Physical characteristics
- The country is generally mountainous. The islands of Sardinia and Sicily are also rocky and mountainous. Italy is shaped like a boot. The heel of the boot and some coastal areas are flat.
- The Po River Basin holds some of Italy's richest farmland and most of it's heavy industry. Southern agricultural areas are subject to droughts.
- The climate is usual. Winters are cold and rainy in the north, cool around Rome, and mild in the south. Summers in the south can be very hot, but the rest of the country has a usual temperature weather for summer.