During the Muslim ruled period of Sicily, the island was divided into three different administrative regions: the Val di Noto in the southeast, the Val Demone in the northeast and the Val di Mazara in the west. Each zone has a noticeably different agriculture and topography and they converged near Castrogiovanni. The term val or vallo (plural valli) is probably derived from the Siculo-Arabicwilayah, meaning "province".