The Pelagie Islands ( it, Isole Pelagie; scn, Ìsuli Pilaggî), from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, meaning "open sea", are the three small islands of

Lampedusa Lampedusa ( , , ; scn, Lampidusa ; grc, Λοπαδοῦσσα and Λοπαδοῦσα and Λοπαδυῦσσα, Lopadoûssa; mt, Lampeduża) is the largest island of the Italian Pelagie Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. The ''comune'' of L ...

Lampione Lampione (; scn, Lampiuni; ar, جزيرة الكتاب, ''Jazīrat al-Kitāb'') is a small rocky island located in the Mediterranean Sea, which belongs geographically to the Pelagie Islands and administratively to the ''comune'' of Lampedusa e ...

, and

Linosa Linosa (; scn, Linusa; ar, نموشة, ''Nammūša'') is one of the Pelagie Islands in the Sicily Channel of the Mediterranean Sea. The island is a part of the Italian comune of Lampedusa e Linosa, part of the province of Agrigento in Sicily, ...

, located in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

between

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

and

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

, south of

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

. To the northwest lie the island of

Pantelleria Pantelleria (; Sicilian: ''Pantiddirìa'', Maltese: ''Pantellerija'' or ''Qawsra''), the ancient Cossyra or Cossura, is an Italian island and comune in the Strait of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea, southwest of Sicily and east of the Tunisi ...

and the Strait of Sicily. All three islands are part of the ''comune'' of

. Geographically, part of the archipelago (Lampedusa and Lampione) belongs to the

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

n continent; politically and administratively the islands fall within the Sicilian

province of Agrigento The Province of Agrigento ( it, Provincia di Agrigento; scn, Pruvincia di Girgenti; officially ''Libero consorzio comunale di Agrigento'') is a province in the autonomous island region of Sicily in Italy, situated on its south-western coast. Follo ...

and represent the southernmost part of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. Despite pockets of agriculture, the islands are unnaturally barren due to wanton

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated ...

and the disappearance of the native olive groves, juniper and carob plantations. Fifty years ago much of the landscape was farmland bounded by dry stone walls but today, the local economy is based on fishing –

sponge fishing Sponge diving is underwater diving to collect soft natural sponges for human use. Background Most sponges are too rough for general use due to their structural spicules composed of calcium carbonate or silica. But two genera, '' Hippospongia ...

and canning – supplemented by tourism in Lampedusa.

Environment

Birds

The Pelagie Islands have been recognised as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because they support breeding populations of

Scopoli's shearwater Scopoli's shearwater (''Calonectris diomedea'') is a seabird in the petrel family Procellariidae. It breeds on rocky islands and on steep coasts in the Mediterranean but outside the breeding season it forages in the Atlantic. It is brownish grey ...

s and

European shag The European shag or common shag (''Gulosus aristotelis'') is a species of cormorant. It is the only member of the monotypic genus ''Gulosus''. It breeds around the rocky coasts of western and southern Europe, southwest Asia and north Africa, mai ...

Marine protected area

Of particular ecological concern in the islands is the protection of the

loggerhead sea turtle The loggerhead sea turtle (''Caretta caretta'') is a species of oceanic turtle distributed throughout the world. It is a marine reptile, belonging to the family Cheloniidae. The average loggerhead measures around in carapace length when fully ...

(''Caretta caretta'') which is endangered throughout the Mediterranean as a result of its nesting sites being taken over by tourism. In Italy the beaches of on Linosa and on Lampedusa are two of the last remaining sites where the turtle regularly lays its eggs, the others (larger) being in southern Calabria (close to Reggio Calabria). The

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

, covering all three islands, was instituted in 2002.

References

Archipelagoes of Italy Important Bird Areas of Italy Important Bird Areas of Mediterranean islands {{Sicily-geo-stub

Environment

Birds

Marine protected area

See also

References