It is located west of the Italian Peninsula , north of Tunisia and It is one of the five Italian regions with some degree of domestic autonomy being granted by a special statute. 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.
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. The name Sardinia has pre-Latin roots. Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea after Sicily and before Cyprus , with an area of 24, km 2 9, sq mi.
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 coast of Sardinia is 1, km 1, mi long. It is generally high and rocky, with long, relatively straight stretches, outstanding headlands, wide, deep bays, rias , and inlets with various smaller islands. 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 — m in thickness. Other mountain chains are Monte Limbara 1, m 4, ft in the northeast, the Chain of Marghine and Goceano 1, m 4, ft running crosswise for 40 km 25 mi towards the north, the Monte Albo 1, m 3, ft , the Sette Fratelli Range in the southeast, and the Sulcis Mountains and the Monte Linas 1, m 4, ft.
