<p>Haunted by its reputation as poor, rural, and beholden to the Mafia, Sicily insists that change has arrived. True, one Sicilian in five is out of work. And true, the island remains Italy's most agricultural region, where <i>pastori</i> still graze their flocks. But the torch of law has singed the Mafia's empire … Sicily looks toward the resolution of a bitter drama generations in the making.</p> <p>—From "Italy Apart—Sicily," August 1995, <i>National Geographic</i> magazine</p>

Sicily Agriculture

Haunted by its reputation as poor, rural, and beholden to the Mafia, Sicily insists that change has arrived. True, one Sicilian in five is out of work. And true, the island remains Italy's most agricultural region, where pastori still graze their flocks. But the torch of law has singed the Mafia's empire … Sicily looks toward the resolution of a bitter drama generations in the making.

—From "Italy Apart—Sicily," August 1995, National Geographic magazine

Photograph by William Albert Allard

Sicily, Italy

See photos of Sicily, Italy, in this photo gallery from National Geographic.

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