The geography of Campania illustrates the geographical characteristics of Campania, a

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

General data

From the gulfs of

Gaeta Gaeta (; lat, Cāiēta; Southern Laziale: ''Gaieta'') is a city in the province of Latina, in Lazio, Southern Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is from Rome and from Naples. The town has played a consp ...

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, Policastro and

Salerno Salerno (, , ; nap, label= Salernitano, Saliernë, ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' in Campania (southwestern Italy) and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after ...

to the most notable elevations of the Campania Apennines, Campania extends over a morphologically very varied territory. To the north it borders

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

and

Molise Molise (, , ; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Neapolitan, Mulise) is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy. Until 1963, it formed part of the region of Abruzzi e Molise, alongside the region of Abruzzo. The split, which did not become effe ...

; to the east,

Apulia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...

and

Basilicata it, Lucano (man) it, Lucana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = ...

, which it also borders to the south; to the west the

Tyrrhenian Sea The Tyrrhenian Sea (; it, Mar Tirreno , french: Mer Tyrrhénienne , sc, Mare Tirrenu, co, Mari Tirrenu, scn, Mari Tirrenu, nap, Mare Tirreno) is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenian pe ...

Areas

From a physical point of view, the Campania region can be divided into two areas: one mountainous and one flat: # The mountainous area includes the Campania Apennines, formed by a series of elevations, acrocores and plateaus (of Sannio, of

Irpinia Irpinia (Modern Latin ''Hirpinia'') is a geographical and cultural region of Southern Italy. It was the inland territory of the ancient ''Hirpini'' tribe, and its extent matches approximately today's province of Avellino. Geography The territor ...

and of

Cilento Cilento is an Italian geographical region of Campania in the central and southern part of the Province of Salerno and an important Tourism, tourist area of southern Italy. Cilento is known as one of the centers of Mediterranean diet. Geograph ...

), between which open numerous and easy passes (the most important is the Sella di Ariano) and there flows the river

Calore Irpino The Calore Irpino or Calore Beneventano or Calore river is a river in southwestern Italy. It rises from ''Colle Finestra'' ( above sea level), a mountain saddle between Monte Acellica and the Terminio sub-group in the Monti Picentini, sub-range o ...

(left tributary of the

Volturno The Volturno (ancient Latin name Volturnus, from ''volvere'', to roll) is a river in south-central Italy. Geography It rises in the Abruzzese central Apennines of Samnium near Castel San Vincenzo (province of Isernia, Molise) and flows southe ...

) with its tributaries:

Ufita The Ufita is a river of Campania, in southern Italy. The source is in the Baronia traditional sub-region of Irpinia, in the province of Avellino, after which the river flows generally north-westwards, entering the province of Benevento before enter ...

( in the center of the homonymous valley),

Tammaro The Tammaro (Tàmmaro) is a river in southwestern Italy, with a length of and catchment area of . It rises in the Sella del Vinchiaturo in the Apennine Mountains and is a tributary of the Calore Irpino river. In ancient times it was known by the L ...

and Sabato. # The flat area is not a single surface, but is divided into many plains divided by many reliefs of the antiappennine; that is from the volcanic relief of Roccamonfina, of the

Campi Flegrei The Phlegraean Fields ( it, Campi Flegrei ; nap, Campe Flegree, from Ancient Greek 'to burn') is a large region of supervolcanic calderas situated to the west of Naples, Italy. It was declared a regional park in 2003. The area of the calde ...

, from

Vesuvius Mount Vesuvius ( ; it, Vesuvio ; nap, 'O Vesuvio , also or ; la, Vesuvius , also , or ) is a somma-stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples The Gulf of Naples (), also called the Bay of Naples, is a roughly 15-kilometer-wide (9 ...

and from the chain of

Monti Lattari The Monti Lattari (Lattari Mountains) are a mountain range in Campania, southern Italy, which constitutes the backbone of the Sorrentine peninsula and of the Amalfi Coast. Geography The Monti Lattari are the western extension of the Monti Picen ...

(which constitutes the

Sorrento peninsula The Sorrento Peninsula or Sorrentine Peninsula is a peninsula located in southern Italy which separates the Gulf of Naples to the north from the Gulf of Salerno to the south. Geography Overview The peninsula is named after its main town, Sorr ...

). Therefore the flat area is divided into the plains: of Sessa Aurunca, bathed by the river

Garigliano The Garigliano () is a river in central Italy. It forms at the confluence of the rivers Gari (also known as the Rapido) and Liri. Garigliano is actually a deformation of "Gari-Lirano" (which in Italian means something like "Gari from the Liri") ...

; of

Capua Capua ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, in the region of Campania, southern Italy, situated north of Naples, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. History Ancient era The name of Capua comes from the Etrusc ...

the widest, crossed by the river

; of Naples, which surrounds

, one of the main Italian volcanoes; the countryside nocerino - sarnese close to the Lattari Mountains; of

Paestum Paestum ( , , ) was a major ancient Greek city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Magna Graecia (southern Italy). The ruins of Paestum are famous for their three ancient Greek temples in the Doric order, dating from about 550 to 450 BC, whic ...

which opens onto the

Gulf of Salerno The Gulf of Salerno (Italian: ''Golfo di Salerno'') is a gulf of the Tyrrhenian Sea in the coast of the province of Salerno in south-western Italy. The northern part of this coast is the Costiera Amalfitana, which ends at Punta di Campanella an ...

and is bathed by the rivers Sele,

Calore Lucano The Calore Lucano (or ''Calore Salernitano'') is a river in Campania, southern Italy, whose course is entirely included in the province of Salerno, within Cilento, for a total of about . It is an important left tributary of the Sele. In ancient ...

and

Tanagro The Tanagro (''Tanàgro'') or Negro is a river of the Province of Salerno, southwestern Italy. It rises in the Vallo di Diano and is a tributary of the Sele River. In ancient times it was known as ''Tanager''. Overview From the origin to the mou ...

; of Alento which occupies a narrow portion between Monte Stella and

Monte Gelbison Gelbison is a mountain in the Lucan Subappennines range of the Apennine Mountains system, with an elevation of . It is located in the southern Cilento region of the Province of Salerno, in the Campania region, of southern Italy. The mountain ...

Coasts and rivers

The coasts of Campania are high and jagged and low and sandy in the plains. The main rivers are: the

, which bathes

and flows into the Gulf of Gaeta; the Sele, which flows into the

; the

, which flows along the border with Lazio and flows into the Gulf of Gaeta; and the

Ofanto The Ofanto (), known in ancient times as Aufidus or Canna, is a river in southern Italy that flows through the regions of Campania, Basilicata, and Apulia, into the Gulf of Manfredonia near Barletta. Geography The river's source is on the Irpi ...

, which originates in

and flows into the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...

Mountains

* Monte Iulio * Monte Litto * Monte Nero (Picentini) * Pizzo San Michele

References

{{Campania Campania