Sicily - Атлас этнических региональных автономий - Сеть по исследованию идентичности

Description of the autonomy

Sicily is one of the five regions with a special status in the Italian Republic and one of the two located on the islands (the other being Sardinia). Its territory includes the island of the same name, the largest in the Mediterranean, separated from the continental part of the country by the narrow Messina strait, and some small islands and archipelagos. Sicily is the most extensive province in Italy and one of the largest by population (more than 5 million people, 8.4% of the total population of the country).

Sicily traditionally belongs to the cultural-geographical macroregion of Southern Italy (Italy - Mezzogiorno), together with such regions as Campania, Calabria, and others, due to the significant similarity in historical development and socio-cultural characteristics that distinguish the region from Northern Italy. The most notable difference is a much lower level of economic development. By GRP per capita, Sicily is close to the least wealthy South Italian regions and inferior to all Italian entities with a special status. Compared to the most developed province of Bolzano (South Tyrol) it is 2.41 times less affluent as measured by GRP per capita (2015 Eurostat data).

Sicily became a part of Italian state in the course of the struggle for the unification of Italy in 1860. It received a special autonomous status in 1946 by the royal decree instituting the Statute for the region. The Constitution of the Italian Republic and the special constitutional law of 1948 confirmed the autonomy of Sicily. This status was linked to a complex of cultural, historical and geographic conditions, and particularly political factors, including the presence of notable separatist sentiments in the form of the Movement for the Independence of Sicily. The volume of preferences listed in the Statute of Autonomy is the most significant among all Italian autonomies, but some of them have not been implemented for 70 years.

It is disputable if the ethnic label can be applied to the Sicilian autonomy and there is no convention regarding the degree of Sicilians' "ethnicity". Sicilian language (officially it is considered a dialect of the Italian) is widespread. Also represented are the Gallo-Italian dialects of northern Italy and the Arberes dialect of the Albanian language. Standard Italian within the family circle is used by 26% of the population (National Institute of Statistics of Italy data). In the last electoral cycles, autonomist parties, which programs are based on the promotion of regional identity, received 15-20% of the votes.

Autonomy's characteristics

Year of the creation of the autonomy:

Geographic

Where is the autonomy situated:
Autonomy area: km²
Share of the autonomy in the area of the country: %
Autonomy population:the latest census thousands of people
Share of the autonomy in the population of the country: %

Country's characteristics

Level of economic development of the country:GDP per capita in 2015 in current price in $ in $
Political regime in the country:It is based on the Freedom House Index, 2015. All countries of the world are located on a scale from 1 (most free) to 7 (least free). Countries whose ratings fall between 1.0 and 2.5 are “Free”, between 3.0 and 5.0 are "Partly Free," and those between 5.5 and 7.0 are "Not Free."

Economic

Share of the autonomy in the economy of the country:GRP of the autonomy divided to GDP of the country (%) %
Level of economic development of the autonomy:relative to the country (%): GRP per capita of the autonomy divided to GDP per capita of the country %

Ethnic

Share of the dominant in the country ethnic group in the population of the autonomy:in %: population size of the dominant in the country ethnic group divided to overal population size of the autonomy (the latest census; expert estimations) %
Share of the titular ethnic group in the population of the autonomy:in %: population size of the titular ethnic group of the autonomy divided to overal population size of the autonomy (the latest census; expert estimations) %
Ethnic peculiarity:It indicates a key characteristic of autonomy's ethnic identity - language or religion or both
Diversity of ethnic composition:The presence of other (in addition to the titular group in the autonomy and the dominant group in the country) significant ethnic groups in the population of the autonomy

Political

Degree of self-rule of the autonomy:It is based on the Regional Authority Index project that aims at measuring the powers of all the regions in 81 countries. Here the index "tier_selfrule" (2010) is used. It summarizes five dimensions of self-rule: institutional depth; policy scope; fiscal autonomy; borrowing autonomy; and the extent to which a region has an independent legislature and executive. The index takes value from 0 to 18
Degree of shared-rule of the autonomy:It is based on the Regional Authority Index project that aims at measuring the powers of all the regions in 81 countries. Here the index "tier_sharedrule" (2010) is used. It summarizes five dimensions of shared-rule: participation of a region in national law-making; intergovernmental meetings; the distribution of national tax revenues; borrowing; and constitutional change. The index takes value from 0 to 12
The presence of the "kin-state":"Kin-state" is a state whose main population shares the ethnic characteristics of the titular ethnic group of the autonomy
Linguistic preferences:It indicates how the language of the titular ethnic group of the autonomy is learned in secondary schools in the autonomy
Ethnic conflicts:It indicates whether the serious conflicts between the autonomy and the central government as well as between ethnic groups within the authority take place in 2001-2015. The level of conflict is determined on the basis of the annual reports of Conflict Barometer