The Mafia, was referred to in
Italian as Cosa Nostra "Our Thing" or "This Thing of Ours", is a secret society that evolved from
Italian Organized Crime in
mid-19th century Sicily. An offshoot emerged on the East Coast of the United States during the late 19th century following waves of
Italian immigration to that country.
The Mafia's power in the United States peaked in the
mid-20th century, until a series of FBI investigations in the 1970s and 1980s somewhat curtailed the Mafia's influence. Despite the decline, the Mafia and its reputation have become entrenched in American popular culture, portrayed in movies,
TV shows, and even product commercials
"Mafia" is today often used by extension to refer to any large group of people engaged in criminal racketeering activities, such as the Russian Mafia, Black Mafia, Mexican Mafia, Japanese Yakuza,
Irish Mob, Chinese Triads, Albanian mafia, Cuban Mafia, Indian mafia, Cormafia, and several other ethnic organized crime groups.
