The Pelagie Islands (Italian: Isole Pelagie, Sicilian: Ìsuli Pilaggî), from the Greek pélagos – πέλαγος meaning “open sea”, are the three small islands of Lampedusa, Linosa, and Lampione, located in the Mediterranean Sea between Malta and Tunisia, south of Sicily. To the northwest lie the island of Pantelleria and the Strait of Sicily. Geographically part of the archipelago (Lampedusa and Lampione) belongs to the African continent; politically and administratively the islands fall within the Sicilian province of Agrigento and represent the southernmost part of Europe.

Of particular ecological concern in the islands is the protection of the Loggerhead Turtle (Caretta caretta) which is endangered throughout the Mediterranean as a result of its nesting sites being taken over by tourism. In Italy the beaches of Pozzolana di Ponente on Linosa and Isola dei conigli on Lampedusa are the last remaining sites where the turtle regularly lays its eggs. The Area Marina Protetta Isole Pelagie nature reserve, covering all three islands, was instituted in 2002.

Source : Wikipedia.org edited by Vanvakys