For the Roman province, see. For the Italian film about Sicily, see Sicily : Sicilia ; : Sicìlia is the in the. It is an , in along with surrounding minor islands, officially referred to as Regione Siciliana. Its most prominent landmark is , the tallest active volcano in Europe, and one of the most active in the world, currently 3,329 m 10,922 ft high. The island has a typical. The earliest of human activity on the island dates from as early as 12,000 BC. By around 750 BC, Sicily had three and a dozen and, for the next 600 years, it was the site of the and the. After the fall of the in the 5th century AD, Sicily was ruled during the by the , the , the , and the. The led to the creation of the , which was subsequently ruled by the , the , , and the. It was finally unified under the with the as the. It became part of Italy in 1860 following the , a revolt led by during the , and a plebiscite. Sicily was given special status as an on 15th May 1946, 18 days before the. Albeit, much of the autonomy still remains unapplied, especially financial autonomy, because the autonomy-activating laws have been deferred to be approved by the parithetic committee 50% Italian State, 50% Regione Siciliana , since 1946. Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the , , , , and. It is also home to important and ancient sites, such as the , the , and. Sicily has a roughly triangular shape, earning it the name Trinacria. To the east, it is separated from the Italian mainland by the , about 3 km 1. The northern and southern coasts are each about 280 km 170 mi long measured as a straight line, while the eastern coast measures around 180 km 110 mi ; total coast length is at 1,484 km 922 mi. The total area of the island is 25,711 km 2 9,927 sq mi , while the of Sicily which includes smaller surrounding islands has an area of 27,708 km 2 10,698 sq mi. The terrain of inland Sicily is mostly hilly and is intensively cultivated wherever possible. Along the northern coast, the mountain ranges of , 2,000 m 6,600 ft , , 1,800 m 5,900 ft , and , 1,300 m 4,300 ft , are an extension of the mainland. The cone of dominates the eastern coast. In the southeast lie the lower , 1,000 m 3,300 ft. The mines of the and districts were part of a leading -producing area throughout the 19th century, but have declined since the 1950s. Sicily and its surrounding small islands have some highly active volcanoes. Mount Etna is the largest active volcano in Europe and still casts black ash over the island with its ever-present eruptions. It currently stands 3,329 metres 10,922 ft high, though this varies with summit eruptions; the mountain is 21 m 69 ft lower now than it was in 1981. It is the highest mountain in Italy south of the. Etna covers an area of 1,190 km 2 459 sq mi with a basal circumference of 140 km 87 mi. This makes it by far the largest of the three , being about two and a half times the height of the next largest,. In , the deadly monster was trapped under the mountain by , the god of the sky. Mount Etna is widely regarded as a cultural symbol and icon of Sicily. The three volcanoes of , and are also currently active, although the latter is usually dormant. Off the southern coast of Sicily, the underwater volcano of , which is part of the larger , last erupted in 1831. It is located between the coast of and the island of which itself is a dormant volcano. The also includes several neighbouring islands: the , the Aeolian Islands, Pantelleria and. Rivers The island is by several rivers, most of whic
