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The Italian peninsula (Italian: penisola italica or penisola italiana), also known as the Italic peninsula, Apennine peninsula, Italian boot, or mainland Italy, is a peninsula, within the Italian geographical region, extending from the southern Alps in the north to the central Mediterranean Sea in the south which comprises much of the country of Italy and the enclaved microstates of San Marino and Vatican City.
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It is nicknamed lo Stivale ("the Boot"), because the shape of the peninsula resembles a high-heeled boot. Three smaller peninsulas contribute to this characteristic shape, namely Calabria ("the Toe"), Salento ("the Heel") and Gargano ("the Spur").[1] The backbone of the Italian peninsula consists of the Apennine Mountains, from which it takes one of its names. The peninsula comprises much of Italy and also includes the enclaved microstates of San Marino and Vatican City.
Geographically, the minimum extent of the Italian peninsula consists of the land south of a line extending from the Magra to the Rubicon rivers, north of the Tuscan–Emilian Apennines. It excludes the Po Valley and the southern slopes of the Alps.[2][3] The Italian peninsula has the only active volcano on continental Europe, Mount Vesuvius.[4]
In general discourse, "Italy" and the "Italian peninsula" are often used as synonymous terms. However, northern Italy may be excluded from the Italian peninsula. From a political point of view, the Italian peninsula in the strict sense (therefore excluding insular Italy and northern Italy[5]) is divided into various states listed in the following table:[6][7]
| Country | Population[8] | Peninsular area | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| km2 | sq mi | Share | |||
 Italy |
26,140,000 | 131,275 | 50,686 | 99.9531% | Virtually the entire peninsula |
 San Marino |
31,887 | 61.2 | 23.6 | 0.0466% | A central-eastern enclave of peninsular Italy |
 Vatican City |
829 | 0.49 | 0.19 | 0.0003% | An enclave of Rome, Italy |
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