Home> Archive> 2017> Volume 7 Number 4 (April. 2017)
IJSSH 2017 Vol.7(4): 200-205 ISSN: 2010-3646
doi: 10.18178/ijssh.2017.V7.820

Historical Geography of Sicily Island between X - XIVth Centuries

Abdullah Balciogullari

Abstract—In the period when the Mediterranean was significant in terms of trade routes, in respect to the location of the Island of Sicily, it was much more important also for these routes. After conquest of North Africa by the Muslim Arabs, they conquered also the Island of Sicily which was at the very close distance to the North Africa. They made progress in respect to the cultural, scientific, architectural and economical aspects. The Island of Sicily remained under the rule of Arab for about 250 years. Both in the Arab Sicily reign and in the reign of Norman Sicily thereafter, a lot of Arab Geographers and travelers visited the Island. In this study we have tried to investigate and examine the Geography of Sicily available about 600-1000 years ago. When masterpieces in Arabic are examined, in that era Sicily was the agricultural and trade center, possessing rich underground resources, located at the crossroads of major trade routes in the Mediterranean. As it is realized from handwritten manuscripts the majority of the population in that era was North African or Muslim Arab. However, people in different religions and cultures were living together.

Index Terms—Sicily, historical geography, Arab travelers, geography.

Abdullah Balciogullari is with the Cukurova University, Turkey (e-mail: abalci@cu.edu.tr).

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Cite: Abdullah Balciogullari, "Historical Geography of Sicily Island between X - XIVth Centuries," International Journal of Social Science and Humanity vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 200-205, 2017.

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