Insular Italy
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Insular Italy
| |
|---|---|
 | |
| Country |  Italy |
| Regions |  Sardinia
 Sicily |
| Area | |
• Total | 49,932.41 km2 (19,279.01 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• Total | 6,329,684 |
| • Density | 126.7650/km2 (328.3199/sq mi) |
Insular Italy (Italian: Italia insulare or just isole, lit. 'Islands') is one of the five official statistical regions of Italy used by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), a first level NUTS region and a European Parliament constituency. Insular Italy encompasses two of the country's 20 regions:
Regions
Insular Italy occupies one sixth of the national territory in surface area. Territorially, both Sicily and Sardinia include several minor islands and archipelagoes that are administratively dependent on the mother islands.
Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean (25,708 km2) and one of the largest of Europe, while Sardinia is only slightly less extensive (24,090 km2). The lowlands are generally limited in the geographic region and generally appear as narrow coastal belts. The only exceptions are the Campidano and Nurra, in Sardinia, and the Plain of Catania, in Sicily, which extend 1200 km2 and 430 km,2 respectively. The rest of the area is prevalently hilly, with hills occupying 70% of the territory.
Sicily is home to Mount Etna, Italy's highest non-Alpine peak and Europe's largest active volcano. Sardinia is home to the Gennargentu mountain range.
| Region | Capital | Population | Area
(km²)[1] |
Density
(inh/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sardinia |
Cagliari | 1,554,490 | 24,100.02 | 64.5 |
| Sicily |
Palermo | 4,775,194 | 25,832.39 | 184.9 |
Demographics
As of 2026, the population is 6,329,684, of which 49% are male, and 51% are female. Minors make up 14.8% of the population, and seniors make up 25.2%.[6][7]
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1861 | 3,017,528 | — |
| 1871 | 3,226,578 | +6.9% |
| 1881 | 3,613,604 | +12.0% |
| 1901 | 4,363,917 | +20.8% |
| 1911 | 4,679,936 | +7.2% |
| 1921 | 5,108,647 | +9.2% |
| 1931 | 4,889,727 | −4.3% |
| 1936 | 5,034,284 | +3.0% |
| 1951 | 5,762,772 | +14.5% |
| 1961 | 6,140,363 | +6.6% |
| 1971 | 6,154,515 | +0.2% |
| 1981 | 6,501,053 | +5.6% |
| 1991 | 6,614,634 | +1.7% |
| 2001 | 6,600,871 | −0.2% |
| 2011 | 6,642,266 | +0.6% |
| 2021 | 6,420,742 | −3.3% |
| Source: ISTAT[8][9] | ||
The population is just over one-tenth of the Italian population and by far the lowest of all of the country's macro-regions. While it is the smallest macro-region in area, the region also has the lowest population density. This is because of the scarce population of Sardinia, one of the least densely populated parts of Italy at only around one-third of Italy's average population density. The islands are of roughly the same size but three quarters of the region's population lives in Sicily.
Largest cities
Below is the list of the most populous cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants:
| City | Region | Population |
|---|---|---|
| Palermo | Sicily |
626,273 |
| Catania | Sicily |
296,984 |
| Messina | Sicily |
216,458 |
| Cagliari | Sardinia |
145,981 |
| Sassari | Sardinia |
120,231 |
| Syracuse | Sicily |
115,515 |
| Marsala | Sicily |
79,521 |
| Ragusa | Sicily |
74,122 |
| Gela | Sicily |
70,109 |
| Quartu Sant'Elena | Sardinia |
67,869 |
| Vittoria | Sicily |
66,329 |
| Olbia | Sardinia |
61,739 |
| Caltanissetta | Sicily |
57,922 |
| Agrigento | Sicily |
55,118 |
| Trapani | Sicily |
54,636 |
| Modica | Sicily |
53,622 |
| Bagheria | Sicily |
53,152 |
| Acireale | Sicily |
50,528 |
| Mazara del Vallo | Sicily |
50,070 |
Immigration
As of 2025, of the known countries of birth of 6,258,527 residents, the most numerous are: Italy (5,960,512 – 95.2%), Romania (52,168 – 0.8%), Germany (42,668 – 0.7%).[12][13]
