1 Italy is a country in south-central Europe. It occupies a peninsula in the Mediterranean Sea. It is very easy to find Italy on the map because the peninsula looks like a high-heeled boot about to kick its island of Sicily.
2 Italy is very mountainous, with about 40 percent of its territory occupied by high ranges. There are two important mountain systems in Italy: the scenic Alps and the Apennines.
3 The barrier of the Alps forms the northern Italian boundary, with parts of the Alps shared with the neighboring countries of France, Switzerland, Austria, and Croatia. The Apennines form the spine of the entire peninsula and of the island of Sicily.