| Most movie buffs would recognize the reference of | | | | come from the don and all the profits of the family's |
| the phrase "an offer he can't refuse." The last name | | | | dealings will inevitably reach him. Under him is the |
| Corleone can't be anything but the last name of the | | | | underboss, the vice president. He may resolve issues |
| Godfather. The TV show "The Sopranos" updated | | | | and disputes without consulting the don. Beneath him |
| the image of organized crime and presented it in a | | | | are the captains or the capos. Capos head a smaller |
| very modern and realistic manner. However, though | | | | group. His group consists of soldiers. Capos may head |
| one might have been exposed to information about | | | | a group of 10 or as many as a thousand. Soldiers are |
| the mafia, one cannot ignore the air of mystery that | | | | the lowest-ranked members in the mafia organization |
| hovers around the concept. | | | | and they do most of the leg work in the organization. |
| The mafia, or the Nosa Costra, is believed to have | | | | The mafia got even bigger when it spilled over to |
| begun in Sicily, Italy. Although this is not the first | | | | other places such as Europe and the United States. |
| organized crime family ever created, this is the most | | | | Organized crime has become so huge in Italy that its |
| famous. Though there has been organized crime | | | | income is believed to be equivalent to 7 percent of |
| documented before the Cosa Nostra came into | | | | Italy's economy. The spread of the Cosa Nostra or |
| existence, this is the most alluded to in movies and | | | | the culture of the mafia is attributed to the migration |
| popular culture. | | | | of Italians to other nations. When the Italian flag |
| The structure of the Cosa Nostra is rather simple. | | | | reached other continents, some members of the |
| The don is the boss of a family or a gang. Decisions | | | | organization did, too. |