Sardinia

Sardinia(/sɑːrˈdɪniə/sar-DIN-ee-ə;Italian:Sardegna[sarˈdeɲɲa];Sardinian:Sardigna[saɾˈdiɲːa])is thesecond-largestisland in theMediterranean Sea, afterSicily, and one of thetwenty regionsofItaly. It is located west of theItalian Peninsula, north ofTunisiaand 16.45 kmsouth of the French island ofCorsica.
It is one of the five Italian regions with some degree ofdomestic autonomybeing granted by aspecial statute.Its official name,Autonomous Region of Sardinia, is bilingual inItalianandSardinian:Regione Autonoma della Sardegna/Regione Autònoma de Sardigna.It is divided into fourprovincesand ametropolitan city. The capital of the region of Sardinia — and its largest city — isCagliari.
Sardinia's indigenous language andAlghereseCatalanare referred to by both the regional and national law as two of Italy's twelve officially recognizedlinguistic minorities,albeitgravely endangered, while the regional law provides some measures to recognize and protect the aforementioned as well as the island's other minority languages (theCorsican-influencedSassareseandGallurese, and finallyTabarchino Ligurian).
Owing to the variety of Sardinia'secosystems, which include mountains,woods, plains, stretches of largely uninhabited territory, streams, rocky coasts, and long sandy beaches,Sardinia has been metaphorically described as a micro-continent.In the modern era, many travelers and writers have extolled the beauty of its long-untouched landscapes, which retain vestiges of theNuragic civilization.
The name Sardinia has pre-Latin roots. It comes from the pre-Romanethnonym*s(a)rd-, laterromanisedassardus(femininesarda). It makes its first appearance on theNora Stone, where the wordŠRDN, or *Šardana, testifies to the name's existence when thePhoenicianmerchants first arrived.
According toTimaeus, one ofPlato's dialogues, Sardinia (referred to by mostancient Greekauthors asSardṓ,Σαρδώ) andits peopleas well might have been named after a legendary woman called Sardṓ (Σαρδώ), born inSardis(Σάρδεις), capital of the ancient Kingdom ofLydia.There has also been speculation that identifies the ancientNuragicSards with theSherden, one of theSea Peoples.It is suggested that the name had a religious connotation from its use also as the adjective for the ancient Sardinian mythological hero-godSardus Pater("Sardinian Father"; a common explanation that the term means "Father of the Sardinians" is incorrect, as that would be "Sardorum Pater"), as well as being the stem of the adjective "sardonic".
Inclassical antiquity, Sardinia was called a number of names besidesSardṓ(Σαρδώ) orSardinia, likeIchnusa(the Latinised form of the GreekἸχνοῦσσα),Sandaliotis(Σανδαλιῶτις) andArgyrophleps(Αργυρόφλεψ).
Sardinia is the second-largest island in theMediterranean Sea(afterSicilyand beforeCyprus), with an area of 24,100 km(9,305 sq mi). It is situated between 38° 51' and 41° 18' latitude north (respectively Isola del Toro and Isola La Presa) and 8° 8' and 9° 50' east longitude (respectively Capo dell'Argentieraand Capo Comino). To the west of Sardinia is theSea of Sardinia, a unit of the Mediterranean Sea; to Sardinia's east is theTyrrhenian Sea, which is also an element of the Mediterranean Sea.
The nearest land masses are (clockwise from north) the island ofCorsica, theItalian Peninsula,Sicily,Tunisia, theBalearic Islands, andProvence.  TheTyrrhenian Seaportion of theMediterranean Seais directly to the east of Sardinia between the Sardinian east coast and the west coast of the Italian mainland peninsula.  TheStrait of Bonifaciois directly north of Sardinia and separates Sardinia from the French island ofCorsica.
The coast of Sardinia is 1,849 km (1,149 mi) long. It is generally high and rocky, with long, relatively straight stretches, outstanding headlands, wide, deep bays,rias, and inlets with various smaller islands.
The island has an ancient geoformation and, unlike Sicily and mainland Italy, is not earthquake-prone. Its rocks date in fact from thePalaeozoic Era. TheCambrian-Lower Ordoviciansuccession of Sardinia reaches 1500–3000 m in thickness.Due to long erosion processes, the island's highlands, formed of granite,schist,trachyte,basalt(calledjarasorgollei),sandstoneanddolomitelimestone (calledtonnerior 'heels'), average at between 300 and 1,000 m (984 and 3,281 ft). The highest peak isPunta La Marmora(Perdas Carpìasin Sardinian language) (1,834 m (6,017 ft)), part of theGennargentuRanges in the centre of the island. Other mountain chains areMonte Limbara(1,362 m (4,469 ft)) in the northeast, theChain of Marghine and Goceano(1,259 m (4,131 ft)) running crosswise for 40 km (25 mi) towards the north, theMonte Albo(1,057 m (3,468 ft)), the Sette Fratelli Range in the southeast, and theSulcis Mountainsand theMonte Linas(1,236 m (4,055 ft)). The island's ranges and plateaux are separated by wide alluvial valleys and flatlands, the main ones being theCampidanoin the southwest betweenOristanoandCagliariand theNurrain the northwest.
Sardinia has few major rivers, the largest being theTirso, 151 km (94 mi) long, which flows into theSea of Sardinia, theCoghinas(115 km (71 mi)) and theFlumendosa(127 km (79 mi)). There are 54artificial lakesand dams that supply water and electricity. The main ones areLake OmodeoandLake Coghinas. The only natural freshwater lake isLago di Baratz. A number of large, shallow, salt-water lagoons and pools are located along the coast.
The climate of the island is variable from area to area, due to several factors including the extension inlatitudeand theelevation. It can be classified in two different macrobioclimates (Mediterranean pluviseasonal oceanic and Temperate oceanic), one macrobioclimatic variant (Submediterranean), and four classes of continentality (from weak semihyperoceanic to weak semicontinental), eight thermotypic horizons (from lower thermomediterranean to upper supratemperate), and seven ombrotypic horizons (from lower dry to lower hyperhumid), resulting in a combination of 43 different isobioclimates.
During the year there is a major concentration of rainfall in the winter and autumn, some heavy showers in the spring and snowfalls in the highlands. The average temperature is between 11 and 18 °C (52 and 64 °F), with mild winters and warm summers on the coasts (9 to 16 °C (48 to 61 °F) in January, 23 to 31 °C (73 to 88 °F) in July), and cold winters and cool summers on the mountains (−2 to 4 °C (28 to 39 °F) in January, 16 to 20 °C (61 to 68 °F) in July).
Rainfall has a Mediterranean distribution all over the island, with almost totally rainless summers and wet autumns, winters and springs. However, in summer, the rare rainfalls can be characterized by short but severethunderstorms, which can causeflash floods. The climate is also heavily influenced by the vicinity of theGulf of Genoa(barometric low) and the relative proximity of the Atlantic Ocean. Low pressures in autumn can generate the formation of the so-calledMedicanes, extratropical cyclones which affect the Mediterranean basin. In 2013, the island was hit by several cyclones, included theCyclone Cleopatra, which dumped 450 mm (18 in) of rainfall within an hour and a half.
Sardinia being relatively large and hilly, weather is not uniform; in particular the East is drier, but paradoxically it suffers the worst rainstorms: in autumn 2009, it rained more than 200 mm (7.9 in) in a single day in Siniscola, and 19 November 2013, locations in Sardinia were reported to have received more than 431 mm (17.0 in) within two hours. The western coast has a higher distribution of rainfalls even for modest elevations (for instance Iglesias, elevation 200 m (656 ft), average annual precipitation 815 mm (32.1 in)). The driest part of the island is the coast of Cagliari gulf, with less than 450 mm (17.7 in) per year, the minimum is at Capo Carbonara at the extreme south-east of the island 381 mm (15.0 in),and the wettest is the top of theGennargentumountain with almost 1,500 mm (59.1 in) per year. The average for the entire island is about 800 mm (31.5 in) per year, which is more than enough for the needs of the population and vegetation.TheMistralfrom the northwest is the dominant wind on and off throughout the year, though it is most prevalent in winter and spring. It can blow quite strongly, but it is usually dry and cool.
Sardinia has been inhabited by humans since the end of thePaleolithicera, around 20–10,000 years ago. The island's most notable civilization is the indigenousNuragic, which flourished from the 18th century BC to either 238 BC or the 2nd century AD in some parts of the island,and to the 6th century AD in that part of the island known asBarbagia.
After a period in which the island was ruled by a political and economic alliance between the Nuragic Sardinians and thePhoenicians, parts of it were conquered byCarthagein the late 6th century BC, and byRomein 238 BC. The Roman occupation lasted for 700 years.
Beginning in theEarly Middle Ages, the island was ruled by theVandalsand theByzantines. In practice, the island was disconnected from Byzantium's territorial influence, which allowed the Sardinians to provide themselves with a self-ruling political organization, the four kingdoms known asJudicates. TheItalian maritime republicsofPisaandGenoastruggled to impose political control over these indigenous kingdoms, but it was the IberianCrown of Aragonwhich, in 1324, succeeded in bringing the island under its control, consolidating it into theKingdom of Sardinia.
This Iberian kingdom endured until 1718, when it was ceded to theAlpineHouse of Savoy; the Savoyards wouldpolitically mergetheir insular possession with their domains on theItalian Mainlandwhich, during the period ofItalian unification, they would go on to expand to include the whole Italian peninsula; their territory was so renamed into theKingdom of Italyin 1861, and it was reconstituted as the present-dayItalian Republicin 1946.
Sardinia is one of the most geologically ancient bodies of land in Europe. The island was populated in various waves of immigration from prehistory until recent times.
Remains fromCorbeddu Cavein eastern Sardinia have been suggested by some authors to represent the earliest evidence of human presence on Sardinia, around 20,000 years ago, during theLast Glacial Maximum. However, other authors contend that there is no solid evidence for the occupation of the island until the earlyMesolithic, around 10,000 years ago.
TheNeolithicbegan on Sardinia during the6th millennium BCresulting from the migration ofEarly European Farmers, replacing the Mesolithic hunter-gatherer populations, with a material culture including the widespreadCardium potterystyle.In the mid-Neolithic period, theOzieri culture, probably ofAegean origin, flourished on the island spreading thehypogeumtombs known asdomus de Janas, while theArzachena cultureofGallurabuilt the firstmegaliths: circular tombs. In the early 3rd millennium BC, themetallurgyofcopperandsilverbegan to develop.
During the lateChalcolithicthe so-calledBeaker culture, coming from various parts ofContinental Europe, appeared in Sardinia. These new people predominantly settled on the west coast, where the majority of the sites attributed to them had been found.The Beaker culture was followed in the earlyBronze Ageby theBonnanaro culturewhich showed both reminiscences of the Beaker and influences by thePolada culture.
As time passed the different Sardinian populations appear to have become united in customs, yet remained politically divided into various small, tribal groupings, at times banding together against invading forces from the sea, and at others waging war against each other. Habitations consisted of round thatched stone huts.
From about 1500 BC onwards, villages were built around a kind of round tower-fortress callednuraghe(usually pluralized asnuraghesin English and asnuraghiin Italian). These towers were often reinforced and enlarged with battlements. Tribal boundaries were guarded by smaller lookout Nuraghes erected on strategic hills commanding a view of other territories.
Today, some 7,000 Nuraghes dot the Sardinian landscape. While initially these Nuraghes had a relatively simple structure, with time they became extremely complex and monumental (see for example theNuraghe Santu Antine,Su Nuraxi, orNuraghe Arrubiu). The scale, complexity and territorial spread of these buildings attest to the level of wealth accumulated by the Nuragic Sardinians, their advances in technology and the complexity of their society, which was able to coordinate large numbers of people with different roles for the purpose of building the monumental Nuraghes.
The Nuraghes are not the only Nuragic buildings that stand in place, as there are several sacred wells around Sardinia and other buildings with religious purposes such as theGiants' grave(monumental collective tombs) and collections of religious buildings that probably served as destinations for pilgrimage and mass religious rites (e.g.Su RomanzesunearBitti).
At the time, Sardinia was at the centre of several commercial routes and it was an important provider of raw materials such ascopperand lead, which were pivotal for the manufacture of the time. By controlling the extraction of these raw materials and by trading them with other countries, the ancient Sardinians were able to accumulate wealth and reach a level of sophistication that is not only reflected in the complexity of its surviving buildings, but also in its artworks (e.g. the votivebronzestatuettes found across Sardinia or the statues of Mont'e Prama).
According to some scholars, the Nuragic people(s) are identifiable with theSherden, a tribe of theSea Peoples.
The Nuragic civilization was linked with other contemporaneous megalithic civilization of the western Mediterranean, such as theTalaiotic cultureof theBalearic Islandsand theTorrean civilizationofSouthern Corsica. Evidence of trade with the other civilizations of the time is attested by several artefacts (e.g. pots), coming from as far asCyprus,Crete,Mainland Greece, Spain and Italy, that have been found in Nuragic sites, bearing witness to the scope of commercial relations between the Nuragic people and other peoples in Europe and beyond.
Around the 9th century BC thePhoeniciansbegan visiting Sardinia with increasing frequency, presumably initially needing safe overnight and all-weather anchorages along their trade routes from the coast of modern-day Lebanon as far afield as the African and European Atlantic coasts and beyond. The most common ports of call wereCaralis,Nora,Bithia,Sulci, andTharros.Claudian, a 4th-century Latin poet, in his poemDe bello Gildonico, stated that Caralis was founded by people fromTyre, probably in the same time of the foundation ofCarthage, in the 9th or 8th century BC.In the 6th century BC, after the conquest of western Sicily, theCarthaginiansplanned to annex Sardinia.A first invasion attempt led byMalchuswas foiled by the victorious Nuraghic resistance. However, from 510 BC, the southern and west-central part of the island were invaded a second time and came under Carthaginian rule.
In 238 BC, taking advantage of Carthage having to face a rebellion of her mercenaries (theMercenary War) after theFirst Punic War(264–241 BC), theRomansannexed Corsica and Sardinia from the Carthaginians. The two islands became the province ofCorsica and Sardinia. They were not given a provincial governor until 227 BC. The Romans faced many rebellions, and it took them many years to pacify both islands. The existing coastal cities were enlarged and embellished, and Romancoloniessuch asTurris LybissonisandFeroniawere founded. These were populated by Roman immigrants. The Roman military occupation brought the Nuragic civilization to an end, except for the mountainous interior of the island, which the Romans calledBarbaria, meaning 'Barbarianland'. Roman rule in Sardinia lasted 694 years, during which time the province was an important source of grain for the capital.Latincame to be the dominant spoken language during this period, though Roman culture was slower to take hold, and Roman rule was often contested by the Sardinian tribes from the mountainous regions.
Theeast Germanic tribeof theVandalsconquered Sardinia in 456. Their rule lasted for 78 years up to 534, when 400eastern Roman troopsled by Cyril, one of the officers of thefoederati, retook the island. It is known that the Vandal government continued the forms of the existing Roman Imperial structure. The governor of Sardinia continued to be called thepraesesand apparently continued to manage military, judicial, and civil governmental functions via imperial procedures. The only Vandal governor of Sardinia about whom there is substantial record is the last,Godas, aVisigothnoble. In AD 530, acoup d'étatinCarthageremoved KingHilderic, a convert toNicene Christianity, in favor of his cousinGelimer, anArianChristian like most of the elite in his kingdom. Godas was sent to take charge and ensure the loyalty of Sardinia. He did the exact opposite, declaring the island's independence from Carthageand opening negotiations with EmperorJustinian I, who had declared war on Hilderic's behalf. In AD 533, Gelimer sent the bulk of his army and navy (120 vessels and 5,000 men) to Sardinia to subdue Godas, with the catastrophic result that the Vandal Kingdom was overwhelmed when Justinian's own army underBelisariusarrived at Carthage in their absence. The Vandal Kingdom ended and Sardinia was returned to Roman rule.
In 533, Sardinia returned to the rule of theByzantine Empirewhen theVandalswere defeated by the armies ofJustinian Iunder the GeneralBelisariusin theBattle of Tricamarum, in their African kingdom Belisarius sent his general Cyril to Sardinia to retake the island. Sardinia remained in Byzantine hands for the next 300 yearsaside from a short period in which it was invaded by theOstrogothsin 551.
Under Byzantine rule, the island was divided into districts calledmereíai(μερείαι) inByzantine Greek, which were governed by a judge residing in Caralis and garrisoned by an army stationed inForum Traiani(todayFordongianus) under the command of adux.During this time,Christianitytook deeper root on the island, supplanting thePaganismwhich had survived into the earlyMiddle Agesin the culturally conservative hinterlands. Along with lay Christianity, the followers of monastic figures such asBasil of Caesareabecame established in Sardinia. While Christianity penetrated the majority of the population, the region ofBarbagiaremained largely pagan and, probably, partially non-Latin speaking. They re-established a short-lived independent domain with Sardinian-heathen lay and religious traditions, one of its kings beingHospito.Pope Gregory Iwrote a letter to Hospito defining him "Dux Barbaricinorum" and, being Christian, the leader and best of his people.In this unique letter about Hospito, the Pope prompts him to convert his people who "living all like irrational animals, ignore the true God and worship wood and stone" (Barbaricini omnes, ut insensata animalia vivant, Deum verum nesciant, ligna autem et lapides adorent).
The dates and circumstances of the end of Byzantine rule in Sardinia are not known. Direct central control was maintained at least through c. 650, after which local legates were empowered in the face of the rebellion ofGregory the Patrician,Exarch of Africaand the first invasion of theMuslim conquest of the Maghreb. There is some evidence that senior Byzantine administration in the Exarchate of Africa retreated to Caralis following the final fall ofCarthageto theArabsin 697.The loss of imperial control in Africa led to escalating raids byArabson the island, the first of which is documented in 703, forcing increased military self-reliance in the province.
Elsewhere in the central Mediterranean, theAghlabidsconqueredthe island ofMaltain 870.They also attacked or raided Sardinia andCorsica.Some modern references state that Sardinia came under Aghlabid control around 810 or after the beginning of the conquest of Sicily in 827.Historian Corrado Zedda argues that the island hosted a Muslim presence during the Aghlabid period, possibly a limited foothold along the coasts that forcibly coexisted with the local Byzantine government.Historian Alex Metcalfe argues that the available evidence for any Muslim occupation or colonisation of the island during this period is limited and inconclusive, and that Muslim attacks were limited to raids.
Communication with the central government became daunting if not impossible during and after theMuslim conquest of Sicilybetween 827 and 902. A letter byPope Nicholas Ias early as 864 mentions the "Sardinian judges",without reference to the empire and a letter byPope John VIII(reigned 872–882) refers to them asprincipes("princes"). By the time ofDe Administrando Imperio, completed in 952, the Byzantine authorities no longer listed Sardinia as an imperial province, suggesting they considered it lost.In all likelihood a local noble family, theLacon-Gunale, acceded to the power ofArchon, still identifying themselves as vassals of the Byzantines, butde factoindependent as communications with Constantinople were very difficult. Only two names of those rulers are known: Salusios (Σαλούσιος) and the protospatharios Turcoturios (Tουρκοτούριος) from two inscriptions),who probably reigned between the 10th and the 11th century. These rulers were still closely linked to the Byzantines, both for a pact of ancient vassalage,and from the ideological point of view, with the use of theByzantine Greeklanguage (in aRomancecountry), and the use of art of Byzantine inspiration.
In the early 11th century, an attempt to conquer the island was made byMujahid al-Amirial-Ṣaqlabī wasthe ruler of Dénia and the Balearic Islandsbased in theIberian Peninsula.The only records of that war are from Pisan and Genoese chronicles.TheChristians wonbut, after that, the previous Sardinian kingdom was undermined and subsequently divided into four smaller states: Cagliari (Calari), Arborea (Arbaree), Gallura, and Torres or Logudoro.
Whether this final transformation from imperial civil servant to independent sovereign bodies resulted from imperial abandonment or local assertion, by the 10th century, the so-called "Judges" (Sardinian:judikes/Latin:iudices, a Byzantine administrative title) had emerged as the autonomous rulers of Sardinia. The title ofiudicechanged with the language and local understanding of the position, becoming the Sardinianjudike, essentially a king or sovereign, whileJudicate(Sardinian:logu) came to mean 'state'.
Early medieval Sardinian political institutions evolved from the millennium-old Roman imperial structures with relatively little Germanic influence.
Although theJudicateswere hereditary lordships, the old Byzantine imperial notion that personal title or honor was separate from the state still remained, so the Judicate was not regarded as the personal property of the monarch as was common in later Europeanfeudalism. Like the imperial systems, the new order also preserved "semi-democratic" forms, with national assemblies called theCrown of the Realm. Each Judicate saw to its own defense, maintained its own laws and administration, and looked after its own foreign and trading affairs.
The history of the four Judicates would be defined by the contest for influence between the two Italianmaritime powersofGenoaandPisa, and later the ambitions of theKingdom of Aragon.
TheJudicate of CagliariorPluminos, during the regency ofTorchitorio V of Cagliariand his successor,William III, was allied with theRepublic of Genoa. Because of this it was brought to an end in 1258, when its capital,Santa Igia, was stormed and destroyed by an alliance of Sardinian and Pisan forces. The territory then was divided between theRepublic of Pisa, theDella Gherardesca familyfrom Italy, and the Sardinian Judicates of Arborea and Gallura. Pisa maintained the control over the fortress of Castel di Cagliari founded by Pisan merchants in 1216–1217 east of Santa Igia;in the south-west the countUgolino della Gherardescapromoted the birth of the town ofVilla di Chiesa(todayIglesias) to exploit the nearby richsilverdeposits.
TheJudicate of Logudoro(also calledTorres) was also allied to theRepublic of Genoaand came to an end in 1259 after the death of thejudikessa(queen)Adelasia. The territory was divided up between theDoriaand Malaspina families ofGenoaand the Bas-Serra family ofArborea, while the city ofSassaribecamea small republic, along the lines of theItalian city-states(comuni),confederatedfirstly with Pisa and then with Genoa.
TheJudicate of Galluraended in the year 1288, when the last giudice,Nino Visconti(a friend ofDante Alighieri), was driven out by the Pisans, who occupied the territory.
TheJudicate of Arborea, havingOristanoas its capital, had the longest life compared to the other kingdoms. Its later history is entwined with the attempt to unify the island into a single Sardinian state (Republica sardisca'Sardinian Republic' in Sardinian,Nació sardaorsardesca'Sardinian Nation' in Catalan) against their relatives and formerAragoneseallies.
In 1297,Pope Boniface VIIIestablished on his own initiative (motu proprio) a hypotheticalregnum Sardiniae et Corsicae("Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica") in order to settle theWar of the Sicilian Vespersdiplomatically. This had broken out in 1282 between theCapetian House of AnjouandAragonover the possession of Sicily. Despite the existence of the indigenous states, the Pope offered this newly created crown toJames II of Aragon, promising him support should he wish to conquer Pisan Sardinia in exchange for Sicily.
In 1324, in alliance with the Kingdom of Arboreaand following amilitary campaignthat lasted a year or so, the Aragon Crown PrinceAlfonsoled an Aragonese army that occupied the Pisan territories of Cagliari and Gallura along with the allied city of Sassari, naming them "The Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica". The kingdom was to remain a dominion of the Crown of Aragon (under the 16th-century kings of Spain) until thePeace of Utrecht.
During this period, the Judicate of Arborea promulgated the legal code of the kingdom in theCarta de Logu('Charter of the Land'). The Carta de Logu was originally compiled byMarianus IV of Arborea, and was amended and updated by Mariano's daughter, Female Judge (judikessaorjuighissa)Eleanor of Arborea. The legal code was written inSardinianand established a whole range of citizens' rights. Among the revolutionary concepts in this Carta de Logu was the right of women to refuse marriage and to own property. In terms of civil liberties, the code made provincial 14th century Sardinia one of the most developed societies in all of Europe.
In 1353,Peter IV of Aragon, following Aragonese customs, granted a parliament to the kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica, which was followed by some degree of self-government under a viceroy and judicial independence. This parliament, however, had limited powers. It consisted of high-ranking military commanders, the clergy and the nobility. The kingdom of Aragon also introduced thefeudalsystem into the areas of Sardinia that it ruled.
The Sardinian Judicates never adopted feudalism, and Arborea maintained its parliament, called theCorona de Logu'Crown of the Realm'. In this parliament, apart from the nobles and military commanders, also sat the representatives of each township and village. The Corona de Logu exercised some control over the king: under the rule of thebannus consensusthe king could be deposed or even executed if he did not follow the rules of the kingdom.
Having broken the alliance with the Crown of Aragon, from 1353to 1409, the Arborean giudiciMarianus IV,Hugh IIIandBrancaleone Doria(husband ofEleanor of Arborea), succeeded in occupying all of Sardinia except the heavily fortified towns of the Castle ofCagliariandAlghero, which for years remained as the only Aragonese dominions in Sardinia (Sardinian–Aragonese war).
In 1409,Martin I of Sicily, king of Sicily and heir to the crown of Aragon, defeated the Sardinians at theBattle of Sanluri. The battle was fought by about 20,000 Sardinian, Genoese and French knights, enrolled from their kingdom at a time when the population of Sardinia had been greatly depleted by the plague. Despite the Sardinian army outnumbering the Aragonese army, they were defeated.
The Judicate of Arborea disappeared in 1420, when its rights were sold by the last king for 100,000gold florins,and after some of its most notable men switched sides in exchange for privileges. For example, Leonardo Cubello, with some claim to the crown being from a family related to the Kings of Arborea, was granted the title ofMarquis of Oristanoand feudal rights on a territory that partly overlapped with the original extension of the Kingdom of Arborea in exchange for his subjection to theAragonese monarchs.
The conquest of Sardinia by theKingdom of Aragonmeant the introduction of the feudal system throughout Sardinia. Thus Sardinia is probably the only European country where feudalism was introduced in the transition period from the Middle Ages to theearly modern period, at a time when feudalism had already been abandoned by many other European countries.
In 1469, the heir to Sardinia,Ferdinand II of Aragon, marriedIsabel of Castile, and the "Kingdom of Sardinia" (which was separated from Corsica) was to be inherited by their Habsburg grandson,Charles I of Spain, with the state symbol of theFour Moors. The successors ofCharles I of Spain, in order to defend their Mediterranean territories from raids of theBarbary pirates, fortified the Sardinian shores with a system of coastal lookout towers, allowing the gradual resettlement of some coastal areas.
The Kingdom of Sardinia remained Aragonese-Spanish for about 400 years, from 1323 to 1708, assimilating a number of Spanish traditions, customs and linguistic expressions, nowadays vividly portrayed in the folklore parades of Saint Efisio in Cagliari (1 May), the Cavalcade on Sassari (last but one Sunday in May), and the Redeemer in Nuoro (28 August). To this day Catalan is still spoken in the north-western city ofAlghero(l'Alguer).
Manyfamineshave been reported in Sardinia. According to Stephen L. Dyson and Robert J. Rowland, "TheJesuitsofCagliarirecorded years during the late 16th century "of such hunger and so sterile that the majority of the people could sustain life only with wild ferns and other weeds" ... During the terrible famine of 1680, some 80,000 people, out of a total population of 250,000, are said to have died, and entire villages were devastated ... "
In 1708, as a consequence of theSpanish War of Succession, the rule of theKingdom of Sardiniapassed fromKing Philip V of Spaininto the hands of theAustrians, who occupied the island. TheTreaty of Utrechtgranted Sardinia to theAustrians, but in 1717, CardinalGiulio Alberoni, minister ofPhilip V of Spain,reoccupied Sardinia.
In 1718, with the Treaty of London, Sardinia was eventually handed over to theHouse of Savoy; this Alpine dynasty would go on to introduce theItalian languageon the island forty years later in 1760, thereby starting a process ofItalianizationamongst the islanders.
In 1793, Sardinians repelled the FrenchExpédition de Sardaigneduring theFrench Revolutionary Wars. On 23 February 1793,Domenico Millelire, commanding the Sardinian fleet, defeated the fleets of the French Republic near theMaddalena archipelago, of which then-lieutenantNapoleon Bonapartewas a leader.Millelire became the first recipient of theGold Medal of Military Valorof theItalian Armed Forces. In the same month, Sardinians stopped the attempted French landing on the beach ofQuartu Sant'Elena, near the Capital ofCagliari. Because of these successes, the representatives of the nobility and clergy (Stamenti) formulated five requests addressed to the KingVictor Amadeus III of Sardinia, but they were all met with rejection. Because of this discontent, on 28 April 1794, during an uprising inCagliari, two Savoyard officials were killed; that was the spark that ignited a revolt (called the "Sardinian Vespers") throughout the island, which started on 28 April 1794 (commemorated today assa die de sa Sardigna) with the expulsion and execution of the Piedmontese officers for a few days from the CapitalCagliari.
On 28 December 1795Sassariinsurgents demonstrating against feudalism, mainly from the region ofLogudoro, occupied the city. On 13 February 1796, in order to prevent the spread of the revolt, the viceroy Filippo Vivalda gave the Sardinian magistrateGiovanni Maria Angioythe role of Alternos, which meant a substitute of the viceroy himself. Angioy moved from Cagliari to Sassari, and during his journey almost all the villages joined the uprising, demanding an end to feudalism and aiming to declare the island to be an independent republic,but once he was outnumbered byloyalistforces he fled to Paris and sought support for a French annexation of the island.
In 1798, the islet near Sardinia was attacked by theTunisiansand over 900 inhabitants were taken away asslaves.The final Muslim attack on the island was onSant'Antiocoon 16 October 1815, over a millennium since the first.
In 1799, as a consequence of theNapoleonic Warsin Italy, the Savoy royal family leftTurinand took refuge in Cagliari for some fifteen years.In 1847, the Sardinian parliaments (Stamenti), in order to get the Piedmontese liberal reforms they could not afford due to their separated legal system, renounced their state autonomy and agreed toform a unionwith the Italian Mainland States (Stati di Terraferma), ending up with a single parliament, a single magistracy and a single government in Turin; this move aggravated the island's peripheral conditionand most of the pro-union supporters, including its leader Giovanni Siotto Pintor, would later regret it.
In 1820, the Savoyards imposed the Enclosures Act (Editto delle Chiudende) on the island, aimed at turning the land's traditional collective ownership, a cultural and economic cornerstone of Sardinia since the Nuragic times,to private property. This gave rise to many abuses, as the reform ended up favouring the landholders while excluding the poor Sardinian farmers and shepherds, who witnessed the abolition of the communal rights and the sale of their lands. Many local rebellions like theNuoreseSu Connottu('The Already Known' in Sardinian) riot in 1868,all repressed by the King's army, resulted in an attempt to return to the past and reaffirm the right to use the once common land. However thecommon lands(calledademprivios) were never completely abolished, and they are still present in large number to this day (500,000 hectares of common lands were counted in 1956, of which 345,000 constituted by woods).
With thePerfect Fusionin 1848, the confederation of states powered by the Savoyard kings of Sardinia became a unitary and constitutional state and moved to theItalian Wars of Independencefor theUnification of Italy, that were led for thirteen years. In 1861, being Italy united by a debated war campaign, the parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia decided by law to change its name and the title of its king toKingdom of ItalyandKing of Italy. Most Sardinian forests were cut down at this time, in order to provide the Piedmontese with raw materials, like wood, used to make railway sleepers on the mainland. The primary natural forests, praised by everytraveller visiting Sardinia, would in fact be reduced to one-fifth of their original number, being little more than 100,000 hectares at the end of the century.From 1850 onward, taxes more than doubled in Sardinia, which compounded the already severe financial hardships facing the islanders, due to the Italo-French tariff war: between 1885 and 1897, the Sardinians saw their land being confiscated more than the rest of Italy combined as a result of tax evasion.
During theFirst World War, the Sardinian soldiers of theBrigata Sassaridistinguished themselves. It was the first and only regional military unit in Italy, since the people enrolled were only Sardinians. The brigade suffered heavy losses and earned fourGold Medals of Military Valor. Sardinia lost more young people than any other Italian region on the front, with 138 casualties per 1000 soldiers compared to the Italian average of 100 casualties.
During theFascistperiod, with the implementation of the policy ofautarky, several swamps around the island were reclaimed and agrarian communities founded. The main communities were the village of Mussolinia (now calledArborea), populated by farmers fromVenetoandFriuli, in the area of Oristano andFertilia, populated at first by settlers from theFerraraarea, followed, afterWorld War II, by a notable number ofIstrian ItaliansandDalmatian Italianshailing from territories lost toYugoslavia, in the area adjacent the city ofAlghero, within the region ofNurra. Also established during that time (1938) was the city ofCarbonia, which became the main centre ofcoal miningactivity, that attracted thousand of workers from the rest of the Island and the Italian mainland. The Sardinian writerGrazia Deleddawon theNobel Prize for Literaturein 1926.
During theSecond World War, Sardinia was an important air and naval base and was heavily bombed by theAllies, especially the city of Cagliari. German troops left the island on 8 September 1943, a few days after theArmistice of Cassibile, and retired to Corsica without fighting and bloodshed, after a bilateral agreement between the general Antonio Basso (Commander of the Armed Forces of Sardinia) and the GermanKarl Hans Lungerhausen, general of the90th Panzergrenadier Division.
In 1946, by popular referendum, Italy became a republic, with Sardinia being administered since 1948 by a special statute of autonomy. By 1951,malariawas successfully eliminated by the ERLAAS, Anti-malaric Regional Authority, and the support of theRockefeller Foundation, which facilitated the commencement of the Sardinian tourist boom.With the increase intourism, coal decreased in importance but Sardinia followed theItalian economic miracle.
In the early 1960s, anindustrialisationeffort was commenced, the so-calledPiani di Rinascita(rebirth plans), with the initiation of major infrastructure projects on the island. These included the construction of new dams and roads, reforestation, agricultural zones on reclaimed marshland, and large industrial complexes (primarily oil refineries and related petrochemical operations). With the creation ofpetrochemicalindustries, thousands of ex-farmers became industrial workers. The1973 oil crisiscaused the termination of employment for thousands of workers employed in the petrochemical industries, which aggravated the emigration already present in the 1950s and 1960s.
Sardinia faced the creation ofmilitary baseson the island,likeDecimomannu Air BaseandSalto di Quirra(the biggest scientific military base in Europe) in the same decades.Even now, around 60% of all Italian and NATO military installations in Italy are on Sardinia, whose area is less than one-tenth of all the Italian territory and whose population is little more than the 2.5%;furthermore, they comprise over 35,000 hectares used for experimental weapons testing,where 80% of the military explosives in Italy are used.
Sardinian nationalismand localprotest movementsbecame stronger in the 1970s, and a number ofbandits(anonima sarda) started a long series ofkidnappings, which ended only in the 1990s.This also gave rise to various militant groups that blended separatist andcommunistideas, the most famous beingBarbagia Rossaand theSardinian Armed Movement,which perpetrated several bombings and terrorist actions between the 1970s and the 1980s.In the span of just two years (1987–1988), 224 bombing attacks were reported.
In 1983 a prominent activist of a separatist party, theSardinian Action Party(Partidu Sardu – Partito Sardo d'Azione), was elected president of the regional parliament, and in the 1980s several other movements calling for independence from Italy were born; in the 1990s some of them became political parties, even if in a rather disjointed manner. It was not until 1999 that the island's languages (Sardinian,Sassarese,Gallurese,AlghereseandTabarchino) were recognised, even if just formally, together withItalian. The35th G8 summitwas planned byProdi II Cabinetto be held in Sardinia, on the island ofLa Maddalena, in July 2009; however, in April 2009, the Italian Prime Minister,Silvio Berlusconi, decided, without convoking the Italian parliament or consulting the Sardinian governor ofhis own party, to move the summit, even though the works were almost completed, toL'Aquila, provoking heavy protests.
Today Sardinia is phasing in as anEUregion, with a diversified economy focused on tourism and the tertiary sector. The economic efforts of the last twenty years have reduced the handicap of insularity, especially in the fields oflow-cost air traveland advancedinformation technology. For example, theCRS4(Center for Advanced Studies, Research and Development in Sardinia) developed the second Europeanwebsiteand 1st in Italy in 1991andwebmailin 1995. CRS4 allowed several telecommunication companies and internet service providers based on the island to flourish, such as Videonline in 1994,Tiscaliin 1998 andAndala Umtsin 1999.
Following an enormous reforestation plan Sardinia has become the Italian region with the largest forest extension. 1,213,250 hectares (12,132 km) or 50% of the island is covered by forested areas.TheCorpo forestale e di vigilanza ambientale della Regione Sardais the Sardinian Forestry Corps. Sardinia is one of the regions in Italy which are most affected byforest firesduring the summer.
The Regional Landscape Plan prohibits new building activities on the coast (except in urban centers), next to forests, lakes or other environmental or cultural sites and theCoastal conservation agencyensures the protection of natural areas on the Sardinian coast.
Renewable energieshave increased noticeably in recent years,mainlywind power, favoured by the windy climate, but alsosolar powerandbiofuel, based onjatropha oilandcolza oil. 586.8 megawatts ofwind powercapacity were installed on the island at the end of 2009.
Due to Sardinia's continual isolation from mainland Europe even during glacial sea level lows (when it was connected to Corsica), Sardinia has a high level ofendemism, with regards to both floraand fauna, including insectsand arachnids,as well as terrestrial vertebrates, with endemic amphibians (including those also found on Corsica) including theSardinian brook salamander,brown cave salamander,imperial cave salamander,Monte Albo cave salamander,Supramonte cave salamander,Sarrabus' cave salamanderand theSardinian tree frog(also found inCorsica), with lizards endemic to the archipelago includingBedriaga's rock lizard, theTyrrhenian wall lizardandFitzinger's algyroides.
During the Late Pleistocene, Sardinia and Corsica had a highly endemic terrestrial mammal fauna, all of which is now extinct, which included a field mouse (Rhagamys orthodon), a vole (Microtus henseli), a shrew (Asoriculus similis), a mole (Talpa tyrrhenica), a dwarf mammoth (Mammuthuslamarmorai), theSardinian pika(Prolagus sardus), a jackal-sized canine, theSardinian dhole(Cynotherium sardus), amustelid(Enhydrictis galictoides), three species of otter (Algarolutra majori,Sardolutra ichnusae,and the giganticMegalenhydris barbaricina) and a deer (Praemegaceros cazioti).Some of these animals were extinct by the beginning of the Holocene, with the deer species suggested to have persisted until around 7,600 years ago,and the shrew into the Neolithic, while the Sardinian pika, vole and field mouse are suggested to have persisted until around 3000–2000 years ago.The Sardinian pika in particular was historically abundant on the island, and was used by early inhabitants as a source of food.On the present-day island, itsfaunaincludes a variety of introduced mammal species, such as theCorsican red deer.
The island is inhabited by terrestrial tortoises and sea turtles likeHermann's tortoise, thespur-thighed tortoise,marginated tortoise(Testudo marginata sarda), Nabeul tortoise,loggerhead sea turtleandgreen sea turtle.
Somebirds of preyfound here are thegriffon vulture,common buzzard,golden eagle,long-eared owl,western marsh harrier,peregrine falcon,European honey buzzard, Sardinian goshawk (Accipiter gentilis arrigonii),Bonelli's eagleandEleonora's falcon, whose name comes fromEleonor of Arborea, national heroine of Sardinia, expert infalconry.The hundreds of lagoons and coastal lakes that dot the island are home for many species of wading birds, such as thegreater flamingo.
Conversely, Sardinia lacks many species common on the European continent, such as theviper,wolf,bearandmarmot.
The island has also long been used for grazing flocks of indigenousSardinian sheep.  TheSardinian Anglo-Arabis a horse breed that was established in Sardinia, where it has been selectively bred for more than one hundred years.
Three different breeds of dogs are peculiar to Sardinia: theSardinian Shepherd Dog, theDogo Sardescoand theLevriero Sardo.
Over 600,000 hectares (1,500,000 acres) of Sardinian territory is environmentally preserved(about 25% of the island's territory).
The island has threenational parks:
Tenregional parks:
There are 60 wildlife reserves, 5 W.W.F oases, 25 natural monuments and one Geomineral Park, preserved byUNESCO.
Northern Sardinian Coasts are included in thePelagos Sanctuary for Mediterranean Marine Mammals, a Marine Protected Area, that covers a surface of about 84,000 km(32,433 sq mi), aimed at the protection of marine mammals.
According to theISTATcensus of 2001, the literacy rate in Sardinia among people below 65 years old is 99.5 percent. Total literacy rate (including people over 65) is 98.2 percent.The illiteracy rate among males below 65 years old is 0.24 percent and among women 0.25 percent;the number of women that annually graduate at secondary high schools and universities is about 10–20 percent higher than men.Sardinia has the 2nd highest rate of school drop-out in Italy.
Sardinia has two public universities: theUniversity of Sassariand theUniversity of Cagliari, founded in the 16th and 17th century. 48,979 students were enrolled at universities in 2007–2008.
Of the Italian regions located south ofRome, Sardinia's economy is in the best state. The greatest amount of economic development took place inland, in the provinces ofCagliariandSassari, characterized by a certain amount of enterprise. According toEurostat, the 2014 nominalgross domestic product(GDP) was €33,356 million, €33,085 million inpurchasing power parity, resulting in a GDP per capita of €19,900, which is 72% of the EU average. Theper capita incomein Sardinia is the highest of the southern half of Italy. The most populated provincial chief towns have higher incomes: in Cagliari the income per capita is €27,545, in Sassari €24,006, inOristano€23,887, inNuorois €23,316 and inOlbiais €20,827.Sardinia isthe 14th most productive region in the countryand isthe 16th for GRP per capitaamong Italian regions.
The Sardinian economy is, however, constrained due to the high costs of the transportation of goods and electricity, which is twice that of the continental Italian regions, and triple that of the EU average. Sardinia is the only Italian region that produces a surplus of electricity, and exports electricity toCorsicaand theItalian mainland: in 2009, the newsubmarine power cableSapeientered into operation. It links the Fiume Santo Power Station, in Sardinia, to the converter stations inLatina, in the Italian peninsula. TheSACOIis another submarine power cable that links Sardinia to Italy, crossing Corsica, from 1965.
Small scaleliquified natural gasterminals and a 404 km (251 mi) gas pipeline were under construction, and became operational in 2018. They will decrease the current high cost of the electric power in the island.As of 2021, Sardinia has 2 GigaWatts (GW) ofthermal power plants, 1 GW each of wind and solar power, and over 450 MW ofhydropower.
Three main banks are headquartered in Sardinia; however,Banco di SardegnaandBanca di Sassari, are both originally from Sassari.
There are chances for Sardinia to become atax havenas the whole island territory is free ofcustom duties,value added tax(VAT) and excise taxes on fuel; since February 2013, the town ofPortoscusohas become the first free trade zone.According to the article 12 of the Sardinian Statute modified by the regional parliament in October 2013: "The Territory of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia is located off the customs line and constitutes a Free Trade Zone enclosed by the surrounding sea; the access points consist of the seaports and the airports. The Sardinian Free Trade Zone is regulated by the laws of the European Union and Italy that are in force also in Livigno, Campione D'Italia, Gorizia, Savogna d'Isonzo and the Region of Aosta Valley".
Theunemployment ratefor the fourth quarter of 2008 was 8.6%; by 2012, the unemployment rate had increased to 14.6%.Its rise was due to theGreat Recessionthat reduced Sardinian exports, mainly focused on refined oil, chemical products, and also mining and metallurgical products.
The unemployment rate dropped to 11.2% at the end of 2018, which is only 1.8percentage points(pp) higher than the national average (9.4%) and 5.3pp lower thanSouthern Italianregions (16.5%), according toItalian National Institute of Statistics.
This table shows the sectors of the Sardinian economy in 2011:
Sardinia is home to nearly four millionsheep,almost half of the entire Italian assets and that makes the island one of the areas of the world with the highest density of sheep along with some parts of the United Kingdom and New Zealand (135 sheep every square kilometer versus 129 in UK and 116 in New Zealand). Sardinia has been for thousands of years specializing in sheep breeding, and, to a lesser extent,goatsandcattlethat is less productive of agriculture in relation to land use. It is probably in breeding and cattle ownership the economic base of the early proto-historic and monumental Sardinian civilization fromNeolithicto the Iron Age.
Agriculture has also played a very important role in the economic history of the island, especially in the great plain ofCampidano, particularly suitable forwheatfarming. Sardinian soil often has insufficient or brackish water aquifers, even on its more permeable plains. As such, water scarcity was the first problem that was faced for the modernization of the sector, with the construction of a great barrier system of dams, which today contains nearly 2 billioncubic metersof water.The Sardinian agriculture is now linked to specific products such as cheese, wine,olive oil,artichoke,tomatofor a growing product export. The reclamations have helped to extend the crops and to introduce other ones such as vegetables and fruit, next to the historical ones,oliveandgrapesthat are present in the hilly areas. The Campidano plain, the largest lowland Sardinian producesoats,barleyanddurum, of which is one of the most important Italian producers. Among the vegetables, as well as artichokes, has a certain weight the production oforanges, and, before the reform of thesugarsector from the European Union, the cultivation ofsugar beet.
In the forests there is thecork oak, which grows naturally; Sardinia produces about 80% of Italian cork. Thecorkdistrict, in the northern part of theGalluraregion, aroundCalangianusandTempio Pausania, is composed of 130 companies. Every year in Sardinia 200,000 quintals (20,000 tonnes) of cork are carved, and 40% of the end products are exported.
In fresh food, as well as artichokes, the production of tomatoes (including Camoni tomato) andcitrusfruit are of a certain weight. Sardinia is the 5th Italian region forriceproduction, the main paddy fields are located in theArboreaPlain.
In addition to meat, Sardinia produces a wide variety of cheese, considering that half of the sheep milk produced in Italy is produced in Sardinia, and is largely worked by the cooperatives of the shepherds and small industries.Sardinia also produces most of thepecorino romano, a non-original product of the island, much of which is traditionally addressed to the Italian overseas communities. Sardinia boasts a centuries-old tradition ofhorse breedingsince theAragonesedomination, whosecavalrydrew from equine heritage of the island to strengthen their own army or to make a gift to the other sovereigns of Europe.Today the island boasts the highest number of horse herds in Italy.
There is little fishing (and no real maritime tradition),Portoscusotunasare exported worldwide, but primarily to Japan.
The once prosperous mining industry is still active though restricted tocoal(Nuraxi Figus, hamlet ofGonnesa),antimony(Villasalto),gold(Furtei),bauxite(Olmedo) andleadandzinc(Iglesiente,Nurra). Thegraniteextraction represents one of the most flourishing industries in the northern part of the island. The Gallura granite district is composed of 260 companies that work in 60 quarries, where 75% of the Italian granite is extracted.
The principal industries are chemicals (Porto Torres,Cagliari,Villacidro,Ottana), petrochemicals (Porto Torres,Sarroch), metalworking (Portoscuso, Portovesme,Villacidro), cement (Cagliari), pharmaceutical (Sassari),  shipbuilding (Arbatax,Olbia,Porto Torres), oil rig construction (Arbatax), rail industry (Villacidro),arms industries atDomusnovasand food (sugar refineries atVillasorand Oristano, dairy atArborea,MacomerandThiesi,fish factoryat Olbia).
In Sardinia is located the DASS (Distretto Aerospaziale della Sardegna), a consortium of companies, research centers and universities focused on aerospace industry and research.The aerospace manufacturerVitrociset, inVillaputzu, is involved in the production of the stealth multirole fighterLockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II.
Plans related to industrial conversion are in progress in the main industrial sites, like in Porto Torres, where seven research centres are developing the transformation from traditional fossil fuel related industry to an integrated production chain from vegetable oil using oleaginous seeds to bio-plastics.
Sardinia is involved in the industrial production of theAIRPod, an innovative car powered by compressed air, with the first factory being built inBolotana.
Craft industries include rugs, jewelry, textile, lacework, basket making and coral.
The Sardinian economy is today focused on the overdeveloped tertiary sector (67.8% of employment), withcommerce,services,information technology,public administrationand especially ontourism(mainly seaside tourism), which represents the main industry of the island with 2,721 active companies and 189,239 rooms. In 2008 there were 2,363,496 arrivals (up 1.4% on 2007). In the same year, the airports of the island registered 11,896,674 passengers (up 1.24% on 2007).
Due to its isolated and insular location, Sardinia focused part of its economy on the development of digital technologies since the dawn of internet era: the first Italian website, one of the first webmail system and one of the first and largest internet providers (Video On Line) were realised by theCRS4,the first European online newspaper was developed byL'Unione Sardaand also the first Italian UMTS company was founded on the island. Today Sardinia is the second Italian region, after Lombardy, for investments instartups(owning the 20% of the Italian venture capital).
Sardinia has many small and picturesque villages, nine of them have been selected byI Borghi più belli d'Italia(English:The most beautiful Villages of Italy),a non-profit private association of small Italian towns of strong historical and artistic interest,that was founded on the initiative of the Tourism Council of the National Association of Italian Municipalities.
On the island are headquartered some telecommunication companies and internet service providers, such asTiscaliand the Mediterranean Skylogic Teleport, aground stationcontrolled by satellite providerEutelsat.Sardinia is the Italian region with the highest e-intensity index after theAosta Valley(index measuring the relative maturity of Internet economies on the basis of three factors: enablement, engagement, and expenditure) and the region with the highest internet performances, such as fastest broadband connection in Italy.Sardinia is also the Italian region with the highest percentage (41%) of 4GLTEusers.The Chinese multinational telecommunications equipment and systems companiesZTEandHuaweihave development centers and innovation labs in Sardinia.
Sardinia has become Europe's first region to fully adopt the newDigital Terrestrial Televisionbroadcasting standard. From 1 November 2008 TV channels are broadcast only in digital.
Sardinia has three international airports (Alghero-Fertilia/Riviera del Corallo Airport,Olbia-Costa Smeralda AirportandCagliari-Elmas Airport) connected with the principal Italian cities and many European destinations, mainly in the United Kingdom,France, Spain and Germany, and two regional airports (Oristano-Fenosu AirportandTortolì-Arbatax Airport). Internal air connections between Sardinian airports are limited to a daily Cagliari-Olbia flight. Sardinian citizens benefit from special sales on plane tickets forRomeandMilan(continuità territoriale),and severallow-cost air companiesoperate on the island.
Airone - Compagnia Trasporti Aerei S.A.was an airline established in Cagliari in October 1944 , its founders intended it to be the answer to the need for fast connections between Sardinia and mainland Italy. The name itself recalled one of the most typical animals of the island's wetlands. It is remembered as the first airline founded in Italy after the Second World War.Dal Savoia Marchetti alla tecnologia del jet
Air Italy(formerly known asMeridiana) was an airline headquartered in the airport ofOlbia; it was founded asAlisardain 1963 by theAga Khan IV. The development ofAlisardafollowed the development ofCosta Smeraldain the northeast part of the island, a well known vacation spot among billionaires and film actors worldwide.
The ferry companies operating on the island areTirrenia di Navigazione,Moby Lines,Corsica Ferries - Sardinia Ferries,Grandi Navi Veloci,Grimaldi Lines, Corsica Linea; they link the Sardinian seaports ofPorto Torres,Olbia,Golfo Aranci,Arbatax,Santa Teresa GalluraandCagliariwithCivitavecchia,Genoa,Livorno,Naples,Palermo,Trapani,Piombinoin Italy,Marseille,Toulon,Bonifacio,ProprianoandAjaccioin France andBarcelonain Spain.
Caronte & Tourist and Delcomar  links the main island to the islands ofLa MaddalenaandSan Pietro.
About 40 tourist harbours are located along the Sardinian coasts.
Sardinia is the only Italian region withoutAutostrade(en:motorways), but the road network is well developed with a system of no-toll roads withdual carriageway, calledsuperstrade('super roads') that connect the principal towns and the main airports and seaports; the speed limit is 90 km/h (56 mph)/110 km/h (68 mph). The principal road is theSS131"Carlo Felice", linking the south with the north of the island, crossing the most historic regions ofPorto TorresandCagliari; it is part ofEuropean routeE25. TheSS 131 d.c.nlinksOristanowithOlbia, crossing the hinterlandNuororegion. Other roads designed for high-capacity traffic linkSassariwithAlghero,SassariwithTempio Pausania,Sassari–Olbia,Cagliari–Tortolì,Cagliari–Iglesias,Nuoro–Lanusei. A work in progress is converting the main routes tohighwaystandards, with the elimination of allintersections. The secondary inland and mountain roads are generally narrow with manyhairpin turns, so the speed limits are very low.
Public transportbusesreach every town and village at least once a day; however, due to the low density of population, the smallest territories are reachable only by car. The Azienda Regionale Sarda Trasporti (ARST) is the public regional bus transport agency. Networks of city buses serve the main towns (Cagliari,Iglesias,Oristano,Alghero,Sassari,Nuoro,CarboniaandOlbia).
In Sardinia 1,295,462 vehicles circulate, equal to 613 per 1,000 inhabitants.
The Sardinian railway system was developed starting from the 19th century by the Welsh engineerBenjamin Piercy.
Today there are two different railway operators:
TheTrenino Verde(Little Green Train) is arailway tourismservice operated by ARST. Vintagerailcarsandsteam locomotivesrun through the wildest parts of the island. They allow the traveller to have scenic views impossible to see from the main roads.
With apopulation densityof 69/km, slightly more than a third of the national average, Sardinia is the fourth-least populated region in Italy. In the recent past the population distribution was anomalous compared to that of other Italian regions lying on the sea. In fact, contrary to the general trend, most urban settlement, with the exception of the fortified cities ofCagliari,Alghero,Castelsardoand few others, has taken place not primarily along the coast but in the subcoastal areas and towards the centre of the island. Historical reasons for this include the repeatedSaracenraids during theMiddle Agesand thenBarbaryraids until the early 19th century (making the coast unsafe), widespread pastoral activities inland, and the swampy nature of the coastal plains (reclaimed definitively only in the 20th century). The situation has been reversed with the expansion of seaside tourism; all of Sardinia's major urban centres are now located near the coasts, and the island's interior is very sparsely populated.
It is the region with the lowesttotal fertility rate(1.087 births per woman) and the second-lowestbirth rateof Italy(which is already one of the lowest in the world). Combined with the aging of population going rather fast (in 2009, people older than 65 were 18.7%), ruraldepopulationis quite a big issue: between 1991 and 2001, 71.4% of Sardinian villages have lost population (32 more than 20% and 115 between 10% and 20%), with over 30 of them being at risk to becomeghost towns.It is predicted that at that rate, Sardinia will be the European island with the second-lowest population density, immediately afterIceland, by 2080.
Nonetheless, the overall population estimate has remained relatively stable because of a considerable immigration flow, mainly from the Italian mainland, but also from Eastern Europe (especially Romania), Africa and Asia.
Averagelife expectancyis slightly over 82 years (85 for women and 79.7 for men). Sardinia shares with the Japanese island ofOkinawathe highest rate ofcentenariansin the world (22 centenarians per 100,000 inhabitants).
Sardinia is the first discoveredBlue Zone, a demographic or geographic area in the world with an oversize concentration of centenarians and supercentenarians.
In 2023, there were 50,211 foreign national residents, forming 3,2% of the total Sardinian population.The most represented nationalities were:
Sardinia's most populated cities are Cagliari and Sassari. TheMetropolitan City of Cagliarihas 431,302 inhabitants, or about ¼ of the population of the entire island.Eurostathas identified in Sardinia twoFunctional Urban Areas:Cagliari, with 477,000 inhabitants, and Sassari, with 222,000 inhabitants.
Sardinia is one of the fiveItalian autonomous regions, along with theAosta Valley,Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol,Friuli-Venezia GiuliaandSicily. Its particular statute, which in itself is aconstitutional law, gives the region a limited degree of autonomy, entailing the right to carry out the administrative functions of the local body and to create its own laws in a strictly defined number of domains.
The regional administration is constituted by three authorities:
Since 2016, Sardinia is divided into four provinces(Nuoro,Oristano,Sassari,South Sardinia) and themetropolitan cityofCagliari.
In April 2021, under Sardinian Regional Council's Regional Law Nr. 7,Sardinian administrative divisions were reorganized; the former provinces of Olbia-Tempio (now bearing the name Gallura-North East Sardinia), Ogliastra, Medio Campidano and Carbonia-Iglesias (now bearing the name Sulcis Iglesiente) were restored, the metropolitan city of Cagliari would be expanded with other municipalities from the to-be eliminated Province of South Sardinia, and the western part of the Province of Sassari would be reorganized into the new metropolitan city of Sassari.Whilst the Italian government challenged the law,thus stalling its implementation,on 12 March 2022, the Constitutional Court ruled in favor of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia.On 13 April 2023, the regional council, at the proposal of the regional government, approved an amendment to the 2021 reform, defining the timeframe and manner of its implementation, which would see its full implementation in 2024.
Around 60% of all the military installations in Italy are in Sardinia, whose area is less than one-tenth of all the Italian territory and whose population is little more than the 2,5%.The island hostsNATOjoint forces andIsraelimilitary forces, which use the island's territory to simulate war games; the Inter-service Test and Training Range of Salto di Quirra (PISQ) is one of the most important experimental
military training centres in Europe.The bases, used for manufacturing plants and military testing grounds, totally take up more than 350 kmof the island's land,making Sardinia the most militarized region in Italy and the most militarized island in Europe.
Besides the land-occupying installations, where 80% of the military explosives in Italy are used,there are also other military structures located on the sea and along the coastline, roughly equivalent to 20000 km(little less than the island's surface), being made inaccessible to the civil population when military exercises are held.
Among the most notable military bases on the island are the Interagency Polygons in Quirra, Capo Teulada and Capo Frasca, used by Italian and NATO forces to test-fire ballistic missiles and weapons and byItalianandEuropean Space Agencyto test space vehicles and for orbital launches. Until 2008, the US navy also had a nuclear submarine base in theMaddalena Archipelago.
Depleted uranium and thorium dust from missile tests has been linked to an increase in cancers according to activists and local politicians.In the late 1980s, a high level of birth defects occurred near theSalto di Quirraweapons testing site after old munitions were destroyed.
Sardinia is the onlyautonomous regionin Italy where its specialStatuteuses the termpopolo(distinct people) to refer to its inhabitants. While this formula is also used byVeneto, which unlike Sardinia is anordinary region, the Sardinian Statute is adopted with aconstitutional law. In both cases, such term is not meant to imply any legal difference between Sardinians and any other citizen of the country.
Of the prehistoric architecture in Sardinia there are numerous testimonies such as thedomus de janas(hypogeic tombs), theGiants' grave, the megalithic circles, themenhirs, thedolmensand thewell temples;however, the element that more than any other characterizes the Sardinian prehistoric landscape are thenuraghe;the remains of thousands of theseBronze Agebuildings of various types (simple and complex) are still visible today. There are also numerous traces left by thePhoeniciansandPunicswho introduced new urban forms on the coasts.
TheRomansgave a new administrative structure to the whole island through the restructuring of several cities, the creation of new centers and the construction of many infrastructures of which the ruins remain, such as the palace of Re Barbaro inPorto Torresor theRoman Amphitheatre of Cagliari. Even from theearly ChristianandByzantineepoch there are several testimonies throughout the territory both on the coasts and inside, especially linked to buildings of worship.
A particular development hadRomanesque architectureduring theJudicatesperiod. Starting from 1063 the Sardinian Judges (judikes), through substantial donations, had favored the arrival to the island of monks of different orders from various regions ofItalyand France. These circumstances favored in turn the arrival to the island of workers fromPisa,Lombardy,ProvenceandMuslim Spain, giving rise to unprecedented artistic manifestations, marked by the fusion of these experiences.
The cornerstone in the evolution of Romanesque architectural forms was thebasilica of San Gavinoin Porto Torres.Among the most relevant examples there are the cathedrals ofSant'Antioco di Bisarcio(Ozieri),San Pietro di SorresinBorutta,San Nicola di Ottana, the palatine chapel ofSanta Maria del RegnoofArdara, theSanta Giusta Cathedral,Nostra Signora di Tergu, theBasilica di SaccargiainCodrongianosandSanta Maria di Utaand, of the 13th century, the cathedrals of Santa Maria di Monserrato (Tratalias) andSan Pantaleo(Dolianova). As for military architecture, numerouscastlesto defend the territory were built during this period. At the beginning of the 14th century date the fortifications and towers of Cagliari, designed byGiovanni Capula.
After their arrival in 1324, the Aragonese concentrated the first realizations inCagliari; the oldestCatalan Gothicchurch in Sardinia is theshrine of Our Lady of Bonaria.Also in Cagliari in the same years the Aragonese chapel was built inside the cathedral. In the first half of the fifteenth century a real Gothic jewel was built, the complex of San Domenico, which included the church and the convent, almost completely destroyed during the air raids of 1943, and of which only the cloister remains. Other works were the churches of San Francesco of Stampace (of which only a part of the cloister remains), Sant'Eulalia and San Giacomo. InAlgheroin the second half of the fifteenth century the construction of the church of San Francesco and in the sixteenth century of thecathedralbegan.
Renaissance architecture, although poorly represented, includes notable examples such as the installation of thecathedral of San NicoladiSassari(late Gothic but with a strong Renaissance influence), the church of Sant'Agostino di Cagliari (designed by Palearo Fratino), the church of Santa Caterina in Sassari (designed by Bernardoni, a pupil of Vignola).
On the contrary, theBaroque architecturehas found wide prominence,interesting examples are the Collegiata di Sant'Anna in Cagliari, the facade of the Cathedral of San Nicola in Sassari, the church of San Michele in Cagliari, as well as thecathedral of Cagliari,AlesandOristano, rebuilt or modified between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Starting from the nineteenth century, new architectural forms ofneoclassicalinspiration spread throughout the island. Among the most important figures of this architectural and urban phase is that of the architect from CagliariGaetano Cima, whose works are scattered throughout the Sardinian territory.Alongside the works of Cima, it is worth mentioning those of Giuseppe Cominotti (Palazzo and Civic Theater of Sassari) and Antonio Cano (dome of S. Maria di Betlem in Sassari and the cathedral of Santa Maria della Neve in Nuoro). In the second half of the nineteenth century in Sassari was built theneo Gothicpalace Giordano (1878) which is one of the earliest examples ofrevivalismin the island.
An interesting realization ofeclectic style, derived from the union between revivalist andArt Nouveaumodels, appears to be theCity hallof Cagliari, completed in the early twentieth century. The advent offascismhas strongly influenced architecture in Sardinia in the twenties and thirties:interesting achievements of that period are the new centers ofFertilia,Arboreaand the city ofCarbonia, one of the greatest examples ofrationalist architecture.
Numerous findings of the typical statues of theMother Goddessand pottery engraved with geometric designs testify the artistic expressions of thePre-Nuragic peoples. Subsequently, theNuragic civilizationproduced hundreds ofbronze statuettesand the enigmatic stone statuary of theGiants of Mont'e Prama.
The union between the nuragic populations and the merchants coming from every part of theMediterraneanled to a refined production ofgoldartifacts,rings,earringsand jewelry of all kinds, but also votive steles and wall decorations. In addition to architecture linked to public works, the Romans introduced themosaicsand decorated the rich villas of thepatricianswith sculptures and paintings.
In theMiddle Ages, during the Judicates period, the architecture of the churches were enriched withcapitals,sarcophagi,frescoes,marblealtars and later embellished withretables, paintings by important artists such as theMaster of Castelsardo,Pietro Cavaro, Andrea Lusso, and the school of the so-calledMaster of Ozieriwho was headed byGiovanni del Giglioand Pietro Giovanni Calvano, ofSeneseorigin.
In the nineteenth century and in early twentieth century originated the myths of an uncontaminated and timeless island. Recounted by the many travelers who visited Sardinia in that period, likeD. H. Lawrence, such myths were celebrated mainly by Sardinian artists such asGiuseppe Biasi,Francesco Ciusa, Filippo Figari, Mario Delitala and Stanis Dessy. In their works they highlighted the autochthonous values of the agro-pastoral world, not yet homologated to the modernity that was pressing from the outside. Other important Sardinian artists of the second half of the twentieth century wereCostantino Nivola, Maria Lai, Albino Manca andPinuccio Sciola.
Megalithic building structures callednuraghesare scattered in great numbers throughout Sardinia.Su Nuraxi di Baruminiis aUNESCOWorld Heritage Sitesince 1997.
Italian, which is the official language throughout Italy, is the most widely spoken language today, followed by the island's indigenous language,Sardinian(sardu).
Sardinian is a distinct branch of theRomance languagefamily, going either by the same name or bySouthern Romance: it is therefore a separate language rather than an Italian dialect,and it is also closer to itsLatinroots than Italian itself.Sardinian has been formally recognized as one of Italy's twelve historicalethnolinguistic minoritiessince 1997, by regional and Italian law.The language has been influenced byCatalan, Spanish and recently Italian, while the once spokenPaleo-Sardinian languagecontributes many features to it in many ancient remnants.
In 2006 the regional administration has approved the use of a single standardised writing system, the so-calledLimba Sarda Comuna,in official acts. As a literary language, Sardinian is gaining importance, despite heated debate about the lack of a commonly acknowledged standard orthography and controversial proposed solutions to this problem.The two main orthographies of the language are in factCampidanese(sardu campidanesu), used in central southern Sardinia, andLogudorese(sardu logudoresu), extending northwards almost to the suburbs ofSassari. The Sardinian language is quite different from the otherRomance languagesand is homogeneous in terms ofmorphology,syntaxandlexicon, but it also shows a spectrum of variation in terms ofphoneticsbetween the Northern and the Southerndialects.
Sassarese(sassaresu) andGallurese(gadduresu) are classified asCorso-Sardinian languages, therefore belonging to theItalo-Dalmatian branchrather than to the Sardinian one, and are spoken in the north.
In Sardinia there are a fewlanguage islands: theAlgherese dialect(alguerés) ofCatalanis spoken in the city ofAlghero; on the islands ofSan PietroandSant'Antioco, located in the extreme south west of Sardinia, the local population speaks a variant ofLiguriancalled Tabarchino (tabarchin); fewer and fewer people speakVenetian,FriulianandIstriotinArboreaandFertilia, since these villages have been populated in the 1920s and 1930s by mainland colonists who came fromnortheast Italy, and families fromIstriaandDalmatiaimmediately afterWorld War II.
Due to the Italian assimilation policies carried out since the late 18th centuryand the ongoingabsorptioninto the Italian culture, over the course of time the once prevalent indigenous language has been increasingly losing ground to Italian and the process of ongoinglanguage shifthas led to itsendangerment.In fact, according to the data published byISTATin 2006,52.5% of the Sardinian population speaks only Italian in the family environment, while 29.3% alternates Italian and Sardinian and only 16.6% uses Sardinian or other non-Italian languages; outside the circle of family and friends, the last option drops to 5.2%. The resultingItalianizationhas led to a steep decline of the Sardinian language as well as produced a new non-standard variety of today's majority idiom, Italian:regional Italian of Sardinia(italiano regionale sardo,IrS).
Following the recent growth of the foreign-born population, the presence of other languages, principallyRomanian,Arabic,WolofandChinese, is also expanding in some urban areas.
The first literary work in Sardinian language dates back to the second half of the 15th century: a poem inspired by the life of the holy Porto Torres martyrs by the archbishop of Sassari Antonio Cano. Literary production had a remarkable development in the 16th century, the protagonist wasAntonio Lo Frasso, hisLos diez libros de Fortuna de Amoris mentioned in theDon QuixotebyMiguel de Cervantes. This work is written mainly in Spanish, but there are parts written in Catalan and in the Sardinian language.Multilingualismwas a characteristic trait of the islanders of that time, among them Sigismondo Arquer,Giovanni Francesco FaraandPietro Delitalastood out. Delitala wrote in Italian, then Tuscan, andGerolamo Araollain all the three languages (Sardinian, Spanish and Italian).But already in the 17th century there was a total integration in the Iberian world as demonstrated by the works in Spanish of the poets José Delitala y Castelvì,Joseph Zatrillas Vicoand the writers Francesco Angelo de Vico and Salvatore Vidal.
From 1720, with the passage of theKingdom of Sardinia, to theHouse of Savoy, Italian became the official language. In the 19th century there is an interest of Sardinian authors for the history and culture of Sardinia:Giovanni Spanoundertakes the first archaeological excavations,Giuseppe Mannowrites the first great general history of the island,Pasquale Tolapublishes important documents of the past and writes biographies of illustrious Sardinians.Alberto La Marmoratravels the island far and wide, studying in detail and writing a four-part work entitledVoyage en Sardaigne.
The Sardinian society of the Early 20th century is told byGrazia Deledda, the only italian woman to win aNobel Prize in Literatureto date, Enrico Costa, and the poetSebastiano Satta. In this century, we must remember also the literary production of political characters of great value such asAntonio GramsciandEmilio Lussu. After the Second World War,Giuseppe Dessìemerged, known mainly for his novelPaese d'ombre. In more recent years, the autobiographical novels ofGavino LeddaPadre PadroneandSalvatore SattaIl Giorno del Giudicihad a wide echo, in addition to the works ofSergio Atzeniand other writers active in the recent decades.
Colourful and of various and original forms, the Sardinian traditional clothes are a clear symbol of belonging to specific collective identities. Although the basic model is homogeneous and common throughout the island, each town or village has its own traditional clothing which differentiates it from the others.
Sardinia is home to one of the oldest forms of vocalpolyphony, generally known ascantu a tenore. In 2005,Unescoclassed thecantu a tenoreamong intangible world heritage. Several famous musicians have found it irresistible, includingFrank Zappa,Ornette Coleman, andPeter Gabriel. The latter travelled to the town ofBittiin the central mountainous region and recorded the now world-famousTenores di BittiCDon his Real World label. The guttural sounds produced in this form make a remarkable sound, similar toTuvan throat singing. Another polyphonic style of singing, more like theCorsicanpaghjellaand liturgic in nature, is found in Sardinia and is known ascantu a cuncordu.
Another unique instrument is thelauneddas. Three reed-canes (two of them glued together withbeeswax) produce distinctive harmonies, which have their roots many thousands of years ago, as demonstrated by the bronze statuettes fromIttiri, of a man playing the three reed canes, dated to 2000 BC.
Beyond this, the tradition ofcantu a chiterra(guitarsongs) has its origins in town squares, when artists would compete against one another. The most famous singer of this genre areMaria CartaandElena Ledda.
Sardinian culture is alive and well, and young people are actively involved in their own music and dancing. In 2004,BBCpresenterAndy Kershawtravelled to the island with Sardinian music specialist Pablo Farba and interviewed many artists. His programme can be heard on BBC Radio 3.Sardinia has produced a number of notable jazz musicians such as Antonello Salis, Marcello Melis, andPaolo Fresu.
The mainopera housesof the island are the Teatro Lirico inCagliariand the Teatro Comunale inSassari.
Meat, dairy products, grains and vegetables constitute the most basic elements of the traditional Sardinian diet, along with, to a lesser extent, seafoods such asrock lobster(aligusta),scampi,bottarga(butàriga), squid, and tuna.
Suckling pig(porcheddu) and wild boar (sirbone) are roasted on the spit or boiled in stews of beans and vegetables, thickened with bread.
Herbs such asmintand myrtle are used. Much Sardinian bread is made dry, which keeps longer than high-moisture breads.
Those are baked as well, includingcivraxiu,coccoi pintau, a highly decorative bread andpistoccumade with flour and water only, originally meant for herders, but often served at home with tomatoes, basil, oregano, garlic and a strong cheese.Traditional cheeses includepecorino sardo,pecorino romano,casizolu,ricottaand thecasu martzu(notable for containing live insect larvae).
One of the most famous of foods ispane carasau, the flat bread of Sardinia, famous for its thin crunchiness.Originally the making of this bread was a hard process which needed three women to do the job. This flat bread is always made by hand as it gives a different flavor the more the dough is worked. After working the dough it is rolled out in very thin circles and placed in an extremely hot stone oven where the dough will blow up into a ball shape. Once the dough achieves that state it is then removed from the oven where it is then cut into two thin sheets and stacked to go back into the oven.
Alcoholic beverages include many indigenous wines such asCannonau,Malvasia,Vernaccia,Vermentino, various liquors likeAbbardente,Filu FerruandMirto. Beer is the most drunk alcoholic beverage; Sardinia boasts the highest consumption per capita of beer in Italy (twice higher than the national average).Birra Ichnusais the most commercialized beer produced in Sardinia.
Cagliariis home toCagliari Calcio, which was founded in 1920 and play inSerie A, the Italian first division; it won the Italian Championship in the1969–70 Serie Aseason, becoming the first club inSouthern Italyto achieve such a result. Today, home matches are played at theUnipol Domus.
The island's other major teams areOlbia'sOlbia CalcioandSassari'sTorres Calcio; they both usually play in the national lower leagues. However the latter'swomen'steam counterpartsTorres Femminileare 7 timesnational champions.
TheSardinian national football teamhas also joinedCONIFA, a football federation for all associations outsideFIFA.
Sassariis home toDinamo Basket Sassari, the only Sardinian professionalbasketballclub playing in theLega Basket Serie A, the highest level club competition in Italian professional basketball.
It was founded in 1960, and is also known as Dinamo Banco di Sardegna thanks to a long sponsorship deal with the Sardinian bank. Since its promotion in Lega A in 2010, it has been enjoying the support of fans from Sassari and all over Sardinia with full-house matches on every game played at home. Dinamo Sassari achieved the highest titles in the Italian basketball in 2015, winning theCoppa Italia, theSupercoppaand theItalian basketball championship.
In theProvince of Sassariis theMores motor racing circuit, the onlyFIACircuit homologated by CSAI (Cars) and the IMF (Motorcycles), in Sardinia.
Cagliarihosted aFormula 3000race in 2002 and 2003 on a 2.414-km street circuit around Sant'Eliastadium. In 2003,RenaultF1'sJarno Trulliand formerFerraridriverJean Alesidid a spectacular exhibition. At theGrand PrixBMW-F1 driver Robert Kubica took part in aF3car, as did BMW WTCC Augusto Farfus,GP2'sFairuz FauzyandVitaly Petrov. Since 2004 Sardinia has hosted theRally d'Italia Sardegna, arallycompetition in theFIAWorld Rally Championshipschedule. The rally is held on narrow, twisty, sandy and bumpy mountainous roads in the north of the island.
Sardinia is well known forscuba divingandsnorkelingactivities also due to the many underwater caves and caverns located inAlgheroandCala Gonone,Capo Cacciaand Punta Giglio limestone cliffs, and many sunken shipwrecks. Around the island there are many diving centers offering scuba diving services with equipment rental and guided tours.
On the island ofCaprerais theCentro Velico Caprera, considered one of the largest sailing schools in theMediterranean Sea, founded in 1967.
TheYacht Club Costa Smeralda, located inPorto Cervoand founded in 1967, is the main yachting club on the island.
Annually the island hosts a Superyacht Regatta, previously sponsored byLoro Piana, but from 2021 onwards byGiorgio Armani, and the Maxi YachtRolex Cup.
Part of theLouis Vuitton Trophywas held in theMaddalena archipelagoin 2010.
Vento di Sardegna('Wind of Sardinia') was a sailboat sponsored by the Autonomous Region of Sardinia. Its skipper, Andrea Mura, won theSingle-Handed Trans-Atlantic Racein 2013 and in 2017, the Two Handed Transatlantic Race (Twostar) regatta in 2012 and the Route du Rhum.
Porto Pollo, north ofPalau, is a bay well known bywindsurfersandkitesurfers. The bay is divided by a thin tongue of land that separates it into areas for advanced and beginner/intermediate windsurfers. There is also a restricted area for kitesurfing. Many freestyle windsurfers went to Porto Pollo for training and 2007 saw the finale of the freestyle Pro Kids Europe 2007 contest. Because of theVenturi effectbetween Sardinia andCorsica, the western wind accelerates between the islands and creates the wind that makes Porto Pollo popular among windsurfing enthusiasts.
Cagliari hosts regularly internationalregattas, such as the RC44 championship,Farr 40World championship,Audi MedCupand Kite Championships.In view of the 36th America's Cup, scheduled to take place in New Zealand in 2021,Luna Rossa Challengehas chosen Cagliari as place for its preparation.
Four ski resorts are located on theGennargentuRange at Separadorgiu, Monte Spada, S'Arena and Bruncu Spina; they are equipped with ski schools, chairlifts, skilifts and ski equipment hire.
S'Istrumpa, also known as Sardinian Wrestling, is a traditional Sardinian sport, officially recognized by theItalian National Olympic Committee(C.O.N.I.) and the International Federation of Celtic Wrestling (I.F.C.W.).It shows similarities toScottish Backholdand thegouren. Istrumpa's wrestlers participate annually at the championships for Celtic wrestling stiles.
Sardinia boasts ancient equestrian traditions and is the Italian region with the highest number of horse riders (29% of population)and boasts also finedartstradition, which many believe originated in theSassariregion of the country towards the end of the 15th century. In those days, the darts were carved frombeech(fagus) wood and the flights were feathers drawn from the indigenouspurple swamphen(named in Italianpollo sultano, 'sultana bird'), famed for its spectacular violet-blue plumage.