Italy is one of the most recognizable countries in the world - not only for its history and incredible artistic achievements, but also because of its distinctive shape. Italy is shaped like a giant boot surrounded by four seas of the Mediterranean (the Ionian, Adriatic, Thyrrenian and Liguran). Its coast is not well-intended, but two large islands (Sardinia and Sicily) flank the peninsula on its western and southern side. The country has more than eight thousand kilometers of diverse coastline ranging from low-lying beaches in Sardinia to the Amalfi cliffs. Italy is a mountainous country with more than 75% of its territory dominated by two large mountain ranges. The Alps in the east-west direction. The western part of the range has the cover Italy in a close to one thousand kilometer stretch highest peaks, some of them exceeding 4500m. The most notable peaks are the Mont Blanc (4807m), Monte Cervino (4478m) and Monte Rosa (4633m). All of them are shared with the neighboring countries of Switzerland and France. Although the eastern sector is not as impressive in terms of altitude, it is nevertheless spectacular in scenery. The Dolomites are still the highlight of that part of Italy, although the environment was slightly changed when some peaks collapsed in 2004.

Lago Maggiore

The foothills of the Alps are scattered with a number of beautiful lakes - Lago Maggiore and Lago Di Garda are the most notable ones. The Alpine area is dotted with many glaciers which are all under constant threat due to climatic changes. The Marmolada glacier on the border of Veneto and Trentino stands out on account of its beauty and many skiers choose it for their next skiing adventure. The Appennini range is is known for being the 'backbone' of Italy because of its position and shape. The range extends for 1250km and is bordered by two cities - Genoa on the north and the region of Calabria on the south. Corno Grande (2912m) is its highest peak and it is located in Gran Sasso d'Italia.

Lowland covers only about one quarter of Italy's territory. The Po Valley plain is one of the largest flat areas. The Po river divides the valley which is among the most industrialized and populated Italian regions. Italy's geological history is very complex and even dramatic to a certain extent - the area was once covered by the ocean called Tethys (some 100 million years ago) and the water gradually started withdrawing leaving various sediments behind. The sediments (dolomite, sandstone and limestone) were later the foundation of Italy's mountain ranges.
The collision of the African and European continent some forty million years ago resulted in folding of some of the European land mass. Subsequent geological processes created the Alps and the Appenines. The areas around mountain ranges were formed by the erosion of the higher parts. The shaping of the peninsula ended some two million years ago but the sea level continued to rise and fall due to climatic changes.

Etna Volcano, Sicily

The entire Italian territory is intersected by a fault line running from eastern Sicily through the Apennini range all the way to the Alps located in Friuli-Venezia Giulia. This line is correspondent to the point where the African and the European territory once collided and this location is still dominated by strong seismic activity visible in a large part of Italian territory. Italy usually has several smaller quakes every year, but Sicily and other parts of Central and Southern Italy are occasionally hit by very strong earthquakes.

Italy has seen many earthquakes in the twentieth century, but the strongest one (registered seven on the Richter scale) occurred in 1908 when an earthquake hit Messina and Reggio di Calabria. The subsequent tidal wave killed more than eighty thousand people. Another 2570 people died of the 1980 earthquake that hit the area southeast of Naples, destroying several villages. An earthquake occurring in Umbria and Le Marche in September 1997 caused ten deaths in addition to destroying a part of the fresco-covered ceiling of the famous Basilica di San Francesco d'Assisi. A primary school in San Giuliano di Puglia, located in the region of Molise was destroyed by an earthquake measuring 5,4 in the Richter scale in late 2002. Twenty nine people died.

Italy is home to six active volcanoes. Aeolian Islands has two, Stromboli and Vulcano. Etna is located on Sicily and Vesuvius, the island of Ischia and the Campi FlegreiNaples. Etna and Stromboli are one of the world's most active volcanoes, while that last eruption of Vesuvius occurred in 1944. This has raised many eyebrows in scientific circles because the volcano has been estimated to erupt every thirty years. This alone should not propose a threat, but it is well-known that the longer the eruption is delayed, the stronger it is going to be. The lava flow on Etna's southern slopes caused this tourist area to be closed down by the officials in 2001, while the subsequent earthquake (5,6 on the Richter scale) and continuous volcanic activity resulted in temporary closure of the Catania airport. Etna has been more or less dormant since 2003. Around ten thousand cubic meters of volcanic rock were erupted from Stromboli in 2003. This activity resulted in a tidal wave affecting coast areas as far as 160 kilometers away. Volcanic activity of the majority of Italy's volcanoes results in mud springs, hot springs, steam jets and gas emissions, notably on the Aeolian Islands, at Viterbo in Lazio, the Campi Flegrei.

View of Rome (and smog)

Although Italy is still among the world's most beautiful countries, its continuous inhabitation since the Etruscan times has resulted in many areas being severely affected by humans. Pollution is an omnipresent problem in Italy, but the heavily industrialized areas of the north together with major cities (Rome, Naples, Milan) suffer from most damage. Italian areas in the vicinity of the coast also have problems preserving a clean environment, notably the Ligurian coast, the northern Adriatic and and larger cities. There is still a large number of safe and clean beaches, the most prominent being the ones on Sardinia and Sicily. Sardinia is still home to some of the most amazing stretches of coastline in the Mediterranean Sea, and its recently elected governor Renato Soru is partly meritorious for that. This Italian millionaire was elected in 2004 mostly on account of his extreme environmental awareness that resulted in freezing all building within two kilometers of the coast. It is now impossible to build on that island from 300 to 5000 meters from the coast (depending on the area's vulnerability).

WWF acknowledged this measure as one of the first 'long-sighted policies' in Italy's environmental preservation sector. Other measures include the incident of condemning the construction of the biggest single-span suspension bridge in the world, connecting Reggio di Calabria and Sicily's Messina. Environmentalists and the WWF assured the public and the government that the bridge would result in sealife and birdlife devastation in addition to risking of catastrophe because the bridge would be built in a seismically active area. A part of the bridge funding was agreed to be set aside in order to improve the island's transportation infrastructure instead. The Alps are also on the priority list of the Italian WWF; they house the springs of the Po River and the Reno. One other reason of its preservation is that some Italian sky resorts are experiencing problems caused by the warmest winters ever since measuring began.

Italian government has recently implemented many measures in order to try and preserve what is left of clean Italy. It has therefore founded the Ministry of Environment in 1986 that tries to implement many of the EU directives related to ecology and environment. The ministry's main goal is slow but efficient enforcement of environmental laws but still many groups claim that devastating floods in northern Italy resulted from merciless deforestation and construction in the vicinity of rivers. Like many other countries, Italy also has the goal of increasing the use of energy-efficient sources without jeopardizing economic growth.

Beach in Sardegna

Italy has signed many international agreements dealing with hazardous waste, air pollution, desertification and marine dumping. The country agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emission by six and a half percent below the 1990 level by signing the Kyoto Protocol. The year 2005 has been the start of joint efforts of Italy, Germany, France and the UK withing the EU Emissions Trading Scene to forerun the global market which is to begin in 2008. High levels of air pollution dominate most large urban areas in the country. This has been slightly moderated due to reduced levels of sulphur-dioxide emissions, but Italy still remains one of the world's leaders in terms of per-capita car ownerships. The consequences of air pollution became evident many years ago when many of the Italy's prominent monuments and buildings turned black because of continuous exposure to noxious fumes.

Ill-advised building in on the Italian coast that rose from the 60's tourist boom has resulted in many long-term consequences to both environment and to local communities living in that areas. This problem is shared among many Mediterranean countries oriented towards tourism, so both International and national WWF are trying to persuade all Mediterranean nations to protect at least ten percent of their coastal areas in the next ten years. WWF claims that at least fourteen percent of all coasts is degraded and damaged. Overfishing and the fact that the Mediterranean Sea hosts one quarter of the world's sea traffic are the main reasons of such an alarming state.