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It is currently spoken 5,000,000 people on Sicily and a another 2,000,000 in other places (like the Sicilians that emigrated to the United States).
History
Sicily was inhabited in ancient times by the Sicans, who were probably related to the Latins.
In 734 BC the Greek colonization started, and the Greek domination took about 500 years, until the Romans conquered it. There can still be found words of Greek origin.
For about 600 years, (254 BC-410), Sicily was included in the Roman Empire, imposing the Vulgar Latin to the inhabitants of Sicily.
After the fall of Rome, barbarians ruled Sicily, but their influence was not great. In 535, Emperor Justinian I made Sicily a Byzantine province and once again, Greek became the official language. Toward the end of the Byzantine Empire, it was conquered by Arabs, again with an influence over the Sicilian language.
Succesive conquests of the Normans, Spaniards, Catalans and finally the inclusion in Italy made their contributions to the Sicilian.