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There are nearly 200 countries in the world, but when it comes to which is the largest, there is no competition. With a total area of 6,592,850 square miles (17,075,400 square km), Russia is the world’s largest country. A distant second is Canada, with 3,855,103 square miles (9,984,670 square km).
The largest country in the world is Russia with a total area of 17,098,242 Km² (6,601,665 mi²) and a land area of 16,376,870 Km² (6,323,142 mi²), equivalent to 11% of the total world's landmass of 148,940,000 Km² (57,510,000 square miles).
This is a list of the world's countries and their dependencies by land, water, and total area, ranked by total area. The entries in this list include, but are not limited to, those in the ISO 3166-1 standard, which includes sovereign states and dependent territories .
- Overview
- Geography
- Prehistoric and Phoenician settlement
- Roman rule
Sardinia, island and regione (region) of Italy, second in size only to Sicily among the islands of the western Mediterranean. It lies 120 miles (200 km) west of the mainland of Italy, 7.5 miles (12 km) south of the neighbouring French island of Corsica, and 120 miles (200 km) north of the coast of Africa. The capital is Cagliari. Area 9,301 square ...
Sardinia is united geologically with Corsica, both being aligned along a mountain belt rising over 13,000 feet (3,950 metres) from the surrounding seafloor, with a continental slope deeply fretted by submarine canyons. The island is a remnant of a Hercynian block known as the Tyrrhenian continent; its rocks are mostly from the Paleozoic Era (about 541 to 252 million years ago). Cambrian Period (about 541 to 485.4 million years ago) slates predominate in the southwest, while Carbo-Permian granites constitute more than one-third of the total area of the island, chiefly in the eastern highlands of Gallura, Goceano, Nuoro, and Sarrabus.
The island’s relief is dominated by mountains of granite and schist. The highest point is Mount La Marmora (6,017 feet [1,834 metres]) in the Gennargentu massif. The climate is subtropical and Mediterranean. Precipitation ranges from 24 inches (600 mm) on the plains to 39 inches (990 mm) in the mountains. Sardinia’s rivers, of which the Tirso and Flumendosa are the most important, are short and full of rapids.
Much of the island’s arable land is devoted to cereal cultivation and fruit growing. Macchia—grasslands mingled with a scrub of cistus, lentisk, myrtle, prickly pear, and dwarf oaks—covers most of the uncultivated countryside. A rich salt-loving vegetation is found along the shores and cliffs, and salty marshes extend along the coast. Most of the mammals are like those found in Italy, but some of those deserving special mention are a Sardinian weasel, a native wild cat, the mouflon (a wild sheep found only in Sardinia, Corsica, and Cyprus), and the Cape hare.
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The dominating feature of the island (some 7,000 examples of which are said to exist) is the nuraghi: truncated conic structures of huge blocks of basalt taken from extinct volcanoes, built in prehistoric times without any bonding. Most nuraghi are quite small, but a few are obviously fortresses. There is also a nuraghic village near Dorgali with traces of about 80 buildings identified. Expert opinion now dates the nuraghi to about 1500 to 400 bce.
The civilization that built the nuraghi probably had its roots in the prehistoric population of the island, but its origins and affinities are uncertain, and it left no written records. It is possible that the Sherden, one of the Sea People who fought in Egypt in the 13th and 12th centuries bce, either came from or settled in Sardinia, and they gave the island its name. Archaeological evidence from the nuraghi culture suggests a strongly organized power of tribal states. The working of metal from local mines was presumably the chief source of wealth. However, the presence of Phoenician trade settlements along the Sardinian coasts from the 9th or 8th century bce must have vigorously contributed to Proto-Sardinian prosperity.
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During the First Punic War (264–241 bce) the Romans tried to capture Sardinia, but it was not until 238 bce that they were able to take advantage of a revolt by Carthaginian mercenaries to demand the surrender of the island. Native tribes opposed the Romans but were conquered after several bloody campaigns. The island became a province under a praetor or propraetor, to whose jurisdiction Corsica was added soon afterward (227). A rebellion in 215 bce, fostered by the Carthaginians, was quelled by Titus Manlius Torquatus. After the failure of that uprising, the island was treated as a conquered territory. It did not contain a single free city, and its inhabitants were obliged to pay a sizable tithe in grain. Insurrections of the mountain tribes in 181 and 114 bce were crushed by the Romans, but even in the time of Strabo (c. 64 bce–21 ce) there was considerable brigandage.
When Augustus reorganized the provinces, administration of Sardinia and Corsica fell to the Senate, a designation that implied a degree of stability on the islands. In 6 ce, however, frequent disturbances led Augustus to assert imperial control and to appoint a prefect to oversee the restoration of order. In 67 ce Nero returned Sardinia (but not Corsica) to the Senate in exchange for Achaea, and the former was then governed by a legatus pro praetore. Vespasian took Sardinia back sometime before 78 ce and placed it under an imperial procurator. It was returned to the Senate sometime before the reign of Marcus Aurelius, when the island was governed by a proconsul. Either Commodus or Septimius Severus took it over again and placed it under a procurator. The frequent changes in administrative authority speak to the difficulty that the Romans experienced while governing the island. In Pliny’s time Caralis (Cagliari) was the only city with Roman civic rights in Sardinia (when it received the privilege is unknown). A Roman colony was founded at Turris Libisonis (now Porto Torres), but little was reported about the island under the empire, except for its role as a granary and for the prevalence of banditry there. It was often used as a place of exile.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Mar 17, 2021 · Sardinia is an island in the Mediterranean, located to the east of the Iberian Peninsula, west of the Italian Peninsula, and north of Africa (Tunisia). It is bounded to the north by Corsica (French island), west by the Balearic Islands (Spanish islands), and southeast by Sicily (Italian island).
- John Misachi
Jan 28, 2021 · The world’s three largest countries by total area are Russia, Canada, and the US. Together, these countries occupy roughly 7% of the total Earth surface. The three smallest countries are the Vatican City, Monaco, and Nauru.
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Jan 23, 2021 · Breakdown of Countries Share of Earth’s Surface. The largest countries by surface area are Russia (3.35%), Canada (1.96%), and China (1.88%). Together they occupy roughly 7.2% of Earth’s surface.
