Pelagian Islands

The Pelagian Islands or Pelagie Islands are an archipelago of three small islands—Lampedusa, Lampione, and Linosa—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. All three islands are part of the comune of Lampedusa e Linosa, in the Sicilian province of Agrigento. The Pelagian Islands are the southernmost part of Italy. Geologically, Lampedusa and Lampione are on the African continental shelf. Linosa is of volcanic origin. Despite pockets of agriculture, the islands are barren due to extensive deforestation 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 sponge fishing and canning, supplemented by tourism in Lampedusa. The name of the archipelago ultimately comes from the Greek word πέλαγος (pélagos) meaning 'open sea'.

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