Sicily l Magnificent Mediterranean Jewel

Sicily Facts

The short term of Sicily serves as the english language name, and most frequently used one, for this marvel of geological processes. It has other tags in different tongues, though, of course. In the primary language of its region it holds the name Sicilia.
It’s not currently known precisely when ancient humans first discovered or populated this region of the world. Researchers do know, however, the approximate timeframe for when early man first colonized the area with a permanent presence.
That’s because archaeological evidence indicates that the first colonists of the region appeared about 16,000 years ago. That places the first steady habitation of the island during the Late Pleistocene. Those first peoples were the Epigravettian culture.
Throughout history, in fact, Sicily has played an important role in its part of the world. Numerous civilizations held sway at various times. Early on, it hosted both Phoenician and Greek colonies. Later one’s included the Roman and Byzantine Empires.
In modern times, though, the marvel of Nature understandably represents one of the most popular tourist attractions of the country it forms a part of. This naturally complicates efforts to protect the beauty of the island from the depredations of man.

Sicily Physical Description

The magnificent Sicily captures the attention and appreciation of all those fortunate enough to live on or visit the island. It does so for several reasons, though. Among those are the various impressive physical statistics with which Nature blessed the amazing site.

In terms of shape, the island has a surprisingly triangular pattern. Both the northern and the southern coasts measure approximately 170 mi (274 km) in length. Each is also relatively straight. Meanwhile, the eastern coast has a length equaling roughly 110 mi (177 km).

None of these remain perfectly straight, of course, only comparatively so. Combined, however, these features provide it with an impressive statistic. That’s because it has a total coastline totaling 922 mi (1,484 km). It also has an area equaling 9,927 sq mi (25,711 sq km).

The majority of the terrain of Sicily can only be described as ranging from hilly to mountainous. Several highly respectable mountain chains appear within its borders. The tallest of these is the Madonie range. One of its peaks reaches as high as 6,600 ft (2,000 m).

Yet the wonders don’t end there. Quite a few of the peaks developed, and even remain, as volcanic in nature. The famous Mount Etna appears here, standing about 3,300 ft (1,000 m) high. This breathtaking stratovolcano continues to be among the most active on earth.

Sicily Location, Formation, and Ecology

Visually stunning Sicily formed in a region of the earth’s surface already renowned for its abundance of similar geological marvels. That’s section of the world thus comes as no surprise to most people. The location sits just off the shore of the continent of Europe.

Its location puts the geological wonder within the confines of the Mediterranean Sea. The island lies in the general center of this body of water, situated south of the Italian Peninsula. Given its coordinates, the formation constitutes one of the regions of the country of Italy.

Just like other islands in its immediate vicinity, its origins reach far back into the earth’s distant past. Somewhere between 70 – 55 million years ago, three tectonic plates crashed together. The action forced a local area that had been under water to rise upward.

Beginning about 5 million years ago, this motion had pushed what became a few small islands above the surface of the sea. By around 570,000 years in the past, the site held most of the appearance it does now. Mount Etna, however, pushed its way upward after this time.

Today, the captivating Sicily understandably posesses a principally Mediterranean climate. Given those conditions, the site once held a thriving forest system. Sadly, though, deforestation, beginning with the Romans, later destroyed the majority of this aspect.

Nonetheless, numerous plant species still remain. The bulk of these, however, consist of smaller types, such as grasses and flowers. Many animals also still remain. These include foxes, deer, wildcats, boar, porcupine, falcons, pine martens, and hedgehogs, among others.