscapes on [Earth](https://www.britannica.com/place/Earth) and is often described as a country shaped like a boot. At its broad top stand the [Alps](https://www.britannica.com/place/Alps), which are among the world’s most rugged mountains. Italy’s highest points are along [Monte Rosa](https://www.britannica.com/place/Monte-Rosa), which peaks in [Switzerland](https://www.britannica.com/place/Switzerland), and along [Mont Blanc](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mont-Blanc-poem-by-Shelley), which peaks in [France](https://www.britannica.com/place/France). The western Alps overlook a landscape of [Alpine lakes](https://www.britannica.com/place/Alpine-lakes) and glacier-carved valleys that stretch down to the [Po River](https://www.britannica.com/place/Po-River) and the [Piedmont](https://www.britannica.com/place/Piedmont-region-Italy). [Tuscany](https://www.britannica.com/place/Tuscany), to the south of the cisalpine region, is perhaps the country’s best-known region. From the central Alps, running down the length of the country, radiates the tall [Apennine Range](https://www.britannica.com/place/Apennine-Range), which widens near Rome to cover nearly the entire width of the Italian peninsula. South of Rome the Apennines narrow and are [flanked](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/flanked) by two wide coastal plains, one facing the [Tyrrhenian Sea](https://www.britannica.com/place/Tyrrhenian-Sea) and the other the [Adriatic Sea](https://www.britannica.com/place/Adriatic-Sea). Much of the lower Apennine chain is near-wilderness, hosting a wide range of species rarely seen elsewhere in western Europe, such as wild boars, wolves, asps, and bears. The southern Apennines are also tectonically unstable, with several active volcanoes, including [Vesuvius](https://www.britannica.com/place/Vesuvius), which from time to time belches ash and steam into the air above Naples and its island-strewn bay. At the bottom of the country, in the [Mediterranean Sea](https://www.britannica.com/place/Mediterranean-Sea), lie the islands of [Sicily](https://www.britannica.com/place/Sicily) and [Sardinia](https://www.britannica.com/place/Sardinia-island-Italy).

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*Originally published on [ROma](https://paragraph.com/@motoaptos/italy)*