It belongs to Italy, under the Sicily Region, Agrigento Province under Mayor Sebastiano Bruno Siracusa (since May 28, 2005).
Its highest point is fifty two feet (52 ft) in elevation with an area of ten (10) square miles, population of six thousand plus (6,000 + ) with Madonna di Porto Salvo as patron.
The “Island of Rabbits” which is close to the southcoast of Lampedusa, is one of the last remaining egg-laying sites in Italy for the Loggerhead Sea Turtles. The rest house of Domenico Modugno (composer and singer of “Volare”) is situated here.
Lampedusa is one of the southwest points in all of Europe, after Cyprus and Crete. It is a part of the group of islands Linosa and Lampione with the former being inhabited and the latter uninhabited.
It took us two (2) hours to reach it by jet from Rome. We were met by tourist guides Elisa and Aldo.
When we were cruising Elisa showed to us the resort made by her mother. The architectural design similar to the traditional house called Damuses situated on top of the cliffs was extremely beautiful from our perspective while we were in the boat.
“Damuses “ are houses made up of rocks piled over one another without the aid of cement similar to the riprap we are seeing in Baguio.
Lampedusa is the place where Tunisians try to enter Europe illegally. We saw the site where the numerous confiscated boats used by the illegal entrants were deposited.
Unfortunately, the recent Lonely Planet failed to include it as a part of Italy. The Travelers Century Club however, included it as part of the listing to obtain credits.