The
MediterraneanThe Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by the Levant. The sea is technically a part of the Atlantic Ocean, although it...
island of
Lampedusa belongs to
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
and is the largest of the
Pelagie IslandsThe Pelagie Islands , from the Greek pelaghi meaning high sea, are the three small islands of Lampedusa, Linosa, and Lampione, located in the Mediterranean Sea between Malta and Tunisia, south of Sicily. To the northwest lie the island of Pantelleria and the Strait of Sicily...
, situated 205 km from
SicilySicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous region of Italy. Several much smaller islands surrounding it are considered to be part of Sicily....
and 113 km from
TunisiaTunisia , officially the Tunisian Republic , is a country located in North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and Libya to the southeast. Tunisia is located southwest of the island of Sicily and south of Sardinia. Its size is almost 165,000 km² with an estimated population of just...
. Its population subsists on
fishingFishing is the activity of catching fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
,
agricultureAgriculture is the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of human civilization, with the husbandry of domesticated animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more densely populated and...
and
tourismTourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for more than twenty-four hours and not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other...
. It is known primarily for its role as an entry point to Europe for impoverished illegal immigrants from Africa.
Lampedusa is the largest part of the comune of
Lampedusa e LinosaLampedusa e Linosa is a comune in the Province of Agrigento in the Italian region Sicily, located about 300 km south of Palermo, 220 km southwest of Agrigento, and about 260 km southeast of Tunis...
which also includes the smaller islands of
LinosaLinosa is one of the Pelagie Islands in the Sicily Channel of the Mediterranean Sea. It is a frazione of the comune of Lampedusa e Linosa, part of the province of Agrigento in Sicily.-Geography:...
and
LampioneLampione 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 Linosa...
with the latter just hosting an automatic lighthouse.
Geography
Politically and administratively Lampedusa is part of
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
, but geologically it belongs to
AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
since the sea between the two is no deeper than 120 metres. Lampedusa is an arid island, with no sources of water other than irregular rainfall. The fauna and flora of Lampedusa are similar to those of North Africa.
The
Isola dei Conigli (literally ‘Island of Rabbits’), which is close to the south coast of Lampedusa, is one of the last remaining egg-laying sites in Italy for the
Loggerhead Sea TurtleThe Loggerhead Sea Turtle is a sea turtle and the only member of the genus Caretta. The genus name "Caretta" is a latinization of the French "caret", meaning turtle, tortoise, or sea turtle. A loggerhead sea turtle reportedly grows up to and long. Their shell color is a reddish brown color, and...
, which is endangered throughout the Mediterranean. The beach and the neighbouring island are part of a
nature reserveA nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...
: here the famous singer-songwriter
Domenico ModugnoDomenico Modugno was a twice Grammy Award-winning Italian singer, songwriter, actor, and later in life, a member of the Italian Parliament.-Biography:Modugno was born in Polignano a Mare, province of Bari ....
spent his vacations, and died here in 1994. Next to Parise Cape is a small beach accessible only by sea, through a low
grottoA grotto is any type of natural or artificial cave that is associated with modern, historic or prehistoric use by humans. When it is not an artificial garden feature, a grotto is often a small cave near water and often flooded or liable to flood at high tide...
.
Other species living along the island's coast include mantas and
dolphinDolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in seventeen genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly...
s.
Lampedusa is also known as being the gateway from Europe to Africa.
History
Historically, Lampedusa was a landing place and a maritime base for the ancient
PhoeniciaPhoenicia what is now modern day Lebanon, was an ancient civilization centered in the north of ancient Canaan, with its heartland along the coastal regions of modern day Lebanon, extending to parts of Israel, Syria and Palestine...
ns,
GreekAncient Greece is the civilisation belonging to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth. It is generally considered to be the seminal culture which provided the...
s, Romans and
ArabArab people or Arabs are an ethnic group whose members identify along linguistic, cultural or genealogical grounds...
s. The Romans established a plant for the production of the prized fish sauce known as
garumGarum, similar to liquamen, was a type of fermented fish sauce condiment that was an essential flavour in Ancient Roman cooking, the supreme condiment....
. As a result of pirate attacks by the Arabs, the island became uninhabited.
The first prince of Lampedusa and Linosa was Giulio Tomasi, ancestor of the famous writer
Giuseppe Tomasi di LampedusaGiuseppe Tomasi, 11th Prince of Lampedusa , was a Sicilian writer. He is most famous for his only novel, Il Gattopardo which is set in Sicily during the Risorgimento...
, who received the title from
Charles II of SpainCharles II , was the last Habsburg King of Spain and the ruler of nearly all of Italy , the Spanish territories in the Southern Low Countries, and Spain's overseas Empire, stretching from Mexico to the Philippines...
in 1630. A century later the Tomasi family began a program of resettlement. In the 1840s the Tomasi family sold the island to the Kingdom of Naples.
In 1860 the island became part of the new Kingdom of Italy, but the new government limited its activities there to building a
penal colonyA penal colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general populace by locating them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory...
.
During
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the island was captured by British forces in
Operation CorkscrewDuring World War II, Operation Corkscrew was the Allied invasion of the Italian island of Pantelleria on 10 June, 1943. There had been an early plan to occupy the island in late 1940 , but this was aborted when the Luftwaffe strengthened the Axis air threat in the region.)The Allied focus returned...
, as an immediate precursor to the
Allied invasion of SicilyThe Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, was a major World War II campaign, in which the Allies took Sicily from the Axis . It was a large scale amphibious and airborne operation, followed by six weeks of land combat. It launched the Italian Campaign.Husky began on the night of...
.
The first telephone connection with Sicily was installed only in the 1960s. In the same decade an electric power station was built. The western part of the island became a U.S. Coast Guard
LORAN-C transmitterLORAN-C transmitter Lampedusa is the X-Ray secondary station of the Mediterranean Sea LORAN-C Chain .It uses a transmission power of 325 kW....
in 1972.
In 1979,
Lt. Kay Hartzell, United States Coast GuardLt. Kay Hartzell, USCG, took command of the Coast Guard LORAN/Omega station at the Island of Lampedusa, Italy, in 1979, becoming the first female commanding officer of an isolated U.S. military base....
took command of the Coast Guard base, becoming the first female commanding officer of an isolated
U.S. military base.
The Mediterranean during the 1980s was the scene of numerous terrorist attacks. 1985-1986 saw an increase in tensions. On April 15, 1986,
LibyaLibya , officially the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya , is a country located in North Africa...
fired two
ScudScud is a series of tactical ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War and exported widely to other countries. The term comes from the NATO reporting name SS-1 Scud which was attached to the missile by Western intelligence agencies...
s at the
U.S. Coast GuardLORAN-C transmitter Lampedusa is the X-Ray secondary station of the Mediterranean Sea LORAN-C Chain .It uses a transmission power of 325 kW....
navigation station on the Italian island, in retaliation for the
American bombingThe United States bombing of Libya comprised the joint United States Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps air-strikes against Libya on April 15, 1986.-Origins:...
of
TripoliTripoli is the largest and capital city of Libya.Tripoli has a population of 1.69 million...
and
BenghaziBenghazi or Bengasi is the second largest city in Libya and the main city of the Cyrenaica region . It is also a district of Libya of the wider city area...
. However, the missiles passed over the island, landing in the sea, and caused no damage.
At the time of the missile attack, the LORAN station was under the command of Lt. Ernest DelBueno. DelBueno and his Coast Guard crew had spent the previous six months increasing their security preparedness including arming the crew and hardening the station's defenses. Expecting a traditional terrorist attack the American forces were surprised by a missile attack. American military commanders in Europe decided to temporarily evacuate non-essential crew to Sicily leaving behind a small security team under DelBueno's command. However the commander of the U.S. Navy transport helicopter from Helicopter Combat Support Squadron Four (
HC-4Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 4 was a United States Navy helicopter squadron based at Naval Air Station Norfolk, Virginia. Nicknamed the "Black Stallions", they flew the MH-53E Sea Dragon.- History :...
) received orders from his chain of command to evacuate the entire American crew including DelBueno and his security team. DelBueno and his security crew returned the following morning, The confusion caused a rift with many of the island's residents including some of the Italian employees of the base. Several of the civilian employees including interpreter, Marco Bartolo, returned to work and performed their jobs in an exceptional manner. As a result of the missile attack, the U.S. Coast Guard improved communications equipment, built fences and developed procedures for missile attacks and threats.
On
January 4, 1989The second Gulf of Sidra incident, January 4, 1989, occurred when two US F-14 Tomcats shot down two Libyan MiG-23 Flogger Es that appeared to be attempting to engage them, as had happened previously in the first Gulf of Sidra incident .- Background :...
, U.S. Navy aircraft from the carrier USS
John F. Kennedy shot down two
LibyaLibya , officially the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya , is a country located in North Africa...
n fighters approximately 200 kilometers from the island. At the time, a U.S. Navy logistics aircraft from HC-4 was on the ground at the NATO base, preparing for takeoff. The base commander, Lt. Kenneth Armstrong, received notice from U.S. Sixth Fleet Intelligence at
La MaddalenaLa Maddalena is a town and comune located on the island with the same name, in northern Sardinia, part of the province of Olbia-Tempio.-The town:...
that the Libyan fighters had been shot down, and immediately grounded the unarmed logistics flight, which was scheduled to move on to
Tel AvivTel Aviv-Yafo , usually called Tel Aviv, is the second largest city in Israel, with an estimated population of 391,300. The city is situated on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline, with a land area of...
. Sixth Fleet Intel also informed Armstrong that Libyan dictator
Muammar al-GaddafiMuammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi
1 has been the de facto leader of Libya since a coup in 1969....
had made direct reprisal threats against the American commanders at Sigonella, Sicily, and at Lampedusa.
The aircraft remained on the ground overnight, and an Italian media frenzy followed, putting Lampedusa and Armstrong in the spotlight. Armstrong responded by hosting a media tour of the base, conspicuously wearing his body armor and pointing out defensive forces on the base. The move quieted speculation that the Americans were once again preparing to leave.
The NATO base was decommissioned in 1994 and transferred to Italian military control. It can still be seen clearly on
Google EarthGoogle Earth is an information program that was originally called EarthViewer 3D, and was created by Keyhole, Inc, a company acquired by Google in 2004. It maps the Earth by the superimposition of images obtained from satellite imagery, aerial photography and GIS 3D globe...
(keyword: Lampedusa), at the west end of the island, with swimming pool and outbuildings visible.
Illegal immigration issue
Lampedusa has made international news as a prime transit site for illegal immigrants hoping to enter
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
from Africa, the
Middle EastThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, southeastern Europe, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East...
and
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
. A secret agreement between the
LibyaLibya , officially the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya , is a country located in North Africa...
n and Italian governments in 2004 obliged Libya to take in returned refugees and resulted in the
deportationDeportation means the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The expulsion of natives is also called banishment, exile, or penal transportation. Deportation is an ancient practice: Khosrau I, Sassanid King of Persia, deported 292,000 citizens, slaves, and conquered people...
of many people from Lampedusa to Libya in 2004 and 2005. The
European ParliamentThe European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union , it forms the bicameral legislative branch of the Union's institutions and has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
did not endorse this.
In 2006 it was reported that illegal immigrants from Africa still commonly
pay smugglersHuman trafficking is the practice of people being tricked, lured or otherwise removed from their home or country, and then compelled to work with no or low payment or on terms which are highly exploitative. The practice is considered to be trade or commerce in people, which has many features of...
in
LibyaLibya , officially the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya , is a country located in North Africa...
for a transit to Lampedusa. From there they are transferred by the Italian government to detention camps in mainland Italy and eventually released; their deportation orders are not enforced. The illegal immigration into Italy's territory is a major issue in recent times, with parties who campaign with the issue as part of their promises.
The conditions at a temporary reception center for immigrants on the island came under criticism by the UNHCR for overcrowding in early 2009. The center, originally built with a maximum capacity of 850 people, was reported to be housing nearly 2,000 '
boat peopleBoat people is a term that usually refers to illegal immigrants or asylum seekers who emigrate en masse in boats that are sometimes old and crudely made, rendering them unseaworthy and unsafe...
' with significant numbers of them sleeping outdoors under plastic sheeting. On 19 February 2009, a number of Tunisian men broke a hunger strike that sparked a riot in which a large portion of the holding facility was destroyed by fire.
The holding centre was in the process of being turned into a prison.
Transportation
The island of Lampedusa is connected to Sicily by a ferry service with the seaport of
Porto EmpedoclePorto Empedocle is a town and comune in Italy on the coast of the Strait of Sicily, administratively part of the province of Agrigento. It is the namesake of Empedocles , a Greek pre-Socratic philosopher and a citizen of the city of Agrigentum , in his day a Greek colony in Sicily...
, near
AgrigentoAgrigento , is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy, and capital of the province of Agrigento. It is renowned as the site of the ancient Greek city of Akragas , one of the leading cities of Magna Graecia during the golden age of...
. Lampedusa also has a small
national airportLampedusa Airport is an airport in Lampedusa, Italy . It is located a few hundred meters away from the city centre, and reaches its traffic peaks in the summer period, as several airlines run flights to the island for tourism-related reasons....
which carries out service mainly during the summer period.
Popular entertainment
The
movieFilm encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects....
RespiroRespiro is a 2002 Italian film written and directed by Emanuele Crialese and released in English-language markets in 2003. The movie stars Valeria Golino, Vincenzo Amato, and Francesco Casisa...
(2002), written and directed by
Emanuele CrialeseEmanuele Crialese is an Italian film screenwriter and director. He studied filmmaking in New York City.He is a native of Rome.- Filmography :* Heartless * Once We Were Strangers * Respiro...
and starring
Valeria GolinoValeria Golino is an Italian-Greek film and television actress. She is perhaps best known to U.S. audiences for the 1988 Academy Award-winning film Rain Man and the 1988 comedy Big Top Pee-wee, and has won the David di Donatello, Silver Ribbon, and Coppa Volpi awards.-Early life:Golino was born in...
, was filmed entirely on Lampedusa.
See also
- Linosa
Linosa is one of the Pelagie Islands in the Sicily Channel of the Mediterranean Sea. It is a frazione of the comune of Lampedusa e Linosa, part of the province of Agrigento in Sicily.-Geography:...
- Pantelleria
Pantelleria , the ancient Cossyra, is an Italian island in the Strait of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea, 100 km southwest of Sicily and just 70 km east of the Tunisian coast...
- Pelagie Islands
The Pelagie Islands , from the Greek pelaghi meaning high sea, are the three small islands of Lampedusa, Linosa, and Lampione, located in the Mediterranean Sea between Malta and Tunisia, south of Sicily. To the northwest lie the island of Pantelleria and the Strait of Sicily...
- LORAN-C transmitter Lampedusa
LORAN-C transmitter Lampedusa is the X-Ray secondary station of the Mediterranean Sea LORAN-C Chain .It uses a transmission power of 325 kW....
- Lampedusa Airport
Lampedusa Airport is an airport in Lampedusa, Italy . It is located a few hundred meters away from the city centre, and reaches its traffic peaks in the summer period, as several airlines run flights to the island for tourism-related reasons....
- Quadro Group
The Quadro Group is a group of four Member States of the European Union established in November 2008 at the ministerial level at the initiative of Malta. Spain has also expressed interest to join the group....
External links