San Marino is located in Southern Europe, an enclave (landlocked) in central Italy, which it borders for 39 km. The third smallest independent state by area in Europe after the Vatican City and Monaco, San Marino is dominated by the

Apennines The Apennines or Apennine Mountains (; grc-gre, links=no, Ἀπέννινα ὄρη or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; la, Appenninus or – a singular with plural meaning;''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which wou ...

. Located at , it covers an area of . Completely mountainous, only 17% of its territory is arable. Several rivers flow through the country, the largest being the Ausa, the Marano, and the

San Marino River The San Marino () is a river in the Italian peninsula. It flows through San Marino ( Chiesanuova and Acquaviva), then north into Italy. For some of its length it forms part of the border between the two countries. It flows into the Marecchia a ...

Climate

The climate of San Marino is a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

( Köppen climate classification: ''Cfa''), with continental influences, having warm summers and cool winters that are typical of inland areas of the central Italian peninsula. Snowfalls are common and heavy almost every winter, especially above of altitude.

Political geography

San Marino is divided into 9 castelli, or municipalities. They are: * Acquaviva * Borgo Maggiore * Chiesanuova *

Domagnano Domagnano is a municipality in San Marino. It has 3,565 inhabitants (May 2018) in an area of 6.62 km2. Geography It borders the San Marino municipalities Faetano, Borgo Maggiore, Serravalle and the Italian municipality Coriano. History Doma ...

* Faetano * Fiorentino *

Montegiardino Montegiardino is one of the 9 communes or ''castelli'' of San Marino. It has 967 inhabitants (May 2018) in an area of 3.31 km2. The residences of the University of the Republic of San Marino, the country's only university, are located in Mon ...

* City of San Marino (''Città di San Marino''), capital town * Serravalle

Protected areas

San Marino has no protected areas as of November, 2016. San Marino is defined as a Global 200 Ecoregions. San Marino has no threatened or endangered species.

International law

San Marino gave credence to and accepted the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, adheres to the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, and ratified the

World Heritage Convention The World Heritage Convention, formally the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, is an international treaty signed on 23 November 1972, which created the World Heritage Sites, with the primary goals of ...

. They are members of

International Maritime Organization The International Maritime Organization (IMO, French: ''Organisation maritime internationale'') is a specialised agency of the United Nations responsible for regulating shipping. The IMO was established following agreement at a UN conference ...

and IPCC. They are signatories to the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Domestic law

While San Marino has no official protected areas, it has a law prohibiting the cutting down of any tree over in diameter, meaning that most trees within the country are legally protected. Under the FRA 2010 Categorization of Forests, all of the land area of San Marino is considered "Other land", with none being "Forest" or "Other wooded land". Despite the fact that 16% of the country is woodlands, predominantly of oaks and other broadleaves as '' Quercus pubescens'', ''

Fraxinus ornus ''Fraxinus'' (), commonly called ash, is a genus of flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45–65 species of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous, though a number of subtropical species are evergr ...

'', '' Ostrya carpinifolia'', '' Acer obtusatum'', '' Quercus cerris'', ''

Quercus ilex ''Quercus ilex'', the evergreen oak, holly oak or holm oak is a large evergreen oak native to the Mediterranean region. It is a member of the ''Ilex'' section of the genus, with acorns that mature in a single summer. Description An evergreen tr ...

'', ''

Populus nigra ''Populus nigra'', the black poplar, is a species of cottonwood poplar, the type species of section ''Aigeiros'' of the genus ''Populus'', native to Europe, southwest and central Asia, and northwest Africa.Flora Europaea''Populus nigra''/ref> ...

'', '' Salix alba''. Shrublands and similar lands are dominated by '' Crataegus monogyna'', '' Cornus sanguinea'', '' Spartium junceum'', '' Rubus ulmifolius'', '' Rosa canina'', '' Prunus spinosa'', '' Quercus pubescens'', ''

'' and '' Ulmus minor'' cover the 17%. Badlands are only 4% of the country, and less than 1% is covered by rivers.

References

{{SanMarino-geo-stub sv:San Marino#Geografi