ITALY. 



647 



which separate it from France, Switzerland, and the Austrian empire ; on the east by the 

 Adriatic sea, and on the south and west by the Mediterranean. It is comprised between 6'^ 

 and 18° E. longitude, and 37° and 47° N. latitude, forming a long peninsula, about 700 miles 

 in length, with a general width of nearly 150 miles. Area, 120,000 square miles ; population, 

 21,400,000 



Italian States. 



Sardinia, 



Monaco, 



Parma, 



Modena, 



Lucca, 



San Marino, 



Square Miles. 



28,830 

 50 

 2,] 84 

 2,07.3 

 410 

 21 



Population. 

 4,500,000 

 6.700 

 440,000 

 300,000 

 145,000 

 7,500 



States of the Church, - 

 Two Sicilies, . . . . 

 Tuscany, . - . - . 

 Lombard-Venetian Provinces of 

 Austria, . . . . 



Square Miles. Population. 



17,050 2,590,000 



41,521 7,650.000 



8,300 1,330,000 



20,000 4,440,000 



2. Mountains. The Jllps occupy the northern and northwestern border. The Apennines 

 extend through the whole peninsula, from the valley of Savona to the strait of Messina, sending 

 off a branch to Otranto. They nowhere rise to the limit of perpetual ice, but are covered 

 with snow in winter, and are crowned to their summits with trees. The highest mountains are 

 Mount Corno, or the Gran Sasso, 9,520 feet, and JMont Velino, 8,183 feet high. 



3. Rivers. The only large river is the Po, which drains nearly the whole of the northern 

 part. Most of the other streams rise in the Apennines, whose vicinity to the sea on both sides 

 prevents their having a long course. 



4. Islands and Seas. On the northeast, is an arm of the Mediterranean, called the ^/Jdriatic 

 Sea., or the Gulf of Venice. It is about 600 miles long, and 150 wide, and its narrow entrance 

 is commanded by the island of Corfu. It has several good harbors, but in some parts the 

 coast is dangerous. Its principal bays are the gulfs of Trieste and Manfredonia. To the 

 southeast of Italy, between Sicily and Greece, is the Ionian Sea, which is connected by the 

 strait or faro of Messina with the Sicilian Sea, lying between Naples and Sicily, and contain- 

 ing the Lipari Isles. The part of the sea between the islands of Corsica and Sardinia and the 

 Tuscan shore, is often called the Tuscan or Tyrrhenian Sea, and between Nice and Lucca is 

 the Gulf of Genoa. The principal islands are Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica. To the south 

 of Sicily is the Maltese group, comprising Malta, Gozzo, and Comino, and belonging to Great 

 Britain. 



5. Vegetation. There is a wide difference between the vegetation of northern and that of 

 southern Italy, owing more to the increased height and breadth of the Apennines, than to the 

 difference of latitude. The olive tree, however, reaches to the northern limits, and the pis- 

 tachio (Pistacia lentiscus), pomegranate, Zizyplius vulgaris, Diospyros lotos, Celtis australis, 

 and ostrya vulgaris, abound in the north, as well as in the south. The orange and lemon do 

 not thrive north of Samnium, except in some favorable exposures near the coast. The plains 

 and slopes of southern Italy produce olives, tamarisks, arbutus, myrde, jujube, pistachios, 

 and terebinths (Pistacia terebinthus) , oleander, sweet bay or laurel, carob (Ceratonia siliqua), 

 the palmetto, rhanonus ; the stone pine (P. pinea), whose picturesque outlines and dark hue 

 have recommended it so much to the artist, that it forms a striking feature in almost all Claude 

 Lorraine's landscapes, manna ash, chestnut, mulberry, plane, willow, poplars, &c. The 

 Apennines of this section are covered with oaks and cone-bearing tiees, especially the 

 common oak, cork oak (Quercus suher), yew, horse chestnut, larch, Scotch lir, pinaster, &c. 

 The oaks continue also in the north, but the coniferous trees are scarce. In Sicily we find a 

 tropical vegetation ; even the sugar-cane is cultivated, and the orange, citron, myrtle, laurel 

 prickly fig (cactus tuna) date-palm, custard apple, pomegranate, &c., abound. Maize, millet, 

 and rice, are common objects of cultivation throughout the country, and caper (capparis 

 spinosa) is a valuable plant. The Arundo donax, a gigantic grass, of which fishing-rods and 

 walking-sticks are made, is common. 



6. Animals. In the mountainous parts are found the lynx, the chamois, the wild goat, 

 ferret, dormouse, lemming, and porcupine. There are many oxen called buffaloes, which 

 are tamed in the southern parts. The Neapolitan horses are strong and well made ; the ass 

 and mule are of an excellent kind, and the sheep are equal to the Spanish. Birds are numer- 

 ous. Some of the reptiles of the south are common to Africa. The most noxious serpents 



