Features of Italy - nature and its description. What kind of nature in Italy

Every tourist dreams of visiting Italy. The nature there is wonderful, it's a sunny country, located in the very south of Europe. It attracts travelers not only with unique examples of the cultural heritage of the past, but also with wonderful nature.

Italy is a country of five seas, it is washed by the Adriatic, Ionian, Mediterranean, Tyrrhenian and Ligurian seas. In addition to land on land, Italy owns several more islands in these seas. The total area of the state exceeds 300 thousand square meters. Km. Most of the territory is concentrated on the Apennine peninsula.

Mountain ranges

The Italian mountains are very popular among climbers. They separate the country from the rest of Europe. There are so many mountains that no more than one-third of the whole area of the country falls on the plains, the rest of the territory is hilly. From the south-west side of the Alps connect with the Apennine mountains. The nature of Italy attracts tourists and climbers.

Among the mountain hills of particular interest are volcanoes, still operating, although not very active: Stromboli, Etna and the legendary Vesuvius. From time to time, volcanoes remind themselves of powerful tremors. Many of them are extinct.

In general, increased seismic activity is typical for Italy, as the country is in the area of young alpine folding. Sometimes there are strong earthquakes. For example, during the period from 1900 to 2000, more than one and a half hundred earthquakes were recorded. The most recent major seismic activity took place in the fall of 1980. All this sometimes leads to noticeable changes in sea level.

Water resources

Italy is rich in freshwater rivers, the main of which are the northern Po and Adige. Other well-known rivers - Tiber and Arno - flow through the Apennine peninsula itself. Many fast Alpine rivers are successfully used to generate cheap electricity, due to numerous hydroelectric power stations.

In addition to rivers, there are many freshwater reservoirs. The largest lakes are Garda, Como, Bracciano and others, some of which are of volcanic origin. In the basins of reservoirs are many well-known resorts, including medicinal ones. All holidaymakers are interested in what nature is in Italy.

Features of the Italian climate

The climate in the country is not uniform, varies greatly depending on the province due to the fact that the territory is stretched according to geographical longitude. On mountain peaks, it fully corresponds to the severe Arctic, and on the warm sea coasts in the south of the country - subtropical. To the north, average temperatures decrease, the climate varies from subtropical to moderate continental.

In general for this southern state is characterized by warm sunny summer (average temperature about 23 degrees) and warm mild winter (plus temperature in January).

For most of the year the inhabitants of Italy are pleased with the cloudless sky. The wind is warm, not strong.

Winters in the mountain Alps are very cold, snow falls already in the beginning of autumn, which attracts skiers from all over the world to these places. The higher, the colder, and the earlier the winter comes. Snow lasts for many months, but does not melt at the tops at all. Annually, one to three thousand millimeters of precipitation falls.

Great influence on the climate of the sea, surrounding Italy. Even the most remote corners of the country are located further 250 kilometers from the sea line. Most of the borders are naval. The most popular resorts are not accidentally located on the coast, because in these places - the best climatic conditions throughout the year.

Caves

Due to the abundance of calcareous rocks, the relief of the surface is rich in numerous craters, holes, wells, grottoes and caves, which is of special interest not only for cave explorers, but also for ordinary tourists interested in exploring underground cavities. Picturesque and attractive nature of Italy. It is impossible to talk briefly about it, numerous reservoirs, mountain ranges and plains enchant.

Italy is famous for one of the deepest caves on earth, the depth of which exceeds 800 m. The unique Blue Grotto, located on the island of Capri, is also very popular with tourists.

Plain area

The Padanskaya Plain is the largest lowland located in the basin of the Po River and has long been famous for its extensive fruit gardens and vineyards. All the main farmlands are located here. The farms mainly grow crops and root crops. Livestock and poultry farming are also well developed.

Here is located the main industrial cluster of the country, which includes numerous factories and factories manufacturing.

The soil

Depending on the particular region, the composition and type of soil can vary greatly. Mountainous meadow and mountain-forest soils prevail in the northern mountainous part. For the southern part of the country, brown soils are characteristic. The closer to the sea, the more widespread the swampy soil. In the lowlands and hills, thanks to limestone deposits, formed red-colored soils, ideal for cultivation of orchards and grapes. Near the volcanoes there are soils consisting of frozen magma and lava.

The soil of Italy is favorable for agricultural activities. But we can not but say about what changes in the nature of Italy brought the activities of the people.

Vegetable world

Flora is extremely diverse. However, as a result of intensive human activity, wild vegetation remains relatively small, mainly cultural plantations. Forests exist only in the mountains and hills and make up, in general, not more than a fifth of the entire area of the country. We can say that the nature of Italy is refined.

Widespread are such deciduous trees as birch, poplar, willow, acacia. There are also evergreen conifers, as well as shrubs. In the southern part of Italy in the subtropical climatic zone citrus, olive almonds, pomegranate, and also tomatoes grow well. At the foot of the Alps, broad-leaved trees grow, such as oak, chestnut, beech and ash. The cultivation of fruit trees, vineyards, cereals and potatoes is of great agricultural importance.

At an altitude of about one and a half kilometers in the Alps are coniferous forests, consisting of evergreen plants and shrubs. Here fir, spruce, and pine grow well. Above the coniferous zone are meadows, which are an excellent place for grazing in the summer season. Due to the warm climate, flower cultivation is widely developed. These are the features of the nature of Italy waiting for everyone who comes here to relax.

Minerals

Italy can not boast impressive reserves of minerals, as well as their diversity. Unfortunately, there are not so many resources scattered all over the country's territory, and they are often quite inconvenient for their extraction.

Iron ore is widely mined for many hundreds of years. Currently, industrial mining of ore is carried out on the island of. Elbe. In addition to ore, and in much larger quantities, there are deposits of polymetallic ores on the Italian peninsula , the extraction of which is quite intensive. The nature of Italy and Greece are identical.

In a number of regions deposits of coal, low quality have been explored. Own country's coal and oil deposits are not enough to provide the full energy needs. So, coal provides Italy with energy not more than 15%, and oil production does not exceed 2% of the required value. The rest has to be imported.

A valuable resource for Italy are natural gas deposits located on land. Among other things, the country successfully extracts sulfur, rock salt, granite. The famous Italian marble is successfully exported to other countries. The nature of Italy has not stinted on fossils.

Human influence

It remains to find out what changes in the nature of Italy have made human activity.

In general, unfortunately, it negatively affects the state of the environment of the Italian peninsula. Woods are being cut, depleted and eroded agricultural land, waters and seas are polluted with industrial waste. The spread of road transport causes a high volume of emissions and an increase in the concentration of CO in the atmosphere. Over large cities, smog is regularly recorded. Ozone layer over the peninsula is severely affected.

Ecologists have long been sounding the alarm and diligently planting artificial forests. But this is not enough to correct the mistakes of human activity.