Capraia is of volcanic origin, has an area of 19 square kilometres (7.3 sq mi) and its highest point is 466 metres (1,529 ft) above sea level.

[1] In the summer the island is also a popular stopping point for yachts sailing between Livorno, Elba, and Corsica.

The early 5th century poet Rutilius recorded that the island was "a mess" and that there were many monastic communities by his time.

It became part of the Republic of Genoa after the Battle of Meloria, being assigned to the patrician Jacopo de Mari (1430).

In 1540 the Genoese built the Forte San Giorgio on a pre-existing fortification that the Ottoman corsair Turgut Reis had demolished.

In 1796 the British, under Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson, occupied the island for a short time, following the creation of the short-lived Anglo-Corsican Kingdom.