The capital of Sicily is Palermo. It is an autonomous region of Italy and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 25,700 km² and 5 million inhabitants. Inhabitants of Palermo in Italian are referred to as Palermitani or poetically Panormiti. Palermo was founded in the 8th century BC by Phoenician tradesmen around a natural harbour on the north-western coast of Sicily. The Phoenician name for the city may have been Zîz, but Greeks called it Panormus, meaning all-port, because of its fine natural harbour. It should be noted however that the city was never a Greek city-state, but was later part of the Greek speaking Eastern Roman Empire . Because Sicily is not as prosperous as the mainland Italian regions, legal immigrants and guest workers rarely make headway into Palermo but Sicily is a natural port of call for illegal immigrants and especially those from Northern and Inner Africa. Even if the immigrant population is not taken into account, the city is one of the fastest growing in Italy with those under 14 still outnumbering those over 65.