The Italian Peninsula , Apennine Peninsula or Mainland Italy , also Italy ( Italian : Penisola italiana , Penisola appenninica , Terraferma or Continente ) is the central and the smallest of the three large peninsulas of Southern Europe ( the other two being the Iberian Peninsula and Balkan Peninsula ) , spanning 1,000 km ( 620 mi ) from the Po Valley in the north to the central Mediterranean Sea in the south .
The Italian Peninsula ( or Apennine Peninsula ; Italian : Penisola italiana , Penisola appenninica ) is a large peninsula of Southern Europe .