Lampedusa Island : 20 People Died
At least 20 people have died after a migrant boat capsized off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa recently.
- Lampedusa Island is the largest (21 sq.km.) of the Isole Pelagie (Pelagie Islands), an island group that includes the Linosa and Lampione islets.
- Administratively Lampedusa is part of the autonomous region of Sicily in Italy.
- It is geographically part of the African continent.
- It is located in the Mediterranean Sea between Malta and Tunisia, 105 miles (170 km) southwest of Licata, Sicily.
- It is a volcanic island.
- It is also known as the Pearl of the Mediterranean because of the lava: it is the emerging part of a volcano whose last eruption events date back about 9000 years ago, when the last major seismic events were dated at the end of 1800.
- Lampedusa’s greatest length is about 11 km; its greatest width is about 3 km. It rises to 133 meters above sea level.
- It is a rocky island with limited natural freshwater sources.
- The climate is typically Mediterranean, with hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters.
