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History,
Geography and Economy of Sicily
 Sicily
(sĭs'ĭlē) , Ital. Sicilia, region (1991 pop. 4,966,386),
9,925 sq mi (25,706 sq km), S
Italy, mainly situated on the island of Sicily,
which is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea on the west
and south, by the Ionian Sea on the east, and by the
Tyrrhenian Sea on the north, and which is separated from
the Italian mainland by the narrow Strait of
Messina. The region also includes the Egadi
Islands, the Lipari Islands, the Pelagie Islands (see
Lampedusa), Pantelleria island, and Ustica island.
Palermo is the capital of Sicily, which is divided
into the provinces of
Agrigento, Caltanisetta,
Catania, Enna,
Messina,
Palermo, Ragusa,
Siracusa, and Trapani (named for their capitals).
Geography
The largest Mediterranean island, Sicily is triangular
and formerly was sometimes called Trinacria
[Gr.,=triangle]; capes Boeo (or Lilibeo), Passero, and
Punta del Faro (or Peloro) are the vertices of the
triangle. The island is almost entirely covered by hills
and mountains (continuations of the Apennines); Mt. Etna
(10,700 ft/3,261 m), in the east, is the highest point.
The only wide valley is the fertile plain of
Catania in the east, mostly located along the lower
Simeto River. There are also narrow coastal strips in
the south and west, and a small fertile plain (the Conca
d'Oro) near
Palermo in the northwest.
Economy
Sicily has long been noted for its fertile soil,
pleasant climate, and natural beauty. It has a long, hot
growing season, but summer droughts are frequent.
Agriculture is the chief economic activity but has long
been hampered by absentee ownership, primitive methods
of cultivation, and inadequate irrigation. The
establishment (1950) of the now-defunct Cassa per il
Mezzogiorno (Southern
Italy Development Fund) by the national government
led to land ownership reforms, an increase in the amount
of land available for cultivation, and the general
development of the island's economy. The Mafia, which is
still influential, has hindered governmental efforts to
institute reforms in the region, and Sicily continues to
have an extremely low per capita income and high
unemployment, although many workers have “black,” or
unreported, jobs.
The chief agricultural products are wheat, barley, corn,
olives, citrus fruit, almonds, wine grapes, and cotton;
cattle, mules, donkeys, and sheep are raised. There are
important tuna and sardine fisheries. Sicily's
manufactures include processed food, chemicals, refined
petroleum, fertilizers, textiles, ships, leather goods,
wine, and forest products. There are petroleum fields in
the southeast, and natural gas and sulfur are also
produced. Improvements in Sicily's road system have
helped to promote industrial development. The chief
ports of the island are
Palermo,
Catania, and
Messina.
 History
Sicily has had a varied and colorful history. The first
known inhabitants of the island were the Elymi, Sicani,
and Siculi. Phoenicians later settled on the west coast,
notably at Panormus (now
Palermo); Carthaginians founded Lilybaeum and
Drepanum (now Trapani); and on the east and southeast
coasts Greeks founded (8th–6th cent. B.C.) such cities
as Syracuse,
Catania, Zancle (now
Messina), Gela, and Selinus and settled in older
towns like Segesta. The Greek cities flourished and in
turn founded such cities as Acragas (now
Agrigento) and Himera. Their originally democratic
governments were gradually replaced by tyrannies,
particularly those of Phalaris at Acragas and of Gelon,
Hiero I, and others at Syracuse.
In the 5th cent. B.C., Syracuse gained hegemony over the
other cities. Phoenician influence was reinvigorated by
Carthaginian expansion; although Hamilcar was repulsed
at Himera in 480 B.C., later Carthaginian invaders
gained control (by c.400 B.C.) of more than half of the
island. Interlopers from mainland Greece seized the
remainder, and Sicily became a battleground for rival
empires. A century of antagonism between Greeks and
Carthaginians was followed by strife between Romans and
Carthaginians, which flared (264 B.C.) in the first of
the Punic Wars.
Rome was victorious by 241 B.C., and after the
death (c.215) of Hiero II of Syracuse, virtually all of
Sicily came under Rome.
The Romans completed the enriching Hellenization of
Sicilian culture. However, the resources of the
island—known as the Breadbasket of
Rome — were depleted by the Romans, who also
founded the large estates (latifundia) that subsequently
greatly hampered the economic development of Sicily.
Roman rule was often corrupt, and corruption reached a
peak under governor Caius Verres (73–71 B.C.). Slave
revolts (135–132 B.C. and 104–100 B.C.) were cruelly
suppressed. Many remains of the Greek and Roman periods
have been found on Sicily, especially at
Agrigento, Syracuse, Segesta, and
Selinunte.
After the fall of
Rome, Sicily passed from the Vandals (mid-5th
cent. A.D.) to the Goths (493) and then to the
Byzantines (535). The Arabs conquered the island in the
9th cent. after raiding it for two centuries. They
promoted agriculture, commerce, and the arts and
sciences. The Arabs were displaced by the Norman
conquest of Sicily (1060–91), led by Roger I. Roger II
became (1130) the first king of Sicily; he forced (1139)
Pope Innocent II, who claimed suzerainty over Sicily, to
invest him with the kingdom, which included the Norman
holdings in S
Italy. The brilliant court of Roger II did much to
introduce Arabic learning to Western Europe. Roger's
last direct descendant, Constance, married Holy Roman
Emperor Henry VI; their son and heir, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick II, was more interested in the kingdom of
Sicily (where he reigned as king from 1197 to 1250) than
in the Holy Roman Empire.
After Frederick's death and the failures of the last
Hohenstaufen claimants (Conrad IV, Manfred, and Conradin),
Pope Clement IV crowned (1266) Charles I (Charles of
Anjou) king of
Naples and
Sicily as his vassal. The unpopular French
government brought on the Sicilian Vespers revolt (1282)
and the Sicilians chose Peter III of Aragón as king. The
resulting war between the Angevin line and the Aragonese
ended temporarily in 1302, with Frederick II (see also
Aragón, house of) becoming king of
Sicily and Charles II of Anjou keeping S
Italy. In 1373, Joanna I of
Naples formally renounced
Sicily. After the Sicilian branch of Aragón
became extinct, Sicily reverted (1409) to the main
branch.
Under Aragonese rule local liberties were maintained,
and the Sicilian national assembly enjoyed wide powers.
With the accession of the Hapsburgs to the Spanish
throne (early 16th cent.), there was more
centralization, and Spanish governors arrived to tighten
the imperial bonds. Corruption increased, and the island
came under the control of a few powerful nobles and
church officials.
In 1713 the Peace of Utrecht assigned Sicily to Savoy,
which in 1720 exchanged it with Emperor Charles VI for
Sardinia. However, as a result of the War of the
Polish Succession,
Sicily and
Naples came under (1735) the rule of Don Carlos of
Bourbon (later Charles III of Spain). The Bourbon kings
resided at Naples, except in 1799 and from 1806 to 1815,
when Naples was held by the French. The centralizing
policies of the Bourbons were resisted by the Sicilian
nobles, who welcomed British intervention (1811–14).
Feudal privileges were renounced in 1812 but in practice
continued much longer.
Naples and
Sicily were merged, despite Sicilian protests,
in 1816, when Ferdinand I styled himself officially king
of the Two Sicilies. Revolts occurred in 1820 and
1848–49 and were mercilessly suppressed; the
bombardments of
Messina (1848) and
Palermo (1849) earned Ferdinand II the nickname
“King Bomba.” In 1860,
Garibaldi conquered the island, which then voted to
join the kingdom of
Sardinia.
Even after Italian unification,
Sicily was neglected by the central government,
and the island's economic and social problems long
remained unattended. In World War II a large-scale
amphibious landing was carried out by the Allies on July
9–10, 1943. After heavy fighting, the Allied conquest
was completed on Aug. 8, 1943.
Sicily was given limited autonomy under the
Italian constitution of 1947. The assassination of two
prominent anti-Mafia prosecutors in 1992 prompted the
central government to send in the military. The
operation ended in 1998 after many organized crime
figures were jailed.
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![Italy, officially the Italian Republic (Italian: Italia, IPA: [i'taːlja] or Repubblica Italiana, IPA: [re'pubːlika ita'ljaːna]), is a Southern European country. It comprises the Po River valley, the Italian Peninsula and two large islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. It is shaped like a boot and for this reason Italians commonly call it "lo stivale" ("the boot").](http://www.castelmola.com/images/Italy.gif)
