Here below I give you just a few numbers and names to provide you with further hints of Sardinia and organize your journey better. The main island with its smaller islands has 1897 km of coastline which equal a quarter of the Italian coasts and is situated right in the centre of the Mediterranean sea nearly between Sicily and Corsica.
It is 189 km far from Italy mainland, 11 km far from Corsica and 190 km from the northern coast of Africa. It is the second biggest Italian island as well as the second largest island in the Mediterranean sea with its 24 090 km2. It measures 268 km from North to South, 140 km from East to West and hosts about 1.641.000 inhabitants. It is run as an autonomous region of Italy and the official language is Italian even if many local people can also speak the Sardinian language and its variants. Sardinia lies among the Tyrrhenian Sea along the eastern coast, Sardinia sea in the West, Sardinian channel in the South and Bonifacio Straight between Sardinia and Corsica.
The highest point called La Marmora rises up to 1834 m above sea level and it is part of Gennargentu mountain range in the central part of the island. The mountainous granite or calcareus soil is drained by many small rivers and streams and in general there are lot of small green valleys covered by the thick Mediterranean scrub or bordered by forests with holm-oak trees or cork-oak trees. Between Oristano and Cagliari is the biggest Sardinian plain, Campidano. The main town is Cagliari and with the nearby area hosts one sixth of the Sardinian inhabitants. A few names of important rivers are Tirso the longest with its 150 km, Flumendosa which is 127 km long and crosses the most mountainous area or Temo the only one navigable at the end of its path in Bosa. The only natural lake is Baratz close to Alghero, but during your journey you could see more than 50 artificial lakes and dams designed along the different rivers to supply water and electricity. In more, close to many large beaches (near Oristano, Cagliari or San Teodoro) there are wetlands with plenty of fish or pink flamingos.
See BEACHES for further information for your holidays...