Sardinia
Island in the Mediterranean and region of Italy From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sardinia (/sɑːrˈdɪniə/ sar-DIN-ee-ə; Italian: Sardegna [sarˈdeɲɲa]; Sardinian: Sardigna [saɾˈdiɲːa])[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2] is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia and 16.45 km[5] south of the French island of Corsica.
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Sardinia
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|---|---|
| Autonomous Region of Sardinia | |
 Coat of arms | |
| Anthem: "Su patriotu sardu a sos feudatarios" (Sardinian) (English: "The Sardinian Patriot to the Lords") | |
   | |
| Coordinates: 40°N 9°E | |
| Country | Italy |
| Capital | Cagliari |
| Government | |
| • Type | Consiglio Regionale |
| • President | Alessandra Todde (M5S) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 24,090 km2 (9,300 sq mi) |
| Population (2020) | |
| • Total | 1,628,384 |
| • Density | 68/km2 (180/sq mi) |
| • Languages | Italian and Sardinian |
| • Minority languages | |
| [1] | |
| Demonyms | |
| Citizenship | |
| • Italian | 97% |
| GDP | |
| • Total | €35.032 billion (2021) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| ISO 3166 code | IT-88 |
| HDI (2021) | 0.871[4] very high · 16th of 21 |
| NUTS Region | ITG |
| Website | www |
It is one of the five Italian regions with some degree of domestic autonomy being granted by a special statute.[6] Its official name, Autonomous Region of Sardinia, is bilingual in Italian and Sardinian: Regione Autonoma della Sardegna / Regione Autònoma de Sardigna.[7] It is divided into four provinces and a metropolitan city. The capital of the region of Sardinia — and its largest city — is Cagliari.
Sardinia's indigenous language and Algherese Catalan are referred to by both the regional and national law as two of Italy's twelve officially recognized linguistic minorities,[8] albeit gravely endangered, while the regional law provides some measures to recognize and protect the aforementioned as well as the island's other minority languages (the Corsican-influenced Sassarese and Gallurese, and finally Tabarchino Ligurian).[9][10]
Owing to the variety of Sardinia's ecosystems, which include mountains,[11] woods, plains, stretches of largely uninhabited territory, streams, rocky coasts, and long sandy beaches,[12] Sardinia has been metaphorically described as a micro-continent.[13] In the modern era, many travelers and writers have extolled the beauty of its long-untouched landscapes, which retain vestiges of the Nuragic civilization.[14]
The name Sardinia has pre-Latin roots. It comes from the pre-Roman ethnonym *s(a)rd-, later romanised as sardus (feminine sarda). It makes its first appearance on the Nora Stone, where the word ŠRDN, or *Šardana, testifies to the name's existence when the Phoenician merchants first arrived.[15]
According to Timaeus, one of Plato's dialogues, Sardinia (referred to by most ancient Greek authors as Sardṓ, Σαρδώ) and its people as well might have been named after a legendary woman called Sardṓ (Σαρδώ), born in Sardis (Σάρδεις), capital of the ancient Kingdom of Lydia.[16][17] There has also been speculation that identifies the ancient Nuragic Sards with the Sherden, one of the Sea Peoples.[18][19][20][21][22] It is suggested that the name had a religious connotation from its use also as the adjective for the ancient Sardinian mythological hero-god Sardus Pater[23] ("Sardinian Father"; a common explanation that the term means "Father of the Sardinians" is incorrect, as that would be "Sardorum Pater"), as well as being the stem of the adjective "sardonic".
In classical antiquity, Sardinia was called a number of names besides Sardṓ (Σαρδώ) or Sardinia, like Ichnusa (the Latinised form of the Greek Ἰχνοῦσσα),[24] Sandaliotis (Σανδαλιῶτις[25]) and Argyrophleps (Αργυρόφλεψ).[26]
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (after Sicily and before Cyprus), with an area of 24,100 km2 (9,305 sq mi). It is situated between 38° 51' and 41° 18' latitude north (respectively Isola del Toro and Isola La Presa) and 8° 8' and 9° 50' east longitude (respectively Capo dell'Argentiera and Capo Comino). To the west of Sardinia is the Sea of Sardinia, a unit of the Mediterranean Sea; to Sardinia's east is the Tyrrhenian Sea, which is also an element of the Mediterranean Sea.[27]
The nearest land masses are (clockwise from north) the island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia, the Balearic Islands, and Provence. The Tyrrhenian Sea portion of the Mediterranean Sea is directly to the east of Sardinia between the Sardinian east coast and the west coast of the Italian mainland peninsula. The Strait of Bonifacio is directly north of Sardinia and separates Sardinia from the French island of Corsica.
The coasts of Sardinia are 1,849 km (1,149 mi) long. They are generally high and rocky, with long, relatively straight stretches of coastline, many outstanding headlands, a few wide, deep bays, rias, many inlets and with various smaller islands off the coast.
The island has an ancient geoformation and, unlike Sicily and mainland Italy, is not earthquake-prone. Its rocks date in fact from the Palaeozoic Era. The Cambrian-Lower Ordovician succession of Sardinia reaches 1500–3000 m in thickness.[28] Due to long erosion processes, the island's highlands, formed of granite, schist, trachyte, basalt (called jaras or gollei), sandstone and dolomite limestone (called tonneri or 'heels'), average at between 300 and 1,000 m (984 and 3,281 ft). The highest peak is Punta La Marmora (Perdas Carpìas in Sardinian language) (1,834 m (6,017 ft)), part of the Gennargentu Ranges in the centre of the island. Other mountain chains are Monte Limbara (1,362 m (4,469 ft)) in the northeast, the Chain of Marghine and Goceano (1,259 m (4,131 ft)) running crosswise for 40 km (25 mi) towards the north, the Monte Albo (1,057 m (3,468 ft)), the Sette Fratelli Range in the southeast, and the Sulcis Mountains and the Monte Linas (1,236 m (4,055 ft)). The island's ranges and plateaux are separated by wide alluvial valleys and flatlands, the main ones being the Campidano in the southwest between Oristano and Cagliari and the Nurra in the northwest.
Sardinia has few major rivers, the largest being the Tirso, 151 km (94 mi) long, which flows into the Sea of Sardinia, the Coghinas (115 km (71 mi)) and the Flumendosa (127 km (79 mi)). There are 54 artificial lakes and dams that supply water and electricity. The main ones are Lake Omodeo and Lake Coghinas. The only natural freshwater lake is Lago di Baratz. A number of large, shallow, salt-water lagoons and pools are located along the coastline.
Climate
The climate of the island is variable from area to area, due to several factors including the extension in latitude and the elevation. It can be classified in two different macrobioclimates (Mediterranean pluviseasonal oceanic and Temperate oceanic), one macrobioclimatic variant (Submediterranean), and four classes of continentality (from weak semihyperoceanic to weak semicontinental), eight thermotypic horizons (from lower thermomediterranean to upper supratemperate), and seven ombrotypic horizons (from lower dry to lower hyperhumid), resulting in a combination of 43 different isobioclimates.[29]
During the year there is a major concentration of rainfall in the winter and autumn, some heavy showers in the spring and snowfalls in the highlands. The average temperature is between 11 and 18 °C (52 and 64 °F), with mild winters and warm summers on the coasts (9 to 16 °C (48 to 61 °F) in January, 23 to 31 °C (73 to 88 °F) in July), and cold winters and cool summers on the mountains (−2 to 4 °C (28 to 39 °F) in January, 16 to 20 °C (61 to 68 °F) in July).
Rainfall has a Mediterranean distribution all over the island, with almost totally rainless summers and wet autumns, winters and springs. However, in summer, the rare rainfalls can be characterized by short but severe thunderstorms, which can cause flash floods. The climate is also heavily influenced by the vicinity of the Gulf of Genoa (barometric low) and the relative proximity of the Atlantic Ocean. Low pressures in autumn can generate the formation of the so-called Medicanes, extratropical cyclones which affect the Mediterranean basin. In 2013, the island was hit by several cyclones, included the Cyclone Cleopatra, which dumped 450 mm (18 in) of rainfall within an hour and a half.[30] Sardinia being relatively large and hilly, weather is not uniform; in particular the East is drier, but paradoxically it suffers the worst rainstorms: in autumn 2009, it rained more than 200 mm (7.9 in) in a single day in Siniscola, and 19 November 2013, locations in Sardinia were reported to have received more than 431 mm (17.0 in) within two hours. The western coast has a higher distribution of rainfalls even for modest elevations (for instance Iglesias, elevation 200 m (656 ft), average annual precipitation 815 mm (32.1 in)). The driest part of the island is the coast of Cagliari gulf, with less than 450 mm (17.7 in) per year, the minimum is at Capo Carbonara at the extreme south-east of the island 381 mm (15.0 in),[31] and the wettest is the top of the Gennargentu mountain with almost 1,500 mm (59.1 in) per year. The average for the entire island is about 800 mm (31.5 in) per year, which is more than enough for the needs of the population and vegetation.[32] The Mistral from the northwest is the dominant wind on and off throughout the year, though it is most prevalent in winter and spring. It can blow quite strongly, but it is usually dry and cool.
| Climate data for Cagliari, altitude 4 m (13 ft) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 14.3 (57.7) |
14.8 (58.6) |
16.5 (61.7) |
18.6 (65.5) |
22.9 (73.2) |
27.3 (81.1) |
30.4 (86.7) |
30.8 (87.4) |
27.4 (81.3) |
23.1 (73.6) |
18.3 (64.9) |
15.4 (59.7) |
21.7 (71.1) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 9.9 (49.8) |
10.3 (50.5) |
11.8 (53.2) |
13.7 (56.7) |
17.7 (63.9) |
21.7 (71.1) |
24.7 (76.5) |
25.2 (77.4) |
22.3 (72.1) |
18.4 (65.1) |
13.8 (56.8) |
11.0 (51.8) |
16.8 (62.2) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 5.5 (41.9) |
5.8 (42.4) |
7.1 (44.8) |
8.9 (48.0) |
12.4 (54.3) |
16.2 (61.2) |
18.9 (66.0) |
19.6 (67.3) |
17.1 (62.8) |
13.7 (56.7) |
9.3 (48.7) |
6.6 (43.9) |
11.8 (53.2) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 49.7 (1.96) |
53.3 (2.10) |
40.4 (1.59) |
39.7 (1.56) |
26.1 (1.03) |
11.9 (0.47) |
4.1 (0.16) |
7.5 (0.30) |
34.9 (1.37) |
52.6 (2.07) |
58.4 (2.30) |
48.9 (1.93) |
427.5 (16.83) |
| Average rainy days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 6.8 | 6.8 | 6.8 | 7.0 | 4.4 | 2.1 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 4.3 | 6.5 | 7.4 | 7.4 | 61.6 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 136.4 | 139.2 | 186.0 | 213.0 | 269.7 | 288.0 | 334.8 | 310.0 | 246.0 | 198.4 | 147.0 | 127.1 | 2,595.6 |
| Source: Servizio Meteorologico,[33] Hong Kong Observatory[34] for data of sunshine hours | |||||||||||||
| Climate data for Fonni, altitude 1029 m | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 6.6 (43.9) |
6.9 (44.4) |
8.9 (48.0) |
11.5 (52.7) |
16.3 (61.3) |
21.2 (70.2) |
25.8 (78.4) |
25.5 (77.9) |
21.7 (71.1) |
16.4 (61.5) |
10.9 (51.6) |
8.1 (46.6) |
15.0 (59.0) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 4.1 (39.4) |
4.1 (39.4) |
5.7 (42.3) |
8.1 (46.6) |
12.4 (54.3) |
16.9 (62.4) |
21.1 (70.0) |
20.9 (69.6) |
17.7 (63.9) |
13.1 (55.6) |
8.2 (46.8) |
5.5 (41.9) |
11.5 (52.7) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 1.5 (34.7) |
1.2 (34.2) |
2.5 (36.5) |
4.6 (40.3) |
8.5 (47.3) |
12.6 (54.7) |
16.4 (61.5) |
16.3 (61.3) |
13.7 (56.7) |
9.7 (49.5) |
5.4 (41.7) |
2.8 (37.0) |
7.9 (46.2) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 97 (3.8) |
118 (4.6) |
110 (4.3) |
88 (3.5) |
73 (2.9) |
33 (1.3) |
11 (0.4) |
18 (0.7) |
40 (1.6) |
93 (3.7) |
107 (4.2) |
131 (5.2) |
919 (36.2) |
| Average rainy days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 9.9 | 10.0 | 9.4 | 10.5 | 7.4 | 4.2 | — | 2.4 | 4.8 | 8.8 | 9.7 | 9.9 | 88.6 |
| Source: Servizio Meteorologico | |||||||||||||
