Alì

• 1. Introduction

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  Alì sits about 20 kilometres southwest of Messina, on the eastern edge of Sicily. It is a comune, the Italian term for a municipality, and it belongs to the Metropolitan City of Messina. From here, the larger Sicilian capital of Palermo lies roughly 180 kilometres to the west. The source that describes Alì is brief, naming only its place in the region and the towns that press against its borders. So what does that small set of facts reveal about where Alì stands, and who its neighbours are? The answer begins with the island around it.

• 2. Place In Sicily

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  Sicily is the Italian region that contains Alì, and within that region the comune falls under the Metropolitan City of Messina. The figure of 180 kilometres marks the distance separating Alì from Palermo, set toward the western side of the island. A shorter span, about 20 kilometres, runs southwest from Messina to reach the comune. Those two measurements fix Alì firmly in the island's northeast, closer to Messina than to the regional capital.

• 3. Bordering Towns

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  Alì Terme is one of the three municipalities that share a border with Alì. Fiumedinisi is the second, and Itala completes the trio named in the source. Together these three towns trace the edges of the comune, each meeting Alì along its boundary. Their names point toward the cluster of small municipalities packed into this corner of the Metropolitan City of Messina.