continent monte conero
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a sovereign state between Central ___MASK15___ , Southeast ___MASK15___ , and the Mediterranean . Its capital city is Zagreb , which forms one of the country ' s primary subdivisions , along with its twenty counties . Croatia covers and has diverse , mostly continental and Mediterranean climates . Croatia ' s Adriatic Sea coast contains more than a thousand islands . The country ' s population is 4 . 28 million , most of whom are Croats , with the most common religious denomination being Roman Catholicism . Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a unitary parliamentary republic in ___MASK15___ . Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea , Italy shares open land borders with France , Switzerland , Austria , Slovenia , San Marino and Vatican City . Italy covers an area of and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate ; due to its shape , it is often referred to in Italy as " lo Stivale " ( the Boot ). With 61 million inhabitants , it is the fourth most populous EU member state . San Marino , officially the Republic of San Marino , also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino , is an enclaved microstate surrounded by Italy , situated on the Italian Peninsula on the northeastern side of the Apennine Mountains . Its size is just over , with a population of 33 , 562 . Its capital is the City of San Marino and its largest city is Dogana . San Marino has the smallest population of all the members of the Council of ___MASK15___ . Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia ( Slovene : , abbr .: " RS "), is a nation state in southern Central ___MASK15___ , located at the crossroads of main European cultural and trade routes . It is bordered by Italy to the west , Austria to the north , Hungary to the northeast , Croatia to the south and southeast , and the Adriatic Sea to the southwest . It covers and has a population of 2 . 06 million . It is a parliamentary republic and a member of the United Nations , European Union , and NATO . The capital and largest city is Ljubljana . Switzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic in ___MASK15___ . It consists of 26 cantons , and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities . The country is situated in Western - Central ___MASK15___ , and is bordered by Italy to the south , France to the west , Germany to the north , and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east . Switzerland is a landlocked country geographically divided between the Alps , the Swiss Plateau and the Jura , spanning an area of . While the Alps occupy the greater part of the territory , the Swiss population of approximately eight million people is concentrated mostly on the plateau , where the largest cities are to be found : among them are the two global cities and economic centres Zürich and Geneva . The Mediterranean Sea ( pronounced ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean , surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land : on the north by Southern ___MASK15___ and Anatolia , on the south by North Africa , and on the east by the Levant . The sea is sometimes considered a part of the Atlantic Ocean , although it is usually identified as a separate body of water . Albania (; ), officially the Republic of Albania , is a sovereign state in Southeastern ___MASK15___ . It has a population of 3 . 03 million as of 2016 . Tirana is the nation ' s capital and largest city , followed by Durrës and Vlorë . Albania is located in the south - western part of the Balkan peninsula , bordered by Montenegro to the northwest , Kosovo to the northeast , the Republic of Macedonia to the east , and Greece to the south and southeast . The country has a coastline on the northern shore of the Mediterranean Sea , the Adriatic Sea to the west and the Ionian Sea to the southwest where the Albanian Riviera begins . Albania is less than from Italy , across the Strait of Otranto which connects the Adriatic Sea to the Ionian Sea . The euro ( sign : €; code : EUR ) is the official currency of the eurozone , which consists of 19 of the member states of the European Union : Austria , Belgium , Cyprus , Estonia , Finland , France , Germany , Greece , Ireland , Italy , Latvia , Lithuania , Luxembourg , Malta , the Netherlands , Portugal , Slovakia , Slovenia , and Spain . The currency is also officially used by the institutions of the European Union and four other European countries , as well as unilaterally by two others , and is consequently used daily by some 337 million Europeans . Outside of ___MASK15___ , a number of overseas territories of EU members also use the euro as their currency . Greece (' ), officially the Hellenic Republic ( Greek : ' ), historically also known as Hellas ("" ), is a country in southeastern ___MASK15___ . Greece ' s population is approximately 10 . 955 million as of 2015 . Athens is the nation ' s capital and largest city , followed by Thessaloniki . Montenegro ( or or ; Montenegrin : " Crna Gora " /   , meaning " Black Mountain ") is a sovereign state in Southeastern ___MASK15___ . It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south - west and is bordered by Croatia to the west , Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest , Serbia to the northeast , Kosovo to the east , and Albania to the south - east . Its capital and largest city is Podgorica , while Cetinje is designated as the Old Royal Capital (" prijestonica "). The Apennines or Apennine Mountains ( or "" a singular used in the plural ) are a mountain range consisting of parallel smaller chains extending along the length of peninsular Italy . In the northwest they join with the Ligurian Alps at Altare . In the southwest they end at Reggio di Calabria , the coastal city at the tip of the peninsula . Since the year 2000 the Environment Ministry of Italy , following the recommendations of the Apennines Park of ___MASK15___ Project , has been defining the Apennines System to include the mountains of north Sicily , for a total distance of . The system forms an arc enclosing the east side of the Ligurian and Tyrrhenian Seas . The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula and the Apennine Mountains from the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges . The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea , extending from the Strait of Otranto ( where it connects to the Ionian Sea ) to the northwest and the Po Valley . The countries with coasts on the Adriatic are Albania , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Croatia , Greece , Italy , Montenegro and Slovenia . The Adriatic contains over 1 , 300 islands , mostly located along its eastern , Croatian , coast . It is divided into three basins , the northern being the shallowest and the southern being the deepest , with a maximum depth of . The Otranto Sill , an underwater ridge , is located at the border between the Adriatic and Ionian Seas . The prevailing currents flow counterclockwise from the Strait of Otranto , along the eastern coast and back to the strait along the western ( Italian ) coast . Tidal movements in the Adriatic are slight , although larger amplitudes are known to occur occasionally . The Adriatic ' s salinity is lower than the Mediterranean ' s because the Adriatic collects a third of the fresh water flowing into the Mediterranean , acting as a dilution basin . The surface water temperatures generally range from in summer to in winter , significantly moderating the Adriatic Basin ' s climate . Monte Conero ( Mount Conero ) , also known as Monte d ' Ancona ; Italian pronunciation : ( knero ) , is a promontory in Italy , situated directly south of the port of Ancona on the Adriatic Sea . The name Conero comes from the Greek name Komaròs and indicates the strawberry tree which is common on the slopes of the mountain . Mount Conero is 572 metres high and it is the only coastal high point on the Adriatic sea between Trieste and the Gargano massif in the region of Apulia . Since 1987 it has been a state park and a protected ecological area ( Regional Park ) with 18 trails and several archeological / historical sites . Wildlife include Eurasian badger , beech marten , least weasel , yellow - bellied toad , peregrine falcon , kingfisher and pallid swift . Apart the strawberry tree , vegetation include oak , holm oak , Aleppo pine , Cupressus sempervirens and many others . Other comuni near the mountain include Sirolo and Numana . A mediterranean climate or dry summer climate is the climate typical of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin . The lands around the Mediterranean Sea form the largest area where this climate type is found , but it also is found in most of coastal California , in parts of Western and South ___MASK49___ , in southwestern South Africa , sections of Central Asia , and in central Chile . France , officially the French Republic , is a country with territory in western ___MASK15___ and several overseas regions and territories . The European , or metropolitan , area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea , and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean . Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic , Pacific and Indian oceans . France spans and had a total population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017 . It is a unitary semi - presidential republic with the capital in Paris , the country ' s largest city and main cultural and commercial centre . Other major urban centres include Marseille , Lyon , Lille , Nice , Toulouse and Bordeaux . The Italian Peninsula or Apennine Peninsula (" Penisola appenninica ") is the central and the smallest of the three large peninsulas of Southern ___MASK15___ ( between the Iberian Peninsula and the Balkan Peninsula ). It extends from the Po Valley in the north to the central Mediterranean Sea in the south . The peninsula ' s shape gives it the nickname " lo Stivale " ( the Boot ). Three smaller peninsulas contribute to this characteristic shape , namely Calabria ( the " toe "), Salento ( the " heel ") and Gargano ( the " spur "). Bosnia and Herzegovina ( or ; B & H ; Bosnian , Croatian , Serbian : " Bosna i Hercegovina " / a   ), sometimes called Bosnia - Herzegovina ( BiH ), and , in short , often known informally as Bosnia , is a country in Southeastern ___MASK15___ located on the Balkan Peninsula . Sarajevo is the capital and largest city . Bordered by Croatia to the north , west , and south ; Serbia to the east ; Montenegro to the southeast ; and the Adriatic Sea to the south , with a coastline about long surrounding the city of Neum . In the central and eastern interior of the country the geography is mountainous , in the northwest it is moderately hilly , and the northeast is predominantly flatland . The inland is a geographically larger region and has a moderate continental climate , with hot summers and cold and snowy winters . The southern tip of the country has a Mediterranean climate and plain topography .