The Appennine[?] mountains form the backbone of this peninsula, leading north-west to where they join the Alps, the mountain range that then forms an arc enclosing Italy from the north.
Here is also found a large alluvial plain, the Po-Venetian plain[?], drained by the Po River and its many tributaries flowing down from the Alps, Appennines and Dolomites.
Other well-known rivers include the Tiber, Adige[?] and Arno.
Its highest point is the Mont Blanc (Monte Bianco) at 4,810 m, but Italy is more typically associated with two famous volcanoes: the currently dormant Vesuvius near Naples and the very active Etna on Sicily.
Italy has a diversified industrial economy with roughly the same total and per capita output as France and the United Kingdom.
This capitalistic economy remains divided into a developed industrial north, dominated by private companies, and a less developed agricultural south, with 20% unemployment.
Most raw materials needed by industry and more than 75% of energy requirements are imported.
Over the past decade, Italy has pursued a tight fiscal policy in order to meet the requirements of the Economic and Monetary Unions and has benefited from lower interest and inflation rates and joined the Euro from its conception in 1999.
Italy's economic performance has lagged behind that of its EU partners, and the current government has enacted numerous short-term reforms aimed at improving competitiveness and long-term growth.
It has moved slowly, however, on implementing needed structural reforms, such as lightening the high tax burden and overhauling Italy's rigid labour market and expensive pension system, because of the current economic slowdown and opposition from labour unions.
Italy is largely homogeneous linguistically and religiously but is diverse culturally, economically, and politically.
Italy has the fifth-highest population density in Europe at 196 persons per square kilometre.
Minority groups are small, the largest being the German speaking in South Tyrol (1991: 287.503 german and 116.914 italian speaking) and the Slovenians around Trieste.
Although Roman Catholicism is the majority religion (85% of native-born citizens are nominally Catholic) there are mature Protestant and Jewish communities and a growing Muslim immigrant community.
The musical influence of Italian composers Monteverdi, Palestrina, and Vivaldi proved epochal; in the 19th century, Italian romantic opera flourished under composers Gioacchino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi, and Giacomo Puccini.
Contemporary Italian artists, writers, filmmakers, architects, composers, and designers continue to contribute significantly to Western culture.
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