Sicily region highlights and information

The region of Sicily is one of the most famous in Italy and is due in part by Mont Etna one of the most active volcanoes in Europe being there. Sicily is located just off the southwestern tip of the of the Italian peninsula in the Mediterranean Sea. Sicily being an island has no direct contact with the mainland by use of a bridge or tunnel and is something that has been under debate for many years and someday may happen but for now access is only by plane or ferryboat if you have a car. The region has an area of about 9,927 square miles has 390 towns scattered throughout the region

with an overall population of around 5,052,000. The capitol city of the region is Palermo which is located about 40 miles from its western edge on the north end of the island. Unlike almost all the other regions of Italy Sicily has no real regional neighbors joined by land but does share the strait of Messina with the region of Calabria to the east. Sicily has about 430 miles of coastline broken up on its northern, eastern and southern shores and  because Sicily is kind of  pie shaped the distance from one end

of the island to the other is about 115 miles

whether you are going from the west to the north eastern or the south eastern end. Sicily is also one of the regions where it would be enjoyable to rent a car and drive around most of the island while having a sea view.

Even thought Sicily was blessed with being one of the regions with the most coastline it wasn't blessed with an abundance of great beaches as most of the coast

is cliff or rock covered making beach resorts few and far between.