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GEOGPAPHY Italy is located in southern Europe and comprises the long, boot-shaped Italian Peninsula, the southern side of Alps, the large plain of the Po Valley and some islands including Sicily and Sardinia. Corsica, although belonging to the Italian geographical region, has been a part of France since 1769.Almost 40% of the Italian territory is mountainous, with the Alps as the northern boundary and the Apennine Mountains forming the backbone of the peninsula and extending for 1,350 km.In between the two lies a large plain in the valley of the Po, the largest river in Italy, which flows 652 km ,eastward from the Cottian Alps to the Adriatic. In the north of the country are a number of subalpine moraine-dammed lakes, the largest of which is Garda.Other well known of these subalpine lakes are Lake Maggiore ,whose most northerly section is part of Switzerland, Como, Orta, Lugano, Iseo, Idro.