A report on Adriatic Sea, Po (river), Po Valley and Veneto

The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to the northwest and the Po Valley.

It extends approximately 650 km in an east-west direction, with an area of 46000 sqkm including its Venetic extension not actually related to the Po river basin; it runs from the Western Alps to the Adriatic Sea.

The flatlands of Veneto and Friuli are often considered apart since they do not drain into the Po, but they effectively combine into an unbroken plain, making it the largest in Southern Europe.

The Po then extends along the 45th parallel north before ending at a delta projecting into the Adriatic Sea near Venice.

The north–south extension of Veneto is 210 km from the Austrian border to the mouth of the River Po.

The Po Valley, covering 57% of Veneto, extends from the mountains to the Adriatic sea, broken only by some low hills: Euganean Hills, Berici Hills Colli Asolani and Montello, which constitute the remaining 14% of the territory.

The vast valley around the Po is called the Po Basin or Po Valley (Italian Pianura Padana or Val Padana); in time it became the main industrial area of the country.

The Adriatic Sea is a semi-enclosed sea, bordered in the southwest by the Apennine or Italian Peninsula, in the northwest by the Italian regions of Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and in the northeast by Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Albania—the Balkan peninsula.

The Po Delta wetlands have been protected by the institution of two regional parks in the regions in which it is situated: Veneto and Emilia-Romagna.

The greatest portion of the discharge from any single river comes from the Po (28%), with an average discharge from it alone of 1569 m3/s.