Sicily - sĭsˈĭlē, 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, Pallermo, Ragusa, Syracuse, 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 (see
Naples, kingdom of). 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. Bibliography See A History of Sicily: Vol. I by M. I. Finley (1968), Vol. II–III by D. M. Smith (1968). The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright© 2004, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V. All rights reserved. |
