Calabria lies at the southern most tip of the Italian peninsular and is divided from Sicily by the Strait of Messina. It faces both the Ionian Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea and is prevalently mountainous. There are several groups of mountains that are very ancient, the Calabro Appenines, the coastal chain, the Serre, the Mount Poro group and the Sila Plateau, whereas the Pollino group are younger. The region forms the tip of the boot and is washed to the west by the Tyrrhenian Sea, to the east by the Ionian Sea, to the north east by the Bay of Taranto and to the south west it is separated from Sicily by the Strait of Messina, of which the minimum distance between Capo Pelora in Sicily and Punta Pezzo in Calabria is only 3,2 km due to the geological link deep down between the Aspromonte Massif and the Peloritani Range.