|
Location
Southern Europe, a peninsula extending into the central Mediterranean
Sea, northeast of Tunisia.
Geographic coordinates
42°50' N 12°50' E
Map references
Europe
Area
- Total: 301,230 km²
- Land: 294,020 km²
- Water: 7,210 km²
- Note: includes Sardinia and Sicily
Land boundaries
- Total: 1,932.2 km
- Border countries: Austria 430 km, France 488 km, Holy
See (Vatican City) 3.2 km, San Marino 39 km, Slovenia 232
km, Switzerland 740 km
Coastline
7,600 km
Maritime claims
- Continental shelf: 200 m depth or to the depth of exploitation
- Territorial sea: 12 nautical miles
Climate
Predominantly Mediterranean; Alpine in far north; hot, dry
in south.
Terrain
Mostly rugged and mountainous; some plains, coastal lowlands.
Natural resources
Mercury, potash, marble, sulfur, dwindling natural gas and
crude oil reserves, fish, coal, arable land.
Land use
- Arable land: 31%
- Permanent crops: 10%
- Permanent pastures: 15%
- Forests and woodland: 23%
- Other: 21% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land
27,100 km² (1993 est.)
Natural hazards
Regional risks include landslides, mudflows, avalanches, earthquakes,
volcanic eruptions, flooding; land subsidence in Venice.
Environment--current issues
Air pollution from industrial emissions such as sulfur dioxide;
coastal and inland rivers polluted from industrial and agricultural
effluents; acid rain damaging lakes; inadequate industrial
waste treatment and disposal facilities.
Environment--international agreements
- Party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides,
Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air
Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental
Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification,
Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear
Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical
Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
- Signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic
Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
Geography--note
Strategic location dominating central Mediterranean as well
as southern sea and air approaches to Western Europe.
|
