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The Tuscan Archipelago, inhabited and non-inhabited Islands, compare favorably to any islands associated with California. One of the uninhabited ones is Monte Cristo.
Both California and Italy are stunningly beautiful places and I haven't been to California so I can't really say which is better with any real authority. However I have been to Italy and it is extraordinary how mother nature has blessed Italy with so many natural scenic wonders. Especially for such a relatively small country!
In terms of diversity. Obviously California has Death Valley, the Sierra Nevada mountains, a nice jagged coastline, huge Redwood forests and ancient Bristlecone pines but Italy is amazingly diverse as well. The south of the country, though not well known has many semi-arid landscapes too! For e.g The desolate steppes of the Alta Murgia national park in Puglia. The arid canyons around Matera(One of the oldest inhabited troglodyte settlements in the world). The sand and clay 'Calanchi' badlands in Basilicata which are home to rare desert plants. The semi arid Aspromonte mountains in Calabria(Randazzo.Ave annual rainfall 16.8 inches) which have huge forests of Olive, Beech and Pine on the western side but on the Ionian side they are steep arid peaks of sheer walls and ravines with very meager vegetation cut by wide 'fiumare' empty riverbeds which are particular to this part of Italy and the Gobi desert in Mongolia. Also Sicily and Sardinia have some very arid areas. The most southerly part of Italy Lampedusa has an ave annual rainfall of about 11 inches a year and although officially it has a semi-arid steppe climate due to climate change and the fact that it's only a stone's throw away from the Sahara desert means it's landscape is already in a state of desertification. Cape Carbonara in Sardinia is one of the driest areas in the Mediterranean. Annual average rainfall is around 9.3 inches per year which is only a few millimeters more than the Almeria 'desert' in Spain which is generally seen as the driest part of Europe. Sardinia even has some remote areas reminiscent of the California and Arizona deserts. It's spaghetti western desert landscapes were used in the film A Fistful Of Dollars with Clint Eastwood along with Almeria in Spain.
Calabria which is the most southern region on the Italian peninsula has in some areas a sub tropical coastline next to mountains with an Alpine climate. Italy also has Tundra climates in the Alps and Apennines. Temperate rain forests in the Apuan Alps, Tuscany. High mountain plains and prairies. Volcanoes on it's mainland and islands. Malarial swamps on it's coast. Caribbean like seawater in Sardinia. Sheer vertical walls and pinnacles in the Dolomites. Volcanic lakes. Solfatara craters. Geological Balze crags that like that lake in America were left by a retreating lake. A beautiful coastline as well as Semi-arid Steppes, Mediterranean scrubland, Garrigue scrub, vast millenary old growth forests as well as just about every topographical feature on Earth.
Italy does have a lot of invasive plant species such as cacti, palms and Figs but many species have now become naturalized as they fit into the local climate so well and many places in the world have invasive tree and plant species. There are now vast Eucalyptus forests in the south and islands. Also the Dwarf Palm is actually native to Italy. Fauna includes Brown Bears, Lynx, Wolves, Porcupine, Wild Boar, Golden Jackals, Skunks, Vultures, Scorpions, Vipers, Fox, Badger, Marmots, Red, Roe and Fallow Deer, Otters, Mouflon, Chamois, Ibex, Golden Eagles, Flamingoes. Monk Seals and many more.
Both California and Italy are wonderfully diverse and beautiful though!
California has areas more beautiful and much uglier. Yosemite is one of the special places on the planet, Tahoe is gorgeous but at least half of California is ugly. All of Italy is scenic.
I think this just about sums it up. I wouldn't exactly say it is ugly, per se, because that sounds harsh, but yes, Italy seems to have no bad spots whatsoever almost. Two other interesting points to note about Italy is how at large, it seems to incorporate nature into it's urban spaces (and perhaps some of the opposite too, in the case of Cinque Terre), and it's cities don't sprawl quite as much. I would attend to agree that the "best" scenery in California is more awe inspiring though (Death Valley, Redwoods/Sequoias, Yosemite, etc.)
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