The province of Catania was a province in the autonomous island region of Sicily, Italy. Its capital was the city of Catania. It had an area of 3552 km2 and a total population of about 1,116,917 as of 31 December 2014. Historically known also as Val di Catania, it included until 1927 a large part of the province of Enna. It was replaced by the Metropolitan City of Catania starting from 4 August 2015.

History

The province of Catania was founded by Greeks, in 729 BC. It was conquered by the Roman, in the First Punic War, in 263 BC. It had experienced many volcanic eruptions from the Mount Etna, of which the first eruption was recorded in 475 BC. It was hit by a devastating earthquake in 1169, which caused an estimated death toll of about 15,000 people in the city of Catania alone. In 1669, it was also affected by the 1669 Etna eruption. It was hit by another earthquake in 1693, which resulted in the death of about 12,000 people (63% population at the time).

Geography

The province of Catania was one of nine provinces in the island of Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It met the Ionian Sea at the northeast. The province of Caltanissetta and the province of Enna lay to the west, the province of Ragusa and the province of Siracusa lay to the south, and the province of Messina lay to the north. It also had the largest active volcano of Europe, Mount Etna. The provincial capital and largest commune was the city of Catania.

Subdivisions

There were 58 comuni (: comune) in the province.