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Lying on the Tyrrhenian Sea in a sweeping curve between the mouth of the Garigliano and the Gulf of Policastro, Campania is chiefly a maritime region, a transit area and a node for the principal lines of communication which cross the Apennines, linking South Italy with the central-northern regions. It is the twelfth largest region, has the second highest number of inhabitants after Lombardy, and the highest density of population in Italy. It borders with Latium to the north-west, Molise to the north, Puglia to the north-east and Basilicata to the south. To the west it lies on the Tyrrhenian Sea.

History. Campania can structurally be divided into two clearly defined zones stretching northwest-southeast parallel to the coast. Inland rise the Campania and Lucanian Apennines, separated by the Sella di Conza (700 m.) and the upper Sele valley. Along the coast lie the Campano Preapennines, lower in height and of volcanic origin (the extinct Roccamonfina volcano, Campi Flegrei and Vesuvius) or limestone (Lattari mountains). To these two parallel ranges a third can be added; the discontinuous and much less extensive band of offshore islands of volcanic origin (Ischia, Procida, Vivara and Nisida) or limestone (Capri).

The Campania Apennines consist of an irregular range of low mountain groups, broken at intervals by intermontane hollows. The principal groups are Matese (Mount Miletto, 2,050 m.), Taburno-Camposauro (1,388 m.), the Picentini Mountains (Cervialto, 1,809 m.), the Alburni Mountains (1,742 m.) and Mount Cervati (1,899 m.).

The coastline, which closely follows the line of the mountains, and the position of the plains and the coastal hills, are articulated in three large peninsulas (Campi Flegrei, Lattari Mountains, Cilento) which, together with the offshore islands, delimit the gulfs of Naples and Salerno.

The principal rivers are the Garigliano, on the Latium boundary, the Volturno and the Sele, all flowing into the Tyrrhenian Sea. Fed by karst springs, they normally have a smooth constant flow, while all the other watercourses are torrential, as are the rivers such as the Fortore, Carapelle and Ofanto, that rise on Campanian territory and flow into the Adriatic.

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