Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (after Sicily). The area of Sardinia is . The island is surrounded (clockwise from north) by the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Tunisia and the Balearic Islands. Sardinia is a constitutional part of Italy, with a special statute of regional autonomy under the Italian Constitution.

Around the beginning of the nuragic age circa 1500 BC the island was first called in Greek, Hyknusa (Latinized Ichnusa) by the Mycenaeans, probably meaning island (nusa) of the Hyksosfix: text=citation needed, the people who had just been expelled by Ahmose I of Egypt circa 1540 BC. Sandalyon was another Greek name, probably due to its shape, resembling a footprint. Its present name is Sardinia, after the Shardana (whose invasion of Egypt was defeated by Ramesses III circa 1180 BC).

Geography

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Sardinia is the second largest island in the Mediterranean Sea with a surface of 23.821 km². It is situated between 38° 51' 52 and 41° 15' 42 of latitude North and 8° 8' and 9° 50' of East longitude.

The coasts of Sardinia (1,849 km long) are generally high and rocky, rectilinear for kilometres, they are often articulated in promontories, with ample and deep bays and inlets surrounded by smaller isles.

The island, being an ancient territory with rocks that go back through the Palaeozoic Era (up to 500 million years old), does not possess any high mountains because of its long erosion processes. The granite, schist, tranchite, basalt (called "jars" or "gollei"), sandstone, dolomie-limestones (called "tonneri" or "heels") rocky highlands predominate at a height of between 300 and 1,000 meters.

The Gennargentu is a large mountain range, in the center of the island, with its highest peaks, Punta La Marmora (1,834 m.), Mount Limbara (1,362 m.) in the North and Mount Rasu (1,259 m.), culminating in the Marghine chain, that runs crosswise for 40 km towards the North.

The island's massifs and plateaus are separated by large alluvial valleys and flatlands, the main plains are the Campidano, located in the south west between Oristano and Cagliari and the Nurra, in north west.

Sardinia has few major rivers; the largest one is the Tirso, which has a length of 94 miles (151 km) and flows into the Sardinian Sea. There are about fifty artificial lakes, Lake Omodeo and Lake Coghinas are the main ones. The only natural fresh water lake is Baratz Lake. A high number of large salty lakes and lagoons are located along the 1.850 km of its coasts.

The climate is generally mild, influenced by Atlantic, African and Arctic air masses. The weather is clear. During the year approximately 300 days are sunny and the few others are rainy, with a major concentration of rainfall in the Winter and the Autumn, some heavy showers in the Spring and snowfalls on the highest massifs and highlands.
The mistral is the dominant wind, it is a fresh, strong and usually dry and cold, blowing from north west, throughout the year, but most frequently in winter and spring.