These rulers were still closely linked to the Byzantines, both for a pact of ancient vassalage,[56] and from the ideological point of view, with the use of the Byzantine Greek language (in a Romance country), and the use of art of Byzantine inspiration. In 6 ce, however, frequent disturbances led Augustus to assert imperial control and to appoint a prefect to oversee the restoration of order. Although the basic model is homogeneous and common throughout the island, each town or village has its own traditional clothing which differentiates it from the others. It also shares a further 10 endemic subspecies of bird with Corsica. It lies 120 miles (200 km) west of the mainland of Italy, 7.5 miles (12 km) south of the neighbouring French island of Corsica, and 120 miles (200 km) north of the coast of Africa. After the failure of that uprising, the island was treated as a conquered territory. The island's ranges and plateaux are separated by wide alluvial valleys and flatlands, the main ones being the Campidano in the southwest between Oristano and Cagliari and the Nurra in the northwest. The regional administration is constituted by three authorities: Since 2016, Sardinia is divided into four provinces[171] (Nuoro, Oristano, Sassari, South Sardinia) and the metropolitan city of Cagliari. [191] Sardinian has been formally recognized as one of Italy's twelve historical ethnolinguistc minorities since 1997, by regional and Italian law. Sardinia has been inhabited since the Paleolithic. The Sardinian language is quite different from the other Romance languages and is homogeneous in terms of morphology, syntax and lexicon, but it also shows a spectrum of variation in terms of phonetics between the Northern and the Southern dialects. In 1946, by popular referendum, Italy became a republic, with Sardinia being administered since 1948 by a special statute of autonomy. Κύριε βοήθε τοῦ δοῦλου σου Tουρκοτουρίου ἅρχωντος Σαρδινίας καί τής δούλης σου Γετιτ 2) Tουρκοτουρίου βασιλικου πρωτοσπαθαρίου και Σαλουσίου των ευγενεστάτων αρχόντων.) Its particular statute, which in itself is a constitutional law, gives the region a limited degree of autonomy, entailing the right to carry out the administrative functions of the local body and to create its own laws in a strictly defined number of domains. The SS 131 d.c.n links Oristano with Olbia, crossing the hinterland Nuoro region. It is one of the five Italian regions that have been granted some degree of domestic autonomy by special statute. Phoenician shippers and traders were naturally interested in Sardinian mines, and they founded trading posts at such sites as Caralis (now Cagliari), Sulcis (on Sant’Antioco Island), and Tharros. In Sardinia 1,295,462 vehicles circulate, equal to 613 per 1,000 inhabitants.[159]. The hundreds of lagoons and coastal lakes that dot the island are home for many species of wading birds, such as the greater flamingo. Dum enim Barbaricini omnes, ut insensata animalia vivant, Deum verum nesciant, ligna autem et lapides adorent, in eo ipso quod Deum verum colis, quantum omnes antecedas ostendis. [41], The east Germanic tribe of the Vandals conquered Sardinia in 456. Illiteracy rate among males below 65 years old is 0.24 percent and among women 0.25 percent;[102] the number of women that annually graduate at secondary high schools and universities is about 10–20 percent higher than men. Even agriculture has played a very important role in the economic history of the island, especially in the great plain of Campidano, particularly suitable for wheat farming. CRS4 allowed several telecommunication companies and internet service providers based on the island to flourish, such as Videonline in 1994, Tiscali in 1998 and Andala Umts in 1999.