Italy's instantly recognisable boot shape kicks its way into the Adriatic, Ionian, Ligurian and Tyrrhenian Seas - all of which form part of the Mediterranean Sea. The islands of Elba, Sardinia, Ischia, Capri, the Aeolians and Sicily lie offshore. Mountains feature prominently in Italy's topography, and bolster its landlocked borders all the way from Genoa in the west to Trieste in the east. Italy's backbone is formed by the Apennines, extending from Genoa right down to the soccer ball that bounces off the toe of Calabria: Sicily.

The Po River Valley in the country's northeast forms the largest lowland area, and is heavily populated and industrialised as a result. Underground rambunctiousness is evident from the country's three active volcanoes - Stromboli in the Aeolian Islands, Vesuvius near Naples and Etna on Sicily - and the devastation wrought by earthquakes, especially fierce in 1908 and 1980. Beauty abounds in Italy but, unfortunately, so does pollution, particularly in the big cities and along the coast

Around 100 million years ago a tropical sea called the Tethys covered the area now occupied by the peninsula. Gradually the ocean began to recede and various types of materials were deposited, including limestones, dolomites and sandstones, as well as the extensive coral reefs to the northeast from which the Dolomite mountain range was later formed. Although earlier volcanic activity had already resulted in the formation of the original core of the Alpine chain and other mountains further south, the crucial moment came around 40 million years ago when the African and European continental plates collided. The collision forced the respective borders of the plates and part of the bed of the Tethys to fold and rise up, beginning the formation of the Alpine and Apennine chains.

The Alps rose up relatively quickly, at first forming an archipelago of tropical islands in the Tethys Sea. Both mountain chains underwent significant erosion, resulting in huge deposits of sand, gravel and clay at their feet and in part preparing the way for the development of lowland areas. By around two million years ago, after the landscape had been shaped and reshaped by the combined forces of continental plate movement and erosion, the Italian peninsula had almost arrived at its present-day form More...