Calabria , regione, southern Italy , composed of the province of Catanzaro , Cosenza, Crotone , Reggio di Calabria, and Vibo Valentia . Sometimes referred to as the ?toe? of the Italian ?boot,? Calabria is a peninsula of irregular shape, jutting out in a northeast-southwest direction from the main body of Italy and separating the Tyrrhenian and Ionian seas.Most of the region is mountainous or hilly, the only extensive lowlands being those of the lower Crati River valley near Sibari, of the Marchesato (territory) near Crotone (Crotona), of Sant?Eufemia, and of Gioia Tauro. In the north, Calabria is linked to the Appennino Lucano of the Apennine Range by the Mount Pollino massif (7,375 feet [2,248 m]), which is continued southward by the west coast range, which is in turn separated by the Crati River from the extensive La Sila massif (rising to 6,325 feet [1,928 m]). A narrow isthmus between the gulfs of Sant?Eufemia (west) and Squillace (east) separates the northern from the southern part of the region, in which the uplands continue as the Appennino Calabrese and culminate in the extreme south in the Aspromonte massif (Montalto, 6,417 feet [1,956 m]).
