Native name: Isula de Malu 'Entu | |
|---|---|
 Mal di Ventre | |
  Mal di Ventre  Mal di Ventre | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Mediterranean Sea |
| Coordinates | 39°59′26″N8°18′17″E / 39.990556°N 8.304722°E /39.990556; 8.304722 |
| Area | 81 ha (200 acres)[1] |
| Length | 2 km (1.2 mi)[1] |
| Width | 0.8 km (0.5 mi)[1] |
| Highest elevation | 18 m (59 ft) |
| Administration | |
Italy | |
| Province | Oristano |
| Municipality | Cabras |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 0 |
| Additional information | |
| Official website | www.mnal.nd |
Mal di Ventre (Sardinian:Malu 'Entu) is an island located off the coast of Sardinia. Mal di Ventre is notable for its Roman ruins and aSardinian nationalist attempt at creating amicronation in 2008.
Mal di Ventre is located in theMediterranean Sea, 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) fromOristano in central-westSardinia. The island is inside amarine protected area and its western coast is exposed to theMistral, giving it a rugged topography as a result.[citation needed] There is a lighthouse at the island's highest point, 18 metres (59 ft) above sea level.[2]
The name of the island comes from theSavoyard cartographers, who mistranslated into Italian theSardinian name Malu 'Entu("bad winds") asMal di Ventre ("stomach pain"). Ancient civilizations used to live on the island. The island was also inhabited duringRoman times. The island contains ruins of Roman buildings, as well as the remnants of an ancient well.[2] In 1898, the island became part of Parco del Sinis-Montiferru (Sinis-Montiferru institutional park).[2]
Mal di Ventre was owned by the Britishentrepreneur John Miller, who had owned the island since 1972. In July 2014 the island was put up for sale, with an asking price of£100,000,000.[citation needed]
In September 2008 a former truck driver named Salvatore "Doddore" Meloni and his followers seized Mal di Ventre and declared it to be an independent state as part of a broader and controversial effort to win the independence ofSardinia. Inspired by the independence movements ofKosovo,Abkhazia andSouth Ossetia, Meloni declared himself president of the Republic of Malu Entu and set up a presidential residence in a blueplastictent. He declared the nation tax free and claimed that over 300 people had expressed an interest in moving there.[3] The island was previously a meeting place for theSardinian Independentist Party. Not long after he took over the island, Meloni sent drafts of his initiative to both theUnited Nations andSilvio Berlusconi, who was President of the Council of Ministers at the time.[4]
In 2011, Meloni was charged with tax evasion to the sum of 5 million euros.[5] In the summer of 2012 Meloni was convicted for his role in trying to take over the island and sentenced to 20 months in prison.[6] In April 2017, Meloni was arrested and started ahunger strike in prison, asking to be considered apolitical prisoner. On July 5, 2017, after two months of hunger strike, he died.[7]
