This tag can refer the concept of 'the mafia' as well as to bands named 'mafia'.
1. The Mafia (also known as Cosa Nostra) is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid 19th century in Sicily. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct. Each group, known as a "family", "clan", or "cosca", claims sovereignty over a territory in which it operates its rackets – usually a town or village or a neighbourhood (borgata) of a larger city. Their primary activity is protection racketeering, but they are also involved in arms trafficking, bid rigging, cigarette smuggling, counterfeiting, drug trafficking, fraud, loan sharking, money laundering, political corruption, and rum running.
Offshoots of the Mafia emerged in the United States during the late 19th century following waves of Italian emigration (see American Mafia) but also in Canada and Australia. The term "Mafia" is also employed to name Mafia-type organizations operating under a similar structure, whether Sicilian or not; such as the Camorra (from Campania), the 'Ndrangheta (from Calabria), the Stidda (Southern Sicily) or the Sacra Corona Unita (from Apulia), as well as foreign organized crime groups.
Mafia organizations have long been an iconic part of world popular culture. A wide variety of books, films, songs, albums, video games, and other media use mafia-related topics, themes, imagery, and so on. In the U.S., the 'Godfather' film series featuring Al Pacino as mobster Michael Corleone is a prime example.
2. Several artists exist named 'Mafia'.
3. Soundtrack from Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven videogame. .
