mafia

Mafia is a term used to describe certain clan- or culturally-based organized crime enterprises. The original and best known Mafia is the Sicilian Mafia in Italy. When used alone, typically refers to either the Sicilian Mafia or the American Mafia. The term is sometimes used for other organized crime groups in Italy and around the world, e.g. "the Russian Mafia" or "the Japanese Mafia". These terms are applied informally by the press and public; the criminal organizations themselves have their own terms (e.g. the Sicilian Mafia calls itself "Cosa Nostra" and the "Japanese Mafia" calls itself yakuza).

Virtually all groups that can be considered mafias are criminal organizations that use violence to practice extortion and protection racketeering. They often engage in other illicit activities such asdrug-trafficking, loan-sharking, and fraud. Mafias are often bonded together by a code of honour, in particular the code of silence (or omertà in southern Italy), to safeguard the organisation from outside intrusion and law enforcement action