It has important road and rail transport infrastructures, and hosts the main airport in Sicily fifth-largest in Italy. The city is located on Sicily's east coast, facing the Ionian Sea at the base of the active volcano Mount Etna. It is the capital of the municipality region known as the Metropolitan City of Catania , which is the seventh-largest metropolitan area in Italy.
The population of the city proper is ,, [ 2 ] while the population of the Metropolitan City of Catania is 1,, During the 14th century, and into the Renaissance period, Catania was one of Italy's most important cultural, artistic and political centres. Catania today is the industrial, logistical, and commercial centre of Sicily. The ancient indigenous population of Sicily, the Sicels , named their villages after geographical attributes of their location.
The Siculian word katane means "grater, flaying knife, skinning place" or a "crude tool apt to pare". Other translations of the name are "harsh lands", "uneven ground", "sharp stones", or "rugged or rough soil". The latter etymologies are easily justifiable since, for many centuries following an eruption, the city has always been rebuilt within its black-lava landscape. The sculpture is most likely a prehistoric sculpture that was reforged during the Byzantine Era, prized as a protective talisman against enemies, both human, natural or geologic.
Afterwards, many Arabic agronomists developed these crops and the citrus orchards in the area around the city. As observed by Strabo , the location of Catania at the foot of Mount Etna has been both a curse and a blessing. On the one hand, violent outbursts of the volcano throughout history have destroyed large parts of the city, while on the other hand the volcanic ashes yield fertile soil, especially suited for the growth of vines.
Two subterranean rivers run under the city; the Amenano, which surfaces at one single point south of Piazza Duomo, and the Longane or Lognina. Winters are mild, with significant nighttime cooling. Precipitation is concentrated from October to March, leaving late spring and summer virtually dry.
