Palermo (city)

Capital and chief seaport of Sicily; population (2001) 652,700. It is also capital of Palermo province. Palermo is situated on the fertile, citrus-growing northern coastal plain of the Conca d'Oro, on a bay of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Industries include shipbuilding, steel, glass, textiles, and chemicals. Palermo is the second-largest city in Sicily, and is the most important industrial centre and port with shipbuilding facilities in southern Italy after Naples. It was founded by the Phoenicians in the 8th century BC.