Italy is a type of peninsula jutting south from mainland Europe into Mediterranean Sea. In Northern and Central Italy the land is mainly mountainous. Most of the flat land is in Po Valley and along the eastern coast. Italy lies within an earthquake zone which makes the land unstable and there are also a number of active volcanoes. The basins of the river Po has the best soils in Italy.
Landscape
Rich alluvium is washed from the mountains by the rivers to form a wide plain. The great lakes like Garda and Como fill several south-facing valleys once occupied by glaciers. The Dolomites are high mountains are parts of same range as the Alps. They were formed 65 million years ago. The Apennines mountain, range formed the backbone of the Italy dividing the rock west coast from the flatter sandy east coast.
Sardinia Island is made from very old rocks which were up-thrusted to form mountains. The Tyrrhenian Sea divides the Italian mainland from Sardinia is gradually filling with sediments from the rivers, which flows into it. Sicily is the largest islands in Mediterranean. It has a famous active volcano called ‘Mount Etna‘ and often experiences earth quakes.
Climate
The Alpine North has cold winters often with snow. Further south temperature are higher. Sicily has Italy’s highest temperature due to warm African wind.
Industry
Italian Industry is located mainly in the north. Design is extremely important to Italians and they are proud of the elegant design of their furniture, clothes and shoe. Though many firms are small, they are very efficient. Italy has few minerals resources so it needs to import new materials to make cars, engine and other high-tech products.
Population
Most of the Italy’s population lives in the North, mainly in and around the Po Valley, which is home to over 25 million people. Most people here have high standard of living. Southern Italy is much more rural towns are smaller and life is often much harder.
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