The explanation of the genetic difference between northern and north-central Italians and southern Italians together with Sardinians is that over the course of many centuries there has been considerable immigration into the southern Italian mainland, Sicily, and Sardinia by peoples from North Africa and the Near East. Around 750 BC the Phoenicians and later the Carthaginians from North Africa colonized all these southern Italian regions [...]. Later, "Arabs occupied Sicily, Sardinia and Southern Italy in the seventh to the ninth centuries" (Cavalli-Sforza). Sicily was ruled by Arabs from North Africa until 1060 and "during and after the Arab conquest, large Arab immigration took place" [...]. Arab rule ended in 1060 when Sicily was conquered by the Normans, but the Arab occupation left a genetic footprint. These results have been further confirmed by Zalloua, Platt, El Sibai, and Khalife (2008) who report genetic similarities between male Phoenicians (from present day Lebanon) and males in the populations of Sicily, Sardinia, and the far south of mainland Italy.
