Sardinia

In the Early Middle Ages, the island of Sardinia was conquered in turn by the Vandals and the Byzantines. The maritime republics of Pisa and Genoa struggled to take control over the island, but it was the Crown of Aragon which succeeded in 1324 to consolidate it into the Kingdom of Sardinia.

The Aragonese Crown held Sardinia until 1718, when it was ceded to the House of Savoy, who merged the island with their domains on the mainland. In 1861, Sardinia became part of the Kingdom of Italy.

The highest peak in Sardinia is Punta La Marmora (1,834 meters). The island has few major rivers, the largest being Tirso River, 151 kilometers long, which flows into the Sea of Sardinia, part of the Mediterranean Sea. The only natural freshwater lake in Sardinia is Lago di Baratz.

The capital city of Sardinia is Cagliari, which has about 155,000 inhabitants. The Metropolitan City of Cagliari, composed of 17 municipalities, totals about 420,000 inhabitants. Other important towns in Sardinia are Sassari, Olbia, Alghero, Nuoro, Oristano and Porto Torres.

There are many ferry companies operating on the island, which link the Sardinian ports of Porto Torres, Olbia, Golfo Aranci, Arbatax, Santa Teresa Gallura and Cagliari with Civitavecchia, Genoa, Livorno, Naples, Palermo, Trapani and Piombino.

Sardinia has a good network of roads, and the public buses reach every town on the island at least once a day. Azienda Regionale Sarda Trasporti (ARST) is the public bus transport company.

In Sardinia, there are two different railway operators – Trenitalia, which connects the most populated towns and the main ports, and ARST, with slow trains that run on a narrow-gauge track.