PIANOSA ISLAND

Italian Isola Pianosa, ancient (Latin) Planasia island of the Toscano Archipelago, in the Tyrrhenian Sea, part of Livorno (Leghorn) provincia, Italy, 8 miles (13 km) southwest of the island of Elba. It has an area of 4 square miles (10 square km) and is, as its name (Italian piano, flat) indicates, flat, with its highest point only about 90 feet (27 m) above sea level. In Roman history it figures as the place of banishment of Agrippa Postumus, grandson of the emperor Augustus. It suffered from the depredations of the Turks in the 16th century. In 1856 an agricultural penal colony was established there. Pop. (1971) 784.