Funchal (30080920346)
Funchal () is the largest city, the municipal seat and the capital of Portugal's Autonomous Region of Madeira, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. The city has a population of 105,795, making it the sixth largest city in Portugal. Because of its high cultural and historical value, Funchal is one of Portugal's main tourist attractions; it is also popular as a destination for New Year's Eve, and it is the leading Portuguese port on cruise liner dockings. Etymology The first settlers named their settlement Funchal after the abundant wild fennel that grew there. The name is formed from the Portuguese word for fennel, ''funcho,'' and the suffix ''-al'', to denote "a plantation of fennel": History This settlement began around 1424, when the island was divided into two ''captaincies.'' The zones that would become the urbanized core of Funchal were founded by João Gonçalves Zarco who settled there with members of his family. Owing to its geographic location, the site became an i ...
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Madeira Island
Madeira is a Portuguese island, and is the largest and most populous of the Madeira Archipelago. It has an area of , including Ilhéu de Agostinho, Ilhéu de São Lourenço, Ilhéu Mole (northwest). As of 2011, Madeira had a total population of 262,456. The island is the top of a massive submerged shield volcano that rises about from the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. The volcano formed atop an east–west rift in the oceanic crust along the African Plate, beginning during the Miocene epoch over 5 million years ago, continuing into the Pleistocene until about 700,000 years ago. This was followed by extensive erosion, producing two large amphitheatres open to south in the central part of the island. Volcanic activity later resumed, producing scoria cones and lava flows atop the older eroded shield. The most recent volcanic eruptions were on the west-central part of the island only 6,500 years ago, creating more cinder cones and lava flows. Madeira is the largest is ...
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