Sardinia is an island in the western Mediterranean Sea and is part of Italy. It lies directly south of the French island of Corsica; to its east is the Tyrrhenian Sea and, beyond that, the southern part of mainland Italy; to its south, Tunisia, and to its west, the Spanish Balearic Islands. Sardinia has an area of 9,301 square miles (24,090 km2) and is the second largest island in the Mediterranean; Sicily is slightly larger. The capital of Sardinia is Cagliari.