The Aspromonte National Park is a protected nature area located in the province of Reggio Calabria. It takes it's name from the Aspromonte Massif. The present park derives from the Aspromonte section (covering an area of about 3000 acres) of the Calabria National Park  (which existed from 1968 to 2002). Since 1979 discussions were held as to the possibility of creating a National Park distinct from that of Calabria, which then took place in 1989 with the creation of the Aspromonte National Park, making it the 6th national park to be founded in Italy. Aspromonte is a mountainous massif which is part of the area known as the southern Alps or Calabrian Alps. The geological basal of this formation, with it's origins in the period from Precambrian up to almost the entire Paleozoic, is mainly composed of igneous rocks (granites) and metamorphic rocks (gneisses and schists) and has more ancient origins than the Apennines.