Italia(including the Vaticano City), Malta, Corse and San Marino

How is the land laid out?

Italia¹ consists of a boot-shaped peninsula with a stubby T-shaped top, plus two large islands: Sicilia² at the bottom of the toe, and Sardegna³ west of the peninsula. This area also includes a third large island, Corse,⁴ north of Sardegna. The wide top of the peninsula is fringed by the Alps. They reach over 4000 meters in several spots in the northwest and north; Mounte Bianco⁵ on the French border is the highest. Unlike these heights, the Julian Alps to the east have never been a significant barrier to travel. Below the mountains is the fertile Lombardo-Venetian plain, much of it drained by the Po. Several of that river's tributaries widen to finger lakes after descending to the foothills. The peninsula's spine is the Apennino⁶ Mountains. Sicilia is triangular and mountainous; its northeast corner is dominated by the very active volcano, Mount Etna. Sardegna and Corse are also mountainous but are not geologically active.

The Tyrrhenian Sea lies between the peninsula (east), the islands of Corse and Sardegna (west) and the island of Sicilia (south). Northward it narrows and is separated from the Ligurian Sea by small islands and the passages between them. It reaches abyssal depths of nearly 4000 meters.

Map

UNESCO World Heritage Sites that honor nature:

Who lives there?

Almost everyone on the mainland and in Sicilia speaks Italian, although dialect variation is great, especially between Sicilian and other dialects.

Of those who are religiously observant--more than eight in ten--nearly all are Roman Catholic Christians.

Italian cities

Malta has two urban areas: Valletta and Gozo Island.

UNESCO World Heritage Sites that honor Italian or Maltese culture:

UNESCO World Heritage Sites that honor both modern and pre-modern culture

The Cassiopea Gas Field is located in the Strait of Sicilia that separates the mainland from the island.¹⁰

Who was there before?

Two and a half thousand years ago Continental Celtic was spoken north of the peninsula, both in today's Italia and beyond. Ligurian and Veneti, other Indo-European languages, were also spoken in the north. Most of the peninsula spoke Italic languages such as Latin, Oscan, Sabine and Umbrian. Etruscan, a language of unknown affiliations,¹¹ was spoken in Toscana (Tuscany), and Messapic, an Indo-European language, in Puglia (the boot's heel). Greek was spoken along much of the southern shores: from the Bay of Napoli to the Gulf of Taranto, and in eastern Sicilia; a few Greek speakers still live there. Punic, the Carthaginian form of Phoenician, was spoken in western Sicilia.¹² As Roma's political power expanded, all of Latin's rivals except Greek faded. Greek diminished only after the Byzantine Empire encouraged recolonization of the Pelopónnisos--southern Greece--to offset the Slavic invaders. Meanwhile Latin's divers spoken forms evolved into the Romance languages including the Italian dialects.

Religion two and a half thousand years ago followed linguistics. And like the languages there was much borrowing--even between fundamental groups. The Cisapline Gauls presumably followed a druid-led religion documented later for other Gauls. The Etruscan religion is known only through Roman eyes and archaeology; this view equated Etruscan Uni with Latin Juno, Menrva with Minerva and Nethuns with Neptune. Obviously the religions had converged but little more can be said. The most important pre-Christian deities of Roma were the Capitoline triad--Jupiters, Mars and Quirinus--plus Janus, Vesta and Bellona. Greeks worshipped a pantheon headed by Zeus, but also including Dionysius. Carthagians worshipped Baal as their supreme deity. As Rome's state grew eastward Italia's religions became more diverse: soldiers followed Mithra; a Syrian-born emperor introduced monotheistic Sun worship; and the capital's residents included followers of many provincial religions. Eventually the empire--no longer centered on Roma--became officially Christian and most of the older religions were presecuted out of existence in Italia. After the western empire disintegrated, the Christian church in Roma separated from imperially led, orthodox Christianity, and Roman Catholicism became the rule. Although southern Italia's history diverged, especially due to its rule first by the Greek empire and second by Moslems, Roman Catholicism persisted and is now the religion throughout the nation.

UNESCO World Heritage Sites that honor pre-modern culture (that were not listed already)

Around the Area

north
east from the northeast
east from the center
east from Puglia
southeast of the peninsula
south and--from all but the northwest--southwest
west from the northwest

Footnotes

1. Italy in English.
2. Sicily in English. It is Europe's seventh largest island.
3. Sardinia in English. It is Europe's eighth largest island.
4. Corsica in English. It is Europe's ninth largest island.
5. The French, Mont Blanc, is used by English speakers. Both the French and the Italian mean White Mountain.
6. Appenine in English.
7. Translates as saint or holy.
8. The Positano of the Costiera Amalfitana, Manarola of Cinque Terre and San Gimignano are among the top Italian popular tourist destinations according to http://www.touropia.com/tourist-attractions-in-italy/3/, accessed February 16, 2017.
9. Vatican in English.
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_natural_gas_fields, accessed February, 2017.
11. Some say it is related to Anatolian languages; others disagree.
12. Before the arrival of Greek and Carthaginian colonists, Sicel, an Indo-European language, was spoken on the island.