Etymology of the name: it was called “Didyme” (twins) for its two mountains that look like twins. The current name comes from the brackish lake located in the town of Lingua; in ancient times, salt was extracted from this lake and used not only for normal uses in the kitchen, but also for the preservation of foodstuffs such as capers and various fish.
Origin: volcanic, dormant activity for 13,000 years. Age: it is among the oldest in the archipelago, second only to Filicudi. The volcanic activity of Salina began 500,000 years ago. Surface area: 26.8 km². It is the second largest after Lipari. Mountains: the island is what remains of six ancient volcanic buildings and has, in order, the first and third highest reliefs in the archipelago: Monte Fossa delle Felci (962m) and Monte dei Porri (860m) which retain the typical conical shape. Population: 2581 inhabitants divided into 903 inhabitants in the Municipality of Santa Marina Salina, 982 inhabitants in the Municipality of Malfa and 696 inhabitants in the Municipality of Leni (data updated to 31/12/2015) Name of the inhabitants: Salinari Municipalities: the island is distributed in three municipalities (Santa Marina Salina, Malfa and Leni) administratively autonomous from Lipari.