Italy is a long, narrow peninsula jutting out into the Mediterranean sea west of Greece. Italy has poor mineral resources and very few useful harbors, however it is wealthy in both fertile land and precipitation. Three - quarters of the peninsula is covered in foothills and mountains. The Alps, a mountain range to the north of Italy, cut off the peninsulas only land connection, which results in trading in ancient Italy nearly impossible. Italy is divided into two regions. The Mediterranean land and the north drained by the Po River. Italy's climate is somewhat compared to the climate in North Carolina. Sudden storms and rain confront the peninsula in the winter. Although up north may be cold in the winter, south of the Apennines is tempered by the warm Mediterranean sea and sunshine. Summer droughts may become a problem and dry up the fields. Italy usually has two to four months without rain. The snow melting from the Alps keep the Po Valley with sufficient amount of water throughout the summer.
Agriculture played a main role in Italy because of its climate and temperature. Copper and lead were mined near the mountainous regions and the source for Italian iron found offshore. Animals raised in Italy mainly consisted of sheep and goats. Farming was always the first priority for the people of early Italy. Since trading was so difficult, the people had to depend on their own source of food. Farmers would plant barley or wheat in the fall so it would harvest in May or June. Grapes and olives were very important in the farmers economy.
The Etruscans were mysterious people who settled on the Italian Peninsula somewhere between 900 and 800 BC. No one is really certain about their origin, however archaeologists suspect that they came from the eastern Mediterranean or Asia minor. The Etruscans ruled in north-eastern Italy, between the Apennines mountain range and the Tyrrhenian Sea. Their civilization stretched from the Arno River in the north to the Tiber River.