location:

Southern Europe, a peninsula extending into the central Mediterranean Sea, northeast of Tunisia

Climate:

predominantly Mediterranean; Alpine in far north; hot, dry in south

Languages:

Italian (official), German (parts of Trentino-Alto Adige region are predominantly German speaking), French (small French-speaking minority in Valle d'Aosta region), Slovene (Slovene-speaking minority in the Trieste-Gorizia area)

Terrain

mostly rugged and mountainous; some plains, coastal lowlands

strategic location dominating central Mediterranean as well as southern sea and air approaches to Western Europe

Population

58,126,212 (July 2009 est.)