Dalla Sicilia alla Tunisia nei secoli XIX-XX. Statistiche e cause di un movimento migratorio

The contribution aims to frame Sicilian emigration to Tunisia, underlin- ing its preponderance within the component coming from Italy, following two directives. One is the analysis of some statistical data, highlighting aspects as much problematic as necessary: although controversial, the numbers convey representations capable of feeding identity and percep- tive constructions in the relations between majority and minority and in those between holders of power and subordinates. The other is the pre- sentation of the causes that have favoured the expatriation from the island and the landing in the North African country, assuming the point of view of the historiographical sources that indicate these causes as majority.