Sardinia, Italy

Sardinia is mainly mountainous, rising to 6,016 ft in Mt. Gennargentu, with sheep and goat pastures inland and some agriculture in upland valleys and southwest coastal regions.  Mining (lead, zinc, antimony) and fishing are important industries. Through history Sardinia has been settled by Phoenicians, Greeks, and Carthaginians before the sixth century B.C., the island was taken by Rome in 238 B.C. and later fell to the Vandals (fifth century A.D.) and the Byzantines (early sixth century).  Numerous European powers controlled the island before 1720, when it passed to the House of Savoy and became the nucleus of the Kingdom of Sardinia.  Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia became the first king of Italy in 1861.