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MTC Meteorologie Technologie Consulting GmbH
is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest
islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern Alpine
boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia. The independent states of
San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within the Italian Peninsula, while
Campione d'Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland.
Italy has been the home of many European cultures, such as the Etruscans and the
Romans, and later was the birthplace of the universities and of the movement of the
Renaissance, that began in Tuscany and spread all over Europe. Italy's capital Rome
was for centuries the center of Western civilization; it also spawned the Baroque
movement and seats the Catholic Church. Italy possessed a colonial empire from the
mid-nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century.
Today, Italy is a democratic republic and a developed country with the 8th-highest
Quality-of-life index rating in the world. It is a founding member of what is now the
European Union (having signed the Treaty of Rome in 1957), and a founding member
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MTC Meteorologie Technologie Consulting GmbH
of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It is a member of the G8 (having the
world's 7th largest nominal GDP), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD), World Trade Organization (WTO), the Council of Europe, the
Western European Union, the Central European Initiative, and a Schengen state. It has
the world's 7th largest defence budget and shares NATO's nuclear weapons. On 1
January 2007, Italy began a two year term as a non-permanent member of the United
Nations Security Council.
Italy is located in southern Europe and comprises the long, bootshaped Italian Peninsula, the land between the peninsula and the Alps, and a number of
islands including Sicily and Sardinia. Its total area is 301 230 km², of which 294 020 km²
is land and 7 210 km² is water.Including islands, Italy has a coastline of 7 600 km on the
Adriatic, Ionian, Tyrrhenian and Ligurian regions of the central Mediterranean Sea. Italy
claims territorial waters to 12 nautical miles and the continental shelf to a depth of 200 m
or any exploitation.Land borders with neighbouring countries total 1 932.2 km, split
predominantly between Switzerland (740 km), France (488 km), Austria (430 km) and
Slovenia (232 km). San Marino (39 km) and the Vatican City (3.2 km), both entirely
surrounded by Italy, account for the remainder. Italy is a mountainous country, with the
Alps as the northern boundary and the Apennine Mountains forming the backbone of the
peninsula, but in between the two lies a large plain in the valley of the Po, the largest
river in Italy, which flows 652 km (405 miles) eastward from the Cottian Alps to the
Adriatic. In the north of the country are a number of subalpine lakes, the largest of which
is Garda (370 km², 143 sq mi). Several islands form part of Italy. The largest are Sicily
(25 708 km², 9,926 square miles) and Sardinia (24 090 km², 9,301 sq mi).There are also
a few active volcanoes in Italy: Etna, the largest active volcano in Europe; Vulcano;
Stromboli; and Vesuvius, the only active volcano on the mainland of Europe
Italy occupies a long, boot-shaped peninsula, surrounded on the
west by the Tyrrhenian Sea and on the east by the Adriatic Sea. It is bounded by France,
Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia to the north. The Apennine Mountains form the
peninsula's backbone; the Alps form its northern boundary. The largest of its northern
lakes is Garda (143 sq mi; 370 km²);in the center is Campotosto lake the Po, its principal
river, flows from the Alps on Italy's western border and crosses the great Padan plain to
the Adriatic Sea. Several islands form part of Italy; the largest are Sicily (9,926 sq mi;
25,708 km²) and Sardinia (9,301 sq mi; 24,090 km²). There are several active volcanoes
in Italy: Etna, the largest active volcano in Europe; Vulcano; Stromboli; and Vesuvius,
the only active volcano on the mainland of Europe.
The climate in Italy is highly diverse and can be far from the
stereotypical Mediterranean climate depending on the location. Most of the inland
northern areas of Italy (for example Turin, Milan and Bologna) have a continental climate
often classified as Humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa). The
coastal areas of Liguria and most of the peninsula south of Florence generally fit the
Mediterranean stereotype (Köppen climate classification Csa). The coastal areas of the
peninsula can be very different from the interior higher altitudes and valleys, particularly
during the winter months when the higher altitudes tend to be cold, wet, and often
snowy. The coastal regions have mild winters and warm and generally dry summers,
although lowland valleys can be quite hot in summer.
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MTC Meteorologie Technologie Consulting GmbH
Sincerely
MTC Meteorologie Technologie
Consulting GmbH
Franz Mikulits
Managing Director
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