Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, has an area of 9,925 square feet and an extremely dense population of five million people. Located off the toe of Italy's boot, Sicily is considered an autonomous region of the country. The volcano Etna, the highest and also one of the most active volcanoes in the world, is situated on the island, but that has not kept people from settling there, making good use of its rich resources and growing crops on the fertile Sicilian slopes.

Sicily has been known for 2,000 years as a grain-producing region. Oranges, olives and wine are also produced on the island. The wine, Marsala, is a sweet one and often served with desserts. There is a Sicilian, folk art tradition of telling traditional tales in puppet theaters using hand-made, wooden marionettes. The capital of puppet-making, Acireale, is a town located at the foot of Mount Etna.

Palermo is the major city of Sicily and is also a major center of Italian opera. The city's Teatro Massimo, which seats 1,400 people, is the largest opera house in Italy and the third largest in Europe.

Sardinia is the second largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and lies south of Corsica, between Italy, Spain and Tunisia. The climate is mainly Mediterranean, with a warm spring and fall, hot summer, and mild winter.

The most spoken languages in Sardinia are Italian and Sardinian, the second still widely spoken in most rural parts. Sardinian stems from a long history of oral tradition and is used to sing folk songs and recite poetry. There is also a tradition of Cantos a Chiterra (guitar songs) that began in town squares when artists would compete against one another. It lives on in new forms and young people are actively involved in creating their own music and dancing.

On Sardinia you can find thousands of rare plant species and uncommon animals such as the Mediterranean monk seal and the boar. Several gold and silver mines operate on the island and there is an increasing income coming from Sardinian wines, but Sardinian economy today is focused mostly on tourism. The island is famous for its beaches but is also rich in archeological ruins that are scattered all over the country. These are stone towers and cones that were built about 3,500 years ago by a people called Nuraghi about whom very little is known