Corleone (; or ) is an Italian town and comune of roughly 11,158 inhabitants in the Metropolitan City of Palermo, in Sicily. Several Mafia bosses have come from Corleone, including Tommy Gagliano, Gaetano Reina, Jack Dragna, Giuseppe Morello, Michele Navarra, Luciano Leggio, Leoluca Bagarella, Salvatore Riina and Bernardo Provenzano. It is also the birthplace of several fictional characters in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel The Godfather, including the eponymous Vito (Andolini) Corleone. The local mafia clan, the Corleonesi, led the Mafia in the 1980s and 1990s, and were the most violent and ruthless group ever to take control of the organization. Corleone municipality has an area of with a population density of 49 inhabitants per square kilometer. It is located in an inland area of the mountain, in the valley between the Rocca di Maschi, the Castello Soprano and the Castello Sottano. Corleone is located at above sea level. History Etymology The etymology of the name is uncertain, undergoing various modifications from the Ancient Greek Kouroullounè to the Arabic Kurulliùn \ Qurlayun of the Emirate of Sicily, from Latin Curilionum to the Norman Coraigliòn, from the Aragonese Conillon, Coniglione from which the Sicilian Cunigghiuni originated. The modern name originates from 1556. Another belief is that the name derives from an Arab fighter named Kurliyun (cf. Coeur Leon, Lionheart), who conquered it for the Aghlabids in 840. Antiquity The territory of Corleone has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Recent research has identified several settlements distributed around two main areas: Pietralunga and The Old One (La Vecchia). This name refers to a mountain that rises to about , and is about from today's town. The site of Pietralunga was occupied from the final Neolithic Period to the Bronze Age (the presence of a glass bell decorated in pointillé) while the site of The Old One has been inhabited since the Middle Ages (the presence of an imposing castle with towers has recently been identified). However, the biggest part of the settlement was built in the archaic and classical period. "A few materials relating to the Hellenistic period found at the site have supported the identification of the ancient town situated on the Old One with the ancient town of Schera, cited by Cicero, Cluverio and Ptolemy, although the archaeological remains on which this theory is based are still too unstable. (D'Angelo - Spatafora). Middle Ages In 840, Corleone was conquered by the North