The Monti Picentini is a mountain range

Mountain range

A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...

 and national park in southern Italy, part of the Apennines, traditionally part in the Campania

Campania

Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...

n Apennines. They are included between the Monti Lattari

Monti Lattari

thumb|280px|View of the Monti Lattari from the Gulf of [[Salerno]].The Monti Lattari are a mountain range in Campania, southern Italy, which constitutes the backbone of the Sorrentine peninsula and of the Amalfi Coast.-Geography:...

, the Partenio mount, the Irpinia

Irpinia

Irpinia is a region of the Apennine Mountains around Avellino, a town in Campania, South Italy about 40 km east of Naples...

n plateau and the Sele

Sele River

The Sele is a river in southwestern Italy. Originating from the Monti Picentini in Caposele , it flows through the region of Campania, in the provinces of Salerno and Avellino...

 river valley.

The highest peak is the Monte Cervialto (1,809 m), in the eastern sector, followed by the Monte Terminio (1,783 m), which is instead in the western part of the range.

Geology, landscape and climate

The range is mostly made up of dolostone

Dolostone

Dolostone or dolomite rock is a sedimentary carbonate rock that contains a high percentage of the mineral dolomite. In old U.S.G.S. publications it was referred to as magnesian limestone. Most dolostone formed as a magnesium replacement of limestone or lime mud prior to lithification. It is...

 and limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 rocks, different from the surroundings areas, which are dominated by sandstone

Sandstone

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...

 rocks. A central depression, joining the valleys of the Calore Irpino and Tusciano

Tusciano

- Course :The source is between Monte Polveracchio and Monte Cervialto, in the Monti Picentini range of the southern Apennines. It passes through the territories of...

 rivers, divided the range in two geologically different sectors: the western one, where rocks are predominantly dolostone

Dolostone

Dolostone or dolomite rock is a sedimentary carbonate rock that contains a high percentage of the mineral dolomite. In old U.S.G.S. publications it was referred to as magnesian limestone. Most dolostone formed as a magnesium replacement of limestone or lime mud prior to lithification. It is...

, and the eastern one, mostly made up of limestone and has generally a less sharp landscape.

Karst topography

Karst topography

Karst topography is a geologic formation shaped by the dissolution of a layer or layers of soluble bedrock, usually carbonate rock such as limestone or dolomite, but has also been documented for weathering resistant rocks like quartzite given the right conditions.Due to subterranean drainage, there...

 is widely present, from which, in the valleys below, originates several springs.

Snow is present in winter over 1,000 m of altitude. Vegetation is generally low, somewhere mixed with chestnut

Chestnut

Chestnut , some species called chinkapin or chinquapin, is a genus of eight or nine species of deciduous trees and shrubs in the beech family Fagaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce.-Species:The chestnut belongs to the...

 woods.

Rivers starting from the Monti Picentini include:

• Sele
  Sele River
  The Sele is a river in southwestern Italy. Originating from the Monti Picentini in Caposele , it flows through the region of Campania, in the provinces of Salerno and Avellino...
  
  
• Tusciano
  Tusciano
  - Course :The source is between Monte Polveracchio and Monte Cervialto, in the Monti Picentini range of the southern Apennines. It passes through the territories of...
  
  
• Picentino
• Calore Irpino
• Sabato
• Ofanto
  Ofanto
  The Ofanto, known in ancient times as Aufidus, from the Greek Ophidus, Ωφιδους, meaning snake, is a 170 km river in southern Italy...
  
  

The following communes lie within the Monti Picentini National Park:

Acerno

Acerno

Acerno, is a town and in the province of Salerno in the region of Campania in south-western Italy.-Geography:Acerno, population 2,867 at the end of March 2009, is a small town, or large village, located 40 km north-east of the provincial capital of Salerno at 727 metres above sea level in...

, Bagnoli Irpino

Bagnoli Irpino

Bagnoli Irpino is a town and comune in the province of Avellino, Campania, Italy.The bordering municipalities of Bagnoli are Acerno , Calabritto, Caposele, Lioni, Montella and Nusco....

, Calabritto

Calabritto

Calabritto is an Italian town and a commune in the province of Avellino, Campania, Italy. As of 2009 its population was of 2,567.-History:The town was struck by the 1980 Irpinia earthquake on November 23. The town had to be rebuilt after the serious damage that was inflicted. It is in the...

, Calvanico

Calvanico

Calvanico is a town and comune in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy....

, Campagna

Campagna

Campagna is a small town and comune of the province of Salerno, in the Campania region of Southern Italy.-History:The town, located in a mountainous district, gradually lost importance in the 20th century...

, Caposele

Caposele

Caposele is a town and comune in the province of Avellino, Campania, Italy.The town was seriously damaged by the Irpinian earthquake of 1980....

, Castelvetere sul Calore

Castelvetere sul Calore

Castelvetere sul Calore is a comune in the province of Avellino, Campania, southern Italy....

, Castiglione del Genovesi

Castiglione del Genovesi

Castigloine del Genovesi is a town and comune in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy.Until 1862 it was known simply as Castiglione. It takes its current name from the philosopher and economist Antonio Genovesi, who was born here in 1713.-Notes and references:...

, Chiusano di San Domenico

Chiusano di San Domenico

Chiusano di San Domenico is a town and comune in the province of Avellino, Campania, southern Italy. Situated at 750 meters above sea level, Chiusano is located on the western slope of Mount Tuoro...

, Eboli

Eboli

Eboli is a town and comune of Campania, southern Italy, in the province of Salerno, on the south edge of the hills overlooking the valley of the Sele....

, Fisciano

Fisciano

Fisciano is a town and comune in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy. It is dominated by the University of Salerno, which built a new campus in the town in 1988.-University:...

, Giffoni Sei Casali

Giffoni Sei Casali

Giffoni Sei Casali is a town and comune in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy. .-Geography:The municipality is situated in an hill zone by the Picentini mountain range...

, Giffoni Valle Piana

Giffoni Valle Piana

Giffoni Valle Piana is a town and comune in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-west Italy.Economy is mostly based on agriculture, with the presence of a small number of light industries and services firms.-History:...

, Lioni

Lioni

Lioni is a town and comune in the province of Avellino, Campania, Italy. Its population was, in 2008, of 6,390 .-History:The town's name appears for the first time in a deed of gift dated 883, with which the Lombard prince Sicardo granted the abbess of S...

, Montecorvino Rovella

Montecorvino Rovella

Montecorvino Rovella is a town and comune in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-west Italy.-Geography:Montecorvino borders with the municipalities of Acerno, Battipaglia, Bellizzi, Giffoni Valle Piana, Montecorvino Pugliano and Olevano sul Tusciano.It includes the frazioni of...

, Montella

Montella

Montella is a town with 7,979 inhabitants, comune in the province of Avellino, Campania, Italy. The zone was inhabited already in the neolithic period. The town was born like Sannites' village in the I millennium a.C., to become a Municipality of Roman empire and town under the...

, Montemarano

Montemarano

Montemarano is a town and comune of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy.-History:The existence of the town is documented since the 11th century. During Norman times it was attacked by Ruggiero and completely destroyed. Later it became a fiefdom of Raona of Fragneto...

, Montoro Superiore

Montoro Superiore

Montoro Superiore is a town and comune in the province of Avellino, Campania, Italy.-Geography:Montoro Superiore borders with Calvanico , Contrada, Fisciano , Montoro Inferiore and Solofra....

, Nusco

Nusco

Nusco is a town and comune in the province of Avellino in the south of Italy, east of Naples, with c. 4,400 inhabitants. It is situated in the mountains between the valleys of the Calore lucano and Ofanto Rivers.-History:...

, Olevano sul Tusciano

Olevano sul Tusciano

Olevano sul Tusciano is a town and comune in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy.- Civil Architectures :*Villa romana di S. Maria a Corte.*Castrum Olibani - Longobard castle.* Pope gardens in Salitto...

, Oliveto Citra

Oliveto Citra

Oliveto Citra is a town and comune in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy....

, San Cipriano Picentino

San Cipriano Picentino

San Cipriano Picentino is a town and comune in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of southern Italy....

, San Mango Piemonte

San Mango Piemonte

San Mango Piemonte is a village and comune in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of southern Italy.It is an agricultural centre at the foot of the Monti Picentini, founded in 88 BC after the destruction of Picenza by the Romans.-Geography:...

, Santa Lucia di Serino

Santa Lucia di Serino

Santa Lucia di Serino is a town and comune in the province of Avellino, Campania, Italy....

, Santo Stefano del Sole

Santo Stefano del Sole

Santo Stefano del Sole is a town and comune in the province of Avellino, in the Campania region of southern Italy.-Geography:The town is bordered by Atripalda, Cesinali, San Michele di Serino, Santa Lucia di Serino, Serino, Sorbo Serpico and Volturara Irpina.-Notes and references:...

, Senerchia

Senerchia

Senerchia is an Italian municipality of 1370 registered voters, but with only 1036 inhabitants, of province of Avellino, located in High Valley Sele in Campania.-Geography:...

, Serino

Serino

Serino is a town and comune in the province of Avellino, Campania, Italy.Famous for its very clean water source, Serino is found 51 km from Naples, 21 km from Salerno, and 8 km from Avellino. Serino is also famous for its production of chestnuts....

, Solofra

Solofra

Solofra is a town and comune in the province of Avellino, in the Campania region of southern Italy.-Geography:The town is bordered by Aiello del Sabato, Calvanico, Contrada, Montoro Superiore and Serino.- History :...

, Sorbo Serpico

Sorbo Serpico

Sorbo Serpico is a town and comune in the province of Avellino, Campania, Italy. Three villages with the name Sorbo are Sorbo-Ocagnano on the island of Corsica, Sorbo Serpico in the region of Campania, and Sorbo San Basile in the region of Calabria. The word "sorbo" in Italian means "the service...

, Volturara Irpina

Volturara Irpina

Volturara Irpina is a town and comune in the province of Avellino, Campania, Italy. It is located in the Monti Picentini area, at the feet of the Terminio.Economy is based on the production of chestnut....

.