Brindisi (local dialect: Brìnnisi; Latin: Brundisium) is a city in the Apulia region of Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, off the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Historically, the city has played an important role in commerce and culture, due to its position on the Italian Peninsula and its natural port on the Adriatic Sea. The city is a major port for trade with Greece and the Middle East. Brindisi has an active industry in agriculture, chemical and energy production. Brindisi is situated on a natural harbor, that penetrates deeply into the Adriatic coast of Apulia. Within the arms of the outer harbor islands are Pedagne, a tiny archipelago, currently not open and in use for military purposes (United Nations Group Schools used during the intervention in Bosnia). The entire municipality is part of the Brindisi Plain, characterized by high agricultural uses of its land. It is located in the northeastern part of the Salento plains, about 40 km (24.85 mi) from the Itria Valley, and the low Murge. Not far from the city is the Natural Marine Reserve of the World Wide Fund for Nature of Torre Guaceto. The Ionian Sea is located about 45 km (27.96 mi) away. The territory of Brindisi is characterized by a wide flat area from which emerge sub deposits of limestone and sand of marine origin, which in turn have a deeper level clay of the Pleistocene era, and an even later Mesozoic carbonate composed of limestone and soils. The development of agriculture, has caused an increase in the use of water resources resulting in an increase of indiscriminate use. Brindisi enjoys a Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csa). There are several traditions concerning its founders; one of them claims that it was founded by the legendary hero Diomedes. Brindisi was an Ancient Greek settlement predating the Roman expansion. The Latin name Brundisium comes from the Greek Brentesion meaning "deer's head", which refers to the shape of the natural harbor. In 267 BC (245 BC, according to other sources) it was conquered by the Romans. In the promontory of the Punta lands, which is located in the outer harbor have been identified as a Bronze Age village (16th century BC) where a group of huts, protected by an embankment of stones, yielded fragments of Mycenaean pottery. Herodotus spoke of the Mycenaean origin for these populations