<hdr>The World Factbook 1994: Italy<nl>Geography</hdr><body>
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<item><hi format=bold>Location:</hi> Southern Europe, a peninsula extending into the central Mediterranean Sea
<item><hi format=bold>Area:</hi>
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<item>• <hi format=ital>total area:</hi> 301,230 sq km
<item>• <hi format=ital>land area:</hi> 294,020 sq km
<item>• <hi format=ital>comparative area:</hi> slightly larger than Arizona
<item>• <hi format=ital>note:</hi> includes Sardinia and Sicily
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<item><hi format=bold>Land boundaries:</hi> total 1,899.2 km, Austria 430 km, France 488 km, Holy See (Vatican City) 3.2 km, San Marino 39 km, Slovenia 199 km, Switzerland 740 km
<item><hi format=bold>Coastline:</hi> 4,996 km
<item><hi format=bold>Maritime claims:</hi>
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<item>• <hi format=ital>continental shelf:</hi> 200-m depth or to depth of exploitation
<item><hi format=bold>Climate:</hi> predominantly Mediterranean; Alpine in far north; hot, dry in south
<item><hi format=bold>Terrain:</hi> mostly rugged and mountainous; some plains, coastal lowlands
<item><hi format=bold>Natural resources:</hi> mercury, potash, marble, sulfur, dwindling natural gas and crude oil reserves, fish, coal
<item><hi format=bold>Land use:</hi>
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<item>• <hi format=ital>arable land:</hi> 32%
<item>• <hi format=ital>permanent crops:</hi> 10%
<item>• <hi format=ital>meadows and pastures:</hi> 17%
<item>• <hi format=ital>forest and woodland:</hi> 22%
<item>• <hi format=ital>other:</hi> 19%
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<item><hi format=bold>Irrigated land:</hi> 31,000 sq km (1989 est.)
<item><hi format=bold>Environment:</hi>
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<item>• <hi format=ital>current issues:</hi> air pollution from industrial emissions such as sulfur dioxide; coastal and inland rivers polluted from industrial and agricultural effluents; acid rain damaging lakes
<item>• <hi format=ital>natural hazards:</hi> regional risks include landslides, mudflows, avalanches, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, flooding; land subsidence in Venice
<item>• <hi format=ital>international agreements:</hi> party to—Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur, Antarctic Treaty, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified—Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Law of the Sea
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<item><hi format=bold>Note:</hi> strategic location dominating central Mediterranean as well as southern sea and air approaches to Western Europe