The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...

in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. They are the southernmost of the

autonomous communities of Spain eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administra ...

. The islands have a population of 2.2 million people and they are the most populous special territory of the European Union. The seven main islands are (from largest to smallest in area)

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...

Fuerteventura Fuerteventura () is one of the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean, part of the North Africa region, and politically part of Spain. It is located away from the northwestern coast of Africa. The island was declared a biosphere reserve by UNES ...

, Gran Canaria,

Lanzarote Lanzarote (, , ) is a Spanish island, the easternmost of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. It is located approximately off the north coast of Africa and from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering , Lanzarote is the fourth-largest of the i ...

, La Palma, La Gomera, and El Hierro. The archipelago includes many smaller islands and islets, including La Graciosa, Alegranza, Isla de Lobos,

Montaña Clara Montaña Clara () (Spanish meaning "light-colored mountain") is a small uninhabited islet belonging to the Chinijo Archipelago, in the northeastern part of the Canary Islands, only a short distance (about ) northwest of La Graciosa. The islet area ...

Roque del Oeste Roque del Oeste (; Spanish for "rock of the west"), also referred to as ''Roque del Infierno'', is an uninhabited islet located 0.6 km northeast of the island of Montaña Clara, in the northeasternmost part of the Canary Islands, the Chinijo ...

, and Roque del Este. It also includes a number of rocks, including those of Salmor, Fasnia, Bonanza, Garachico, and

Anaga Macizo de Anaga is a mountain range in the northeastern part of the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands. The highest point is 1,024 m (Cruz de Taborno). It stretches from the Punta de Anaga in the northeast to Cruz del Carmen in the sou ...

. In ancient times, the island chain was often referred to as "the Fortunate Isles". The Canary Islands are the southernmost region of

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, and the largest and most populous archipelago of Macaronesia. Because of their location, the Canary Islands have historically been considered a link between the four continents of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

, and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. In 2019, the Canary Islands had a population of 2,153,389, with a density of 287.39 inhabitants per km², making it the eighth most populous autonomous community of Spain. The population is mostly concentrated in the two capital islands: around 43% on the island of

and 40% on the island of Gran Canaria. The Canary Islands, especially Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, and Lanzarote, are a major tourist destination, with over 12 million visitors per year. This is due to their beaches, subtropical climate, and important natural attractions, especially

Maspalomas Maspalomas () is a tourist resort in the south of the island of Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, stretching from Bahía Feliz in the east to Meloneras in the west, including the resort towns of San Agustín and Playa del Inglés and San Fernando. ...

in Gran Canaria, Teide National Park, and Mount

Teide Teide, or Mount Teide, ( es, El Teide, Pico del Teide, , "Peak of Teide") is a volcano on Tenerife in the Canary Islands, Spain. Its summit (at ) is the highest point in Spain and the highest point above sea level in the islands of the Atlan ...

(a World Heritage Site) in

. Mount Teide is the highest peak in Spain and the third tallest volcano in the world, measured from its base on the ocean floor.Página web
del ISTAC sobre entrada de turistas en Canarias. one#'Menú Principal'!A1 Estadísticas de Turismo de Tenerife The islands have warm summers and winters warm enough for the climate to be technically tropical at sea level. The amount of precipitation and the level of maritime moderation vary depending on location and elevation. The archipelago includes green areas as well as desert areas. The islands' high mountains are ideal for astronomical observation, because they lie above the temperature inversion layer. As a result, the archipelago boasts two professional observatories: Teide Observatory on the island of Tenerife, and Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on the island of La Palma. In 1927, the

Province of Canary Islands The Province of Canary Islands (in Spanish: ''Provincia de Canarias'') is the name of the former province formed by the Canary Islands. This province had its capital in the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. After the provincial division in 1927 th ...

was split into two provinces. In 1982, the autonomous community of the Canary Islands was established. The cities of

Santa Cruz de Tenerife Santa Cruz de Tenerife, commonly abbreviated as Santa Cruz (), is a city, the capital of the island of Tenerife, Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and capital of the Canary Islands. Santa Cruz has a population of 206,593 (2013) within its admi ...

and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria are, jointly, the capital of the islands.''Real Decreto de 30 de noviembre de 1833''
en wikisource''Real Decreto de 30 de noviembre de 1833''
en el sitio web oficial del Gobierno de Canarias Those cities are also, respectively, the capitals of the provinces of

and Las Palmas. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has been the largest city in the Canaries since 1768, except for a brief period in the 1910s. Between the

1833 territorial division of Spain The 1833 territorial division of Spain divided the country into provinces, in turn classified into "historic regions" ( es, link=no, regiones históricas).''Real Decreto de 30 de noviembre de 1833''
on wikisource''Real Decreto de 30 de noviembre de 1833''
at the official website of the Canary Islands Government The third largest city in the Canary Islands is San Cristóbal de La Laguna (a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

) on Tenerife. This city is also home to the ''Consejo Consultivo de Canarias'', which is the supreme consultative body of the Canary Islands. During the

Age of Sail The Age of Sail is a period that lasted at the latest from the mid-16th (or mid- 15th) to the mid- 19th centuries, in which the dominance of sailing ships in global trade and warfare culminated, particularly marked by the introduction of naval ...

, the islands were the main stopover for Spanish galleons on their way to the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

, which sailed that far south in order to catch the prevailing northeasterly

trade winds The trade winds or easterlies are the permanent east-to-west prevailing winds that flow in the Earth's equatorial region. The trade winds blow mainly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisph ...

Etymology

The name ''Islas Canarias'' is likely derived from the Latin name ''Canariae Insulae'', meaning "Islands of the Dogs", a name that was evidently generalized from the ancient name of one of these islands, ''Canaria'' – presumably Gran Canaria. According to the historian

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...

, the island ''Canaria'' contained "vast multitudes of dogs of very large size". Other theories speculate that the name comes from the Nukkari Berber tribe living in the Moroccan Atlas, named in Roman sources as ''Canarii'', though Pliny again mentions the relation of this term with dogs. The connection to dogs is retained in their depiction on the islands' coat-of-arms. It is thought that the aborigines of Gran Canaria called themselves "Canarios". It is possible that after being conquered, this name was used in plural in Spanish, i.e., as to refer to all of the islands as the Canarii-as. The name of the islands is not derived from the canary bird; rather, the birds are named after the islands.

Physical geography

is the largest and most populous island of the archipelago. Gran Canaria, with 865,070 inhabitants, is both the Canary Islands' second most populous island, and the third most populous one in Spain after Tenerife (966,354 inhabitants) and

Majorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

(896,038 inhabitants). The island of

is the second largest in the archipelago and located from the African coast. The islands form the Macaronesia

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

with the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

, and the

Savage Isles The Savage Islands or Selvagens Islands ( pt, Ilhas Selvagens ; also known as the Salvage Islands) are a small Portuguese archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean, south of Madeira, and north of the Canary Islands.

. The Canary Islands is the largest and most populated archipelago of the Macaronesia region. The archipelago consists of seven large and several smaller islands, all of which are volcanic in origin. According to the position of the islands with respect to the north-east

, the climate can be mild and wet or very dry. Several native species form

laurisilva Laurel forest, also called laurisilva or laurissilva, is a type of subtropical forest found in areas with high humidity and relatively stable, mild temperatures. The forest is characterized by broadleaf tree species with evergreen, glossy and el ...

forests. As a consequence, the individual islands in the Canary archipelago tend to have distinct

microclimate A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often with a slight difference but sometimes with a substantial one. The term may refer to areas as small as a few squ ...

s. Those islands such as El Hierro, La Palma and La Gomera lying to the west of the archipelago have a climate which is influenced by the moist Canary Current. They are well vegetated even at low levels and have extensive tracts of sub-tropical laurisilva forest. As one travels east toward the African coast, the influence of the current diminishes, and the islands become increasingly arid.

and

, the islands which are closest to the African mainland, are effectively desert or semi desert. Gran Canaria is known as a "continent in miniature" for its diverse landscapes like

and

Roque Nublo Roque Nublo (''Clouded Rock'', ''Rock in the Clouds'') is a volcanic rock on the island of Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. It is tall, and its top is above sea level. The Roque Nublo is the third altitude of the island of Gran Canaria, aft ...

. In terms of its climate

is particularly interesting. The north of the island lies under the influence of the moist Atlantic winds and is well vegetated, while the south of the island around the tourist resorts of

Playa de las Américas Playa de las Américas is a purpose-built holiday resort in Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands of Spain. It is located in the southern and southern-west part of the Municipality of Arona, close to the adjoining Municipality of Adeje in the west ...

and

Los Cristianos Los Cristianos is a town in Spain with a population of 21,235 (2017), situated on the south coast of the Canary Island of Tenerife. Located in the municipality of Arona, Tenerife, Arona between the cone of the mountain Chayofita and the greater mou ...

is arid. The island rises to almost above sea level, and at altitude, in the cool relatively wet climate, forests of the endemic pine '' Pinus canariensis'' thrive. Many of the plant species in the Canary Islands, like the Canary Island pine and the

dragon tree ''Dracaena'' () is a genus of about 120 species of trees and succulent shrubs. The formerly accepted genera ''Pleomele'' and ''Sansevieria'' are now included in ''Dracaena''. In the APG IV classification system, it is placed in the family Asp ...

, '' Dracaena draco'' are endemic, as noted by Sabin Berthelot and

Philip Barker Webb Philip Barker Webb (10 July 1793 – 31 August 1854) was an English botanist. Life Webb was born to a wealthy, aristocratic family; his father was the lord of the manors of Witley and Milford, Surrey, Milford, in Surrey, England. Webb was e ...

in their work, ''L'Histoire Naturelle des Îles Canaries'' (1835–50).

Climate

The climate is warm

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...

and generally semidesertic, moderated by the sea and in summer by the

. There are a number of

s and the classifications range mainly from semi-arid to

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

. According to Köppen, the majority of the Canary Islands have a hot desert climate (''BWh'') and a

hot semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...

(''BSh''), caused partly due to the cool Canary Current. There also exists a subtropical humid climate which is very influenced by the ocean in the middle of the islands of La Gomera,

and La Palma, where

cloud forests grow.

Geology

Parque nacional de Garajonay - bosque de laurel

The seven major islands, one minor island, and several small islets were originally volcanic islands, formed by the Canary hotspot. The Canary Islands is the only place in Spain where

volcanic eruption Several types of volcanic eruptions—during which lava, tephra (ash, lapilli, volcanic bombs and volcanic blocks), and assorted gases are expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure—have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are often ...

s have been recorded during the

Modern Era The term modern period or modern era (sometimes also called modern history or modern times) is the period of history that succeeds the Middle Ages (which ended approximately 1500 AD). This terminology is a historical periodization that is applie ...

, with some volcanoes still active (El Hierro, 2011). Volcanic islands such as those in the Canary chain often have steep ocean cliffs caused by catastrophic debris avalanches and

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated grade (slope), slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of ...

s. The island chain's most recent eruption occurred at Cumbre Vieja, a volcanic ridge on La Palma, in 2021. The

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...

on Tenerife is the highest mountain in Spain, and the third tallest volcano on Earth on a volcanic ocean island. All the islands except La Gomera have been active in the last million years; four of them (Lanzarote, Tenerife, La Palma and El Hierro) have historical records of eruptions since European discovery. The islands rise from Jurassic

oceanic crust Oceanic crust is the uppermost layer of the oceanic portion of the tectonic plates. It is composed of the upper oceanic crust, with pillow lavas and a dike complex, and the lower oceanic crust, composed of troctolite, gabbro and ultramafic cumu ...

associated with the opening of the Atlantic. Underwater magmatism commenced during the Cretaceous, and continued to the present day. The current islands reached the ocean's surface during the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

. The islands were once considered as a distinct physiographic section of the

Atlas Mountains The Atlas Mountains are a mountain range in the Maghreb in North Africa. It separates the Sahara Desert from the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean; the name "Atlantic" is derived from the mountain range. It stretches around through Moroc ...

province, which in turn is part of the larger African Alpine System division, but are nowadays recognized as being related to a magmatic hot spot. In the summer of 2011 a series of low-magnitude earthquakes occurred beneath El Hierro. These had a linear trend of northeast–southwest. In October a submarine eruption occurred about south of Restinga. This eruption produced gases and pumice, but no explosive activity was reported. The following table shows the highest mountains in each of the islands:

Natural symbols

The official natural symbols associated with Canary Islands are the bird '' Serinus canaria'' (canary) and the ''

Phoenix canariensis ''Phoenix canariensis'', the Canary Island date palm or pineapple palm, is a species of flowering plant in the palm family Arecaceae, native to the Canary Islands off the coast of Morocco. It is a relative of ''Phoenix dactylifera'', the true dat ...

'' palm. File:Serinus canaria LC0210.jpg, '' Serinus canaria'' File:Phoenix canariensis ag.JPG, ''

National parks

Four of Spain's thirteen national parks are located in the Canary Islands, more than any other autonomous community. Two of these have been declared

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Sites and the other two are part of Biosphere Reserves. The parks are: Teide National Park is the oldest and largest national park in the Canary Islands and one of the oldest in Spain. Located in the geographic centre of the island of Tenerife, it is the most visited national park in Spain. In 2010, it became the most visited national park in Europe and second worldwide. The park's highlight is the

volcano; standing at an altitude of , it is the highest elevation of the country and the third largest volcano on Earth from its base. In 2007, the Teide National Park was declared one of the

12 Treasures of Spain The 12 Treasures of Spain ( es, 12 Tesoros de España) was a project that selected the purported "Twelve Treasures of the Spain, Kingdom of Spain". The contest was conducted by broadcasters Antena 3 (Spain), Antena 3 and Cadena COPE, COPE. The fin ...

Politics

Spain Canary Islands location map Province of Las Palmas

Spain Canary Islands location map Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Governance

The regional executive body, the Parliament of the Canary Islands, is presided over by

Ángel Víctor Torres Ángel Víctor Torres Pérez (: born 30 March 1966) is a Spanish politician who serves as the president of the Canary Islands. He is the secretary-general of the Socialist Party of the Canaries (PSC–PSOE). Early life and education Born on 30 ...

(

PSOE The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gov ...

), the current

President of the Canary Islands The president of the Canary Islands is the head of government of the Canary Islands, one of the 17 autonomous communities of Spain, while the monarch Felipe VI remains the head of state as king of Spain (and therefore of the Canary Islands). Lis ...

. The latter is invested by the members of the regional legislature, the Parliament of the Canary Islands, that consists of 70 elected legislators. The last regional election took place in May 2019. The islands have 14 seats in the

Spanish Senate The Senate ( es, Senado) is the upper house of the Cortes Generales, which along with the Congress of Deputies – the lower chamber – comprises the Parliament of the Kingdom of Spain. The Senate meets in the Palace of the Senate in Madrid. Th ...

. Of these, 11 seats are directly elected (3 for Gran Canaria, 3 for Tenerife, and 1 each for Lanzarote (including La Graciosa), Fuerteventura, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro) while the other 3 are appointed by the regional legislature.

Political geography

The Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands consists of two provinces (''provincias''), Las Palmas and

, whose capitals ( Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and

) are capitals of the autonomous community. Each of the seven major islands is ruled by an island council named ''Cabildo Insular''. Each island is subdivided into smaller

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

(''municipios''); Las Palmas is divided into 34 municipalities, and Santa Cruz de Tenerife is divided into 54 municipalities. The international boundary of the Canaries is one subject of dispute in the Morocco Spain relations. Moreover, in 2022 the UN has declared the Canary Island's territorial waters as Moroccan coast and Morocco has authorised gas and oil exploration in what the Canary Islands states to be Canarian territorial waters and

Western Sahara Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. About 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), while the r ...

waters. Morocco's official position is that international laws regarding territorial limits do not authorise Spain to claim seabed boundaries based on the territory of the Canaries, since the Canary Islands enjoy a large degree of autonomy. In fact, the islands do not enjoy any special degree of autonomy as each one of the Spanish regions is considered an autonomous community with equal status to the European ones.

Canarian nationalism

There are some pro-independence political parties, like the

National Congress of the Canaries The National Congress of the Canaries ( es, Congreso Nacional de las Canarias; CNC) is a separatist political party in the Canary Islands, Spain. Ideology and goals CNC supports independence for the Canary Islands. The CNC was founded in 1986 by A ...

(CNC) and the

Popular Front of the Canary Islands The Popular Front of the Canary Islands ( es, Frente Popular de las Islas Canarias) or FREPIC-AWAÑAK is a marginal leftist political party seeking independence from Spain for the Canary Islands. FREPIC-AWAÑAK was formed by merging minority C ...

, but their popular support is almost insignificant, with no presence in either the autonomous parliament or the ''cabildos insulares''. According to a 2012 study by the Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas, when asked about national identity, the majority of respondents from the Canary Islands (53.8%) consider themselves Spanish and Canarian in equal measures, followed by 24% who consider themselves more Canarian than Spanish. Only 6.1% of the respondents consider themselves only Canarian while 7% consider themselves only Spanish.

Defence

The defence of the territory is the responsibility of the

Spanish Armed Forces The Spanish Armed Forces are in charge of guaranteeing the sovereignty and independence of the Kingdom of Spain, defending its territorial integrity and the constitutional order, according to the functions entrusted to them by the Constitution o ...

. As such, various components of the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

and the

Civil Guard Civil Guard refers to various policing organisations: Current * Civil Guard (Spain), Spanish gendarmerie * Civil Guard (Israel), Israeli volunteer police reserve * Civil Guard (Brazil), Municipal law enforcement corporations in Brazil Histori ...

are based in the territory.

History

Ancient and pre-Hispanic times

Before the arrival of humans, the Canaries were inhabited by prehistoric animals; for example, the giant lizard (''

Gallotia goliath ''Gallotia goliath'' (the Tenerife giant lizard or goliath Tenerife lizard) is an extinct giant lizard species from the island of Tenerife of the Canary Islands, Spain. This reptile lived before the arrival of humans and is believed to have g ...

''), the

and Gran Canaria giant rats, and giant prehistoric tortoises, ''

Geochelone burchardi The Tenerife giant tortoise (''Centrochelys burchardi'') is an extinct species of cryptodire turtle in the family Testudinidae endemic to the island of Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Characteristics It was a large tortoise, similar to th ...

'' and ''

Geochelone vulcanica The Gran Canaria giant tortoise (''Centrochelys vulcanica'') is an extinct species of cryptodire turtle in the family Testudinidae endemic to the island of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands. Characteristics This is one of the two described ...

''. Although the original settlement of what are now called the Canary Islands is not entirely clear, linguistic, genetic, and archaeological analyses indicate that indigenous peoples were living on the Canary Islands at least 2000 years ago but possibly one thousand years or more before, and that they shared a common origin with the

Berbers , image = File:Berber_flag.svg , caption = The Berber ethnic flag , population = 36 million , region1 = Morocco , pop1 = 14 million to 18 million , region2 = Algeria , pop2 ...

on the nearby North African coast. Reaching the islands may have taken place using several small boats, landing on the easternmost islands Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. These groups came to be known collectively as the Guanches, although ''Guanches'' had been the name for only the indigenous inhabitants of Tenerife. LomodelosGatos

As José Farrujia describes, 'The indigenous Canarians lived mainly in natural caves, usually near the coast, 300-500m above sea level. These caves were sometimes isolated but more commonly formed settlements, with burial caves nearby'. Archaeological work has uncovered a rich culture visible through artefacts of

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

s, human figures, fishing, hunting and farming tools, plant fibre clothing and vessels, as well as cave paintings. At Lomo de los Gatos on Gran Canaria, a site occupied from 1,600 years ago up until the 1960s, round stone houses, complex burial sites, and associated artefacts have been found. Across the islands are thousands of

Libyco-Berber The Libyco-Berber alphabet or the Libyc alphabet (modern Berber name: ''Agemmay Alibu-Maziɣ'') is an abjad writing system that was used during the first millennium BC by various Berber peoples of North Africa and the Canary Islands, to write an ...

alphabet inscriptions scattered and they have been extensively documented by many linguists. The social structure of indigenous Canarians encompassed 'a system of

matrilineal Matrilineality is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which each person is identified with their matriline – their mother's Lineage (anthropology), lineage – and which can in ...

descent in most of the islands, in which inheritance was passed on via the female line. Social status and wealth were hereditary and determined the individual's position in the social pyramid, which consisted of the king, the relatives of the king, the lower nobility, villeins, plebeians, and finally executioners, butchers, embalmers, and prisoners'. Their religion was

animist Animism (from Latin: ' meaning 'breath, Soul, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct Spirituality, spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things—Animal, animals, Plant, plants, Ro ...

, centring on the sun and moon, as well as natural features such as mountains.

Exploration

The islands may have been visited by the

Phoenicia Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...

ns, the

Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...

, and the

Carthaginians The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of the ...

. King

Juba II Juba II or Juba of Mauretania (Latin: ''Gaius Iulius Iuba''; grc, Ἰóβας, Ἰóβα or ;Roller, Duane W. (2003) ''The World of Juba II and Kleopatra Selene'' "Routledge (UK)". pp. 1–3. . c. 48 BC – AD 23) was the son of Juba I and client ...

, Caesar

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...

Numidia Numidia ( Berber: ''Inumiden''; 202–40 BC) was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians located in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up modern-day Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunis ...

n protégé, is credited with discovering the islands for the Western world. According to

, Juba found the islands uninhabited, but found "a small temple of stone" and "some traces of buildings". Juba dispatched a naval contingent to re-open the dye production facility at

Mogador Essaouira ( ; ar, الصويرة, aṣ-Ṣawīra; shi, ⵜⴰⵚⵚⵓⵔⵜ, Taṣṣort, formerly ''Amegdul''), known until the 1960s as Mogador, is a port city in the western Morocco, Moroccan region of Marrakesh-Safi, Marakesh-Safi, on the ...

in what is now western Morocco in the early first century AD. That same naval force was subsequently sent on an exploration of the Canary Islands, using Mogador as their mission base. The names given by Romans to the individual islands were ''Ninguaria'' or ''Nivaria'' (Tenerife), ''Canaria'' (Gran Canaria), ''Pluvialia'' or ''Invale'' (Lanzarote), ''Ombrion'' (La Palma), ''Planasia'' (Fuerteventura), ''Iunonia'' or ''Junonia'' (El Hierro) and ''Capraria'' (La Gomera). From the 14th century onward, numerous visits were made by sailors from

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

. Lancelotto Malocello settled on Lanzarote in 1312. The Majorcans established a mission with a bishop in the islands that lasted from 1350 to 1400. Pueblochico guanches A

Castilian conquest

In 1402, the Castilian colonisation of the islands began with the expedition of the French explorers Jean de Béthencourt and

Gadifer de la Salle Gadifer de La Salle (Sainte-Radegonde, 1340 –1415) was a French knight and crusader of Poitevine origin who, with Jean de Béthencourt, conquered and explored the Canary Islands for the Kingdom of Castile. Life Gadifer de La Salle was born ...

, nobles and

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain. W ...

s of

Henry III of Castile Henry III of Castile (4 October 1379 – 25 December 1406), called the Suffering due to his ill health (, ), was the son of John I and Eleanor of Aragon. He succeeded his father as King of Castile in 1390. Birth and education Henry was born ...

, to Lanzarote. From there, they went on to conquer Fuerteventura (1405) and El Hierro. These invasions were 'brutal cultural and military clashes between the indigenous population and the Castilians' lasting over a century due to formidable resistance by indigenous Canarians. Professor

Mohamed Adhikari Mohamed Adhikari is a professor of history and author of several books on both Coloured identity and politics in South Africa as well as on settler colonialism and genocide. He is a professor at the University of Cape Town. He was born in Cape To ...

has defined the conquest of the islands as a

genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Latin ...

of the Guanches. Béthencourt received the title King of the Canary Islands, but still recognised King Henry III as his overlord. It was not a simple military enterprise, given the aboriginal resistance on some islands. Neither was it politically, since the particular interests of the nobility (determined to strengthen their economic and political power through the acquisition of the islands) conflicted with those of the states, particularly Castile, which were in the midst of territorial expansion and in a process of strengthening of the Crown against the nobility. AlonsoFernandezdeLugo2

Historians distinguish two periods in the conquest of the Canary Islands: Aristocratic conquest (''Conquista señorial''). This refers to the early conquests carried out by the nobility, for their own benefit and without the direct participation of the Crown of Castile, which merely granted rights of conquest in exchange for pacts of vassalage between the noble conqueror and the Crown. One can identify within this period an early phase known as the Betancurian or Norman Conquest, carried out by

Jean de Bethencourt Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jean ...

(who was originally from Normandy) and

between 1402 and 1405, which involved the islands of

, El Hierro and

. The subsequent phase is known as the Castilian Conquest, carried out by Castilian nobles who acquired, through purchases, assignments and marriages, the previously conquered islands and also incorporated the island of La Gomera around 1450. Royal conquest (''Conquista realenga''). This defines the conquest between 1478 and 1496, carried out directly by the Crown of Castile, during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, who armed and partly financed the conquest of those islands which were still unconquered: Gran Canaria, La Palma and

. This phase of the conquest came to an end in the year 1496, with the dominion of the island of Tenerife, bringing the entire Canarian Archipelago under the control of the Crown of Castile. Columbus House-Vegueta-Las Palmas Gran Canaria

Columbus House-Vegueta-Las Palmas Gran Canaria

Béthencourt also established a base on the island of La Gomera, but it would be many years before the island was fully conquered. The natives of La Gomera, and of Gran Canaria, Tenerife, and La Palma, resisted the Castilian invaders for almost a century. In 1448 Maciot de Béthencourt sold the lordship of Lanzarote to Portugal's Prince

Henry the Navigator ''Dom'' Henrique of Portugal, Duke of Viseu (4 March 1394 – 13 November 1460), better known as Prince Henry the Navigator ( pt, Infante Dom Henrique, o Navegador), was a central figure in the early days of the Portuguese Empire and in the 15t ...

, an action that was accepted by neither the natives nor the Castilians. Despite Pope Nicholas V ruling that the Canary Islands were under Portuguese control, the crisis swelled to a revolt which lasted until 1459 with the final expulsion of the Portuguese. In 1479, Portugal and Castile signed the

Treaty of Alcáçovas The Treaty of Alcáçovas (also known as Treaty or Peace of Alcáçovas-Toledo) was signed on 4 September 1479 between the Catholic Monarchs of Castile and Aragon on one side and Afonso V and his son, Prince John of Portugal, on the other side. ...

, which settled disputes between Castile and Portugal over the control of the Atlantic. This treaty recognized Castilian control of the Canary Islands but also confirmed Portuguese possession of the

, and the Cape Verde islands, and gave the Portuguese rights to any further islands or lands in the Atlantic that might be discovered. The Castilians continued to dominate the islands, but due to the topography and the resistance of the native Guanches, they did not achieve complete control until 1496, when Tenerife and La Palma were finally subdued by Alonso Fernández de Lugo. As a result of this 'the native pre-Hispanic population declined quickly due to war, epidemics, and slavery'. The Canaries were incorporated into the

Kingdom of Castile The Kingdom of Castile (; es, Reino de Castilla, la, Regnum Castellae) was a large and powerful state on the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region. It began in the 9th centu ...

After the conquest and the introduction of slavery

Canary Islands map by William Dampier 1699 - Project Gutenberg eText 15675

Coat of Arms of the Realm of Canary Islands

After the conquest, the Castilians imposed a new economic model, based on single-crop cultivation: first

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...

; then wine, an important item of trade with

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Gran Canaria was conquered by the

Crown of Castile The Crown of Castile was a medieval polity in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and, some decades later, the parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accessi ...

on 6 March 1480, and Tenerife was conquered in 1496, and each had its own governor. There has been speculation that the abundance of ''

Roccella tinctoria ''Roccella tinctoria'' is a lichenised species of fungus in the genus ''Roccella'', homotypic synonym of ''Lecanora tinctoria'' (DC.) Czerwiak., 1849. It was first described by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle in 1805. It has the following varietie ...

'' on the Canary Islands offered a profit motive for Jean de Béthencourt during his conquest of the islands. Lichen has been used for centuries to make dyes. This includes royal purple colors derived from roccella tinctoria, also known as orseille. Slave-driving (Africa, 1878, p

The objective of the Spanish Crown to convert the islands into a powerhouse of cultivation required a much larger labour force. This was attained through a brutal practice of enslavement, not only of indigenous Canarians but large numbers of Africans who were forcibly taken from North and Sub-Saharan Africa. Whilst the first slave plantations in the Atlantic region were across

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

, and the Canary Islands, it was only the Canary Islands which had an indigenous population and were therefore invaded rather than newly occupied. This agriculture industry was largely based on sugarcane and the Castilians converted large swaths of the landscape for sugarcane production, and the processing and manufacturing of sugar, facilitated by enslaved labourers. The cities of

and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria became a stopping point for the Spanish traders, as well as

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, O ...

s, and missionaries on their way to the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...

. This trade route brought great wealth to the Castilian social sectors of the islands and soon were attracting merchants and adventurers from all over Europe. As the wealth grew, enslaved African workers were also forced into demeaning domestic roles for the rich Castilians on the islands such as servants in their houses. Research on the skeletons of some of these enslaved workers from the burial site of Finca Clavijo on Gran Canaria have showed that 'all of the adults buried in Finca Clavijo undertook extensive physical activity that involved significant stress on the spine and appendicular skeleton' that result from relentless hard labour, akin to the physical abnormalities found with enslaved peoples from other sugarcane plantations around the world. These findings of the physical strain that the enslaved at Finca Clavijo were subjected to in order to provide wealth for the Spanish elite has inspired a poem by British write
Ralph Hoyte
entitled ''Close to the Bone''. The method of forcibly relocating Africans to the Canary Islands in order to provide intensive labour, the first time this had been attempted, was looked at favourably by other European powers and was the inspiration behind the Transatlantic Slave Trade whereby around 12 million Africans were taken from their homelands in order to enter forced labour as plantation workers and domestic servants in the Americas over a period of 400 years. As a result of the huge wealth generated by enslaved labour, magnificent palaces and churches were built on La Palma during this busy, prosperous period. The Church of El Salvador survives as one of the island's finest examples of the architecture of the 16th century. Civilian architecture survives in forms such as Casas de los Sánchez-Ochando or

Casa Quintana The Quintana House is an example of the ancient architecture of the municipality of Guia de Gran Canaria in the Canarian island of Gran Canaria, located in the Plaza Mayor de Guía; its buildings date from the 16th century. The Canarian balcon ...

. The Canaries' wealth invited attacks by

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

s and

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

s. Ottoman

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

and privateer Kemal Reis ventured into the Canaries in 1501, while

Murat Reis the Elder Murat Reis the Elder ( tr, Koca Murat Reis; sq, Murat Reis Plaku 1534 – 1609) was an Ottoman privateer and admiral, who served in the Ottoman Navy. He is regarded as one of the most important Barbary corsairs. Early career Born into a ...

captured Lanzarote in 1585. The most severe attack took place in 1599, during the

Dutch Revolt The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) (Historiography of the Eighty Years' War#Name and periodisation, c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and t ...

. A Dutch fleet of 74 ships and 12,000 men, commanded by

Pieter van der Does Pieter van der Does (1562 – 24 October 1599) was a Dutch admiral. He was the son of Jacob van der Does (c.1500-1577), schepen of Leiden during its siege. Life Pieter van der Does was born in Leiden. In 1586 he became superintendent of the ...

, attacked the capital Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (the city had 3,500 of Gran Canaria's 8,545 inhabitants). The Dutch attacked the Castillo de la Luz, which guarded the harbor. The Canarians evacuated civilians from the city, and the Castillo surrendered (but not the city). The Dutch moved inland, but Canarian cavalry drove them back to Tamaraceite, near the city. The Dutch then laid siege to the city, demanding the surrender of all its wealth. They received 12 sheep and 3 calves. Furious, the Dutch sent 4,000 soldiers to attack the Council of the Canaries, who were sheltering in the village of Santa Brígida. 300 Canarian soldiers ambushed the Dutch in the village of Monte Lentiscal, killing 150 and forcing the rest to retreat. The Dutch concentrated on Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, attempting to burn it down. The Dutch pillaged

, on the southern coast of Gran Canaria,

San Sebastián San Sebastian, officially known as Donostia–San Sebastián (names in both local languages: ''Donostia'' () and ''San Sebastián'' ()) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Basque Country (autonomous community), B ...

on La Gomera, and Santa Cruz on La Palma, but eventually gave up the siege of Las Palmas and withdrew. In 1618 the

Barbary pirates The Barbary pirates, or Barbary corsairs or Ottoman corsairs, were Muslim pirates and privateers who operated from North Africa, based primarily in the ports of Salé, Rabat, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli, Libya, Tripoli. This area was known i ...

from North Africa attacked Lanzarote and La Gomera taking 1000 captives to be sold as

slaves Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

. Another noteworthy attack occurred in 1797, when

was attacked by a British fleet under

Horatio Nelson Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strategy, and unconventional tactics brought abo ...

on 25 July. The British were repulsed, losing almost 400 men. It was during this battle that Nelson lost his right arm.

18th to 19th century

The sugar-based economy of the islands faced stiff competition from Spain's

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

colonies. Low sugar prices in the 19th century caused severe recessions on the islands. A new cash crop,

cochineal The cochineal ( , ; ''Dactylopius coccus'') is a scale insect in the suborder Sternorrhyncha, from which the natural dye carmine is derived. A primarily sessility (motility), sessile parasitism, parasite native to tropical and subtropical Sout ...

(''cochinilla''), came into cultivation during this time, reinvigorating the islands' economy. During this time the Canarian-American trade was developed, in which Canarian products such as cochineal, sugarcane and rum were sold in American ports such as

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

Campeche Campeche (; yua, Kaampech ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Campeche ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Campeche), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. Located in southeast Mexico, it is bordered by ...

, La Guaira and

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

, among others. By the end of the 18th century, Canary Islanders had already emigrated to Spanish American territories, such as

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

, and

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional) , websi ...

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

and St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana. These economic difficulties spurred mass emigration during the 19th and first half of the 20th century, primarily to the Americas. Between 1840 and 1890 as many as 40,000 Canary Islanders emigrated to

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. Also, thousands of Canarians moved to

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

where the Spanish monarchy felt that Canarians would adapt to island life better than other immigrants from the mainland of Spain. Deeply entrenched traditions, such as the Mascaras Festival in the town of Hatillo, Puerto Rico, are an example of Canarian culture still preserved in Puerto Rico. Similarly, many thousands of Canarians emigrated to the shores of

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. During the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

of 1898, the Spanish fortified the islands against a possible American attack, but no such event took place.

Romantic period and scientific expeditions

Sirera and Renn (2004) distinguish two different types of expeditions, or voyages, during the period 1770–1830, which they term "the Romantic period": First are "expeditions financed by the States, closely related with the official scientific Institutions. characterised by having strict scientific objectives (and inspired by) the spirit of Illustration and progress". In this type of expedition, Sirera and Renn include the following travellers: * J. Edens, whose 1715 ascent and observations of Mt. Teide influenced many subsequent expeditions. *

Louis Feuillée Louis Éconches Feuillée (sometimes spelled Feuillet) (1660, Mane, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence – 18 April 1732) was a French member of the Order of the Minims, explorer, astronomer, geographer, and botanist. Biography Feuillée was educated at th ...

(1724), who was sent to measure the meridian of El Hierro and to map the islands. *

Jean-Charles de Borda Jean-Charles, chevalier de Borda (4 May 1733 – 19 February 1799) was a French mathematician, physicist, and Navy officer. Biography Borda was born in the city of Dax to Jean‐Antoine de Borda and Jeanne‐Marie Thérèse de Lacroix. In 175 ...

(1771, 1776) who more accurately measured the longitudes of the islands and the height of Mount Teide * the Baudin-Ledru expedition (1796) which aimed to recover a valuable collection of natural history objects. The second type of expedition identified by Sirera and Renn is one that took place starting from more or less private initiatives. Among these, the key exponents were the following: *

Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, p ...

(1799) *

Buch Buch (the German word for book or a modification of the German word '' Buche'' for beech) may refer to: People * Buch (surname), a list of people with the surname Buch Geography ;Germany: *Buch am Wald, a town in the district of Ansbach, Bavaria * ...

and Smith (1815) *

Broussonet Pierre Marie Auguste Broussonet (28 February 1761 – 17 January 1807) was a French naturalist who contributed primarily to botany. He was born in Montpellier, where he was educated, and travelled to Morocco, Spain, the Canary Islands, and Souther ...

* Webb * Sabin Berthelot. Sirera and Renn identify the period 1770–1830 as one in which "In a panorama dominated until that moment by France and England enters with strength and brio Germany of the Romantic period whose presence in the islands will increase".

Early 20th century

Bahia luz las palmas 1912 jordao da luz perestello

At the beginning of the 20th century, the British introduced a new cash-crop, the

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...

, the export of which was controlled by companies such as Fyffes. 30 November 1833 the

had been created with the capital being declared as Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The rivalry between the cities of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Santa Cruz de Tenerife for the capital of the islands led to the division of the

into two provinces on 23 September 1927. During the time of the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII, and was di ...

Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

and

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...

workers' movements began to develop, led by figures such as Jose Miguel Perez and Guillermo Ascanio. However, outside of a few municipalities, these organisations were a minority and fell easily to Nationalist forces during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

Franco regime

In 1936,

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...

was appointed General Commandant of the Canaries. He joined the military revolt of 17 July which began the

. Franco quickly took control of the archipelago, except for a few points of resistance on La Palma and in the town of

Vallehermoso Vallehermoso can mean: *Vallehermoso, Negros Oriental, a municipality in the Philippines *Vallehermoso, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, a municipality on Canary Island *Vallehermoso (Madrid), a ward of Chamberi district, Madrid, Spain *Estadio de Valleherm ...

, on La Gomera. Though there was never a war in the islands, the post-war suppression of political dissent on the Canaries was most severe. During the Second World War,

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

prepared plans for the British seizure of the Canary Islands as a naval base, in the event of

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

being invaded from the Spanish mainland. The planned operation was known as

Operation Pilgrim Operation Pilgrim was a planned British operation to invade and occupy the Canary Islands during World War II. The invasion was a contingency plan to be executed in the event of a known plan whereby Germany would support Spain in occupying Gibra ...

. Opposition to Franco's regime did not begin to organise until the late 1950s, which experienced an upheaval of parties such as the Communist Party of Spain and the formation of various nationalist, leftist parties. During the

Ifni War The Ifni War, sometimes called the Forgotten War in Spain (''la Guerra Olvidada''), was a series of armed incursions into Spanish West Africa by Moroccan insurgents that began in October 1957 and culminated with the abortive siege of Sidi I ...

, the Franco regime set up concentration camps on the islands to extrajudicially imprison those in Western Sahara suspected of disloyalty to Spain, many of whom were colonial troops recruited on the spot but were later deemed to be potential fifth columns and deported to the Canary Islands. These camps were characterised by the use of forced labour for infrastructure projects and highly unsanitary conditions resulting in the widespread occurrence of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

Self-governance

After the death of Franco, there was a pro-independence armed movement based in

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

, the Movement for the Independence and Self-determination of the Canaries Archipelago (MAIAC). In 1968, the Organisation of African Unity recognized the MAIAC as a legitimate

African independence movement The African independence movements took place in the 20th century, when a wave of struggles for independence in European-ruled African territories were witnessed. Notable independence movements took place: *Algeria (former French Algeria), see ...

, and declared the Canary Islands as an African territory still under foreign rule. After the establishment of a democratic

constitutional monarchy A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...

in Spain,

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ...

was granted to the Canaries via a law passed in 1982, with a newly established autonomous devolved government and parliament. In 1983, the first autonomous elections were held. The

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gov ...

(PSOE) won. In the 2007 elections, the PSOE gained a plurality of seats, but the nationalist Canarian Coalition and the conservative Partido Popular (PP) formed a ruling coalition government.

Capitals

At present, the Canary Islands is the only autonomous community in Spain that has two capitals:

and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, since the was created in 1982. The political capital of the archipelago did not exist as such until the nineteenth century. The first cities founded by the

Europeans Europeans are the focus of European ethnology, the field of anthropology related to the various ethnic groups that reside in the states of Europe. Groups may be defined by common genetic ancestry, common language, or both. Pan and Pfeil (2004) ...

at the time of the conquest of the Canary Islands in the 15th century were:

Telde Telde is a town and a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the eastern part of the island of Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, overseas (Atlantic) insular Spain. It is the second most populous municipality on the island, with a population of (201 ...

(in Gran Canaria), San Marcial del Rubicón (in

) and

Betancuria Betancuria is a small town and a municipality in the western part of the island of Fuerteventura in the Province of Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain. The population is 811 (2013),Fuerteventura Fuerteventura () is one of the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean, part of the North Africa region, and politically part of Spain. It is located away from the northwestern coast of Africa. The island was declared a biosphere reserve by UNES ...

). These cities boasted the first European institutions present in the archipelago, including

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

bishoprics. Although, because the period of splendor of these cities developed before the total conquest of the archipelago and its incorporation into the

never had a political and real control of the entire Canary archipelago. Las Palmas panorama

The function of a Canarian city with full jurisdiction for the entire archipelago only exists after the conquest of the Canary Islands, although originally ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

'', that is, without legal and real meaning and linked to the headquarters of the Canary Islands General Captaincy. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria was the first city that exercised this function. This is because the residence of the Captain General of the Canary Islands was in this city during part of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.La Junta Suprema de Canarias. Volumen I. Buenaventura Bonnet y Riveron. Real Sociedad Económica de Amigos del País de Tenerife, Editorial: Editorial Interinsular Canaria SA, publicado en Santa Cruz de Tenerife en 1980 (reedición de 1948) Páginas 104–106 In May 1661, the Captain General of the Canary Islands, Jerónimo de Benavente y Quiñones, moved the headquarters of the captaincy to the city of San Cristóbal de La Laguna on the island of

. This was due to the fact that this island since the conquest was the most populated, productive and with the highest economic expectations. La Laguna would be considered the ''de facto'' capital of the archipelago until the official status of the capital of Canary Islands in the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife was confirmed in the 19th century, due in part to the constant controversies and rivalries between the bourgeoisies of San Cristóbal de La Laguna and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria for the economic, political and institutional hegemony of the archipelago. Already in 1723, the Captain General of the Canary Islands Lorenzo Fernandez de Villavicencio had moved the headquarters of the General Captaincy of the Canary Islands from San Cristóbal de La Laguna to Santa Cruz de Tenerife. This decision continued without pleasing the society of the island of Gran Canaria. It would be after the creation of the

in November 1833 in which Santa Cruz would become the first fully official capital of the Canary Islands (''

De jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally ...

'' and not of ''de facto'' as happened previously). Santa Cruz de Tenerife would be the capital of the Canary archipelago until during the Government of General

Primo de Rivera Primo de Rivera is a Spanish family prominent in politics of the 19th and 20th centuries: *Fernando Primo de Rivera (1831–1921), Spanish politician and soldier *Miguel Primo de Rivera (1870–1930), nephew of Fernando, military officer and dictat ...

in 1927 the Province of Canary Islands was split in two provinces: Las Palmas with capital in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and

with capital in the homonymous city. Finally, with the Statute of Autonomy of the Canary Islands in 1982 and the creation of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands, the capital of the archipelago between Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Santa Cruz de Tenerife is fixed, which is how it remains today.

Demographics

The Canary Islands have a population of 2,153,389 inhabitants (2019), making it the eighth most populous of Spain's autonomous communities. The total area of the archipelago is , resulting in a population density of 287.4 inhabitants per square kilometre. The population of the islands according to the 2019 data are: *

– 917,841 * Gran Canaria – 851,231 *

– 152,289 (including the population of La Graciosa) *

– 116,886 * La Palma – 82,671 * La Gomera – 21,503 * El Hierro – 10,968 The Canary Islands have become home to many European residents, mainly coming from Italy, Germany and the UK. Because of the vast immigration to Venezuela and Cuba during the second half of the 20th century and the later return to the Canary Islands of these people along with their families, there are many residents whose country of origin was

(66,593) or

(41,807). Since the 1990s, many

illegal migrants Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwa ...

have reached the Canary Islands,

Melilla Melilla ( , ; ; rif, Mřič ; ar, مليلية ) is an autonomous city of Spain located in north Africa. It lies on the eastern side of the Cape Three Forks, bordering Morocco and facing the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of . It was par ...

and

Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ar, سَبْتَة, Sabtah) is a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of several Spanish territorie ...

, using them as entry points to the EU.

Religion

The

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

has been the majority religion in the archipelago for more than five centuries, ever since the

Conquest of the Canary Islands The conquest of the Canary Islands by the Crown of Castille took place between 1402 and 1496 and described as the first instance of European settler colonialism in Africa. It can be divided into two periods: the Conquista señorial, carried out ...

. There are also several other religious communities.

Roman Catholic Church

The overwhelming majority of native Canarians are

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

(76.7%) with various smaller foreign-born populations of other Christian beliefs such as

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

. The appearance of the Virgin of Candelaria (Patron of Canary Islands) was credited with moving the Canary Islands toward Christianity. Two Catholic saints were born in the Canary Islands: Peter of Saint Joseph de Betancur and José de Anchieta. Both born on the island of Tenerife, they were respectively missionaries in

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. The Canary Islands are divided into two Catholic dioceses, each governed by a bishop: * Diócesis Canariense: Includes the islands of the Eastern Province: Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote. Its capital was San Marcial El Rubicón (1404) and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (1483–present). There was a previous bishopric which was based in

, but it was later abolished. * Diócesis Nivariense: Includes the islands of the western province: Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro. Its capital is San Cristóbal de La Laguna (1819–present).

Other religions

Separate from the overwhelming Christian majority are a minority of

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

. Among the followers of

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

, the

Islamic Federation of the Canary Islands The Islamic Federation of the Canary Islands (in Spanish: ''Federación Islámica de Canarias'') is a Muslim religious organization that brings together associations and Islamic religious communities around the Canary Islands. Its headquarters is ...

exists to represent the Islamic community in the Canary Islands as well as to provide practical support to members of the Islamic community. For its part, there is also the Evangelical Council of the Canary Islands in the archipelago. Other religious faiths represented include

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

as well as

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

. Minority religions are also present such as the Church of the Guanche People which is classified as a

neo-pagan Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, is a term for a religion or family of religions influenced by the various historical pre-Christian beliefs of pre-modern peoples in Europe and adjacent areas of North Afric ...

native religion. Also present are

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

, Baháʼí, African religion, and Chinese religions. According to Statista in 2019, there are 75,662

in Canary Islands.

Statistics

The distribution of beliefs in 2012 according to the CIS Barometer Autonomy was as follows: * Catholic 84.9% * Atheist/Agnostic/Unbeliever 12.3% * Other religions 1.7%

Population genetics

Islands

Ordered from west to east, the Canary Islands are El Hierro, La Palma, La Gomera,

, Gran Canaria,

, and

. In addition, north of Lanzarote are the islets of La Graciosa,

, Alegranza, Roque del Este and

, belonging to the

Chinijo Archipelago The Chinijo Archipelago () is a small archipelago located in the northeastern part of the Canary Islands, north of the island of Lanzarote. The archipelago includes the islets of Montaña Clara, Alegranza, La Graciosa, Roque del Este and Roque del ...

, and northeast of Fuerteventura is the islet of

Lobos Lobos is the headquarters city of the Lobos Partido in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It was founded on 2 June 1802 by José Salgado. Background Located 100 km from Buenos Aires, Lobos is currently a fertile agricultural area known ma ...

. There are also a series of small adjacent rocks in the Canary Islands: the

Roques de Anaga The Roques de Anaga are two monolithic rocks forming some of the most emblematic natural monuments of Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain). Roque de Tierra stands 179 meters above sea level and is closer to the main island while Roque de Fuera, at 66 ...

, Garachico and Fasnia in Tenerife, and those of Salmor and Bonanza in El Hierro. File:Spain Canary Islands location map El Hierro.svg, El Hierro File:Spain Canary Islands location map La Palma.svg, La Palma File:Spain Canary Islands location map La Gomera.svg, La Gomera File:Spain Canary Islands location map Tenerife.svg,

File:Spain Canary Islands location map Gran Canaria.svg, Gran Canaria File:Spain Canary Islands location map Fuerteventura.svg,

File:Spain Canary Islands location map Lanzarote.svg,

El Hierro

El Hierro, the westernmost island, covers , making it the second smallest of the major islands, and the least populous with 10,798 inhabitants. The whole island was declared Reserve of the Biosphere in 2000. Its capital is Valverde. Also known as Ferro, it was once believed to be the westernmost land in the world.

Fuerteventura

Fuerteventura, with a surface of , is the second-most extensive island of the archipelago. It has been declared a Biosphere reserve by

Unesco The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

. It has a population of 113,275. Being also the most ancient of the islands, it is the one that is more eroded: its highest point is the Peak of the Bramble, at a height of . Its capital is Puerto del Rosario.

Gran Canaria

Gran Canaria has 846,717 inhabitants. The capital, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (377,203 inhabitants), is the most populous city and shares the status of capital of the Canaries with Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Gran Canaria's surface area is . In the center of the island lie the Roque Nublo and Pico de las Nieves ("Peak of Snow") . On the south of the island are the Maspalomas Dunes (Gran Canaria), these are the biggest tourist attractions.

La Gomera

La Gomera has an area of and is the second least populous island with 21,136 inhabitants. Geologically it is one of the oldest of the archipelago. The insular capital is San Sebastian de La Gomera. Garajonay's National Park is located on the island.

Lanzarote

Lanzarote is the easternmost island and one of the most ancient of the archipelago, and it has shown evidence of recent volcanic activity. It has a surface of , and a population of 149,183 inhabitants, including the adjacent islets of the Chinijo Archipelago. The capital is

Arrecife Arrecife (; ; ) is the capital city and a municipality of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. It was made the island's capital in 1852. The city owes its name to the rock reef ("arrecife" being Spanish for "reef") which covers its local beach. It als ...

, with 56,834 inhabitants.

Chinijo Archipelago

The Chinijo Archipelago includes the islands La Graciosa, Alegranza,

, Roque del Este and

. It has a surface of , and only La Graciosa is populated, with 658 inhabitants. With , La Graciosa, is the smallest inhabited island of the Canaries, and the major island of the Chinijo Archipelago.

La Palma

La Palma, with 81,863 inhabitants covering an area of , is in its entirety a biosphere reserve. For long it showed no signs of volcanic activity, even though the volcano

Teneguía Teneguía () is a monogenetic cinder cone – a volcanic vent which has been active once (in 1971) and has had further seismic activity. It is situated on the island of La Palma, one of the Canary Islands, and is located at the southern end o ...

entered into eruption last in 1971. On September 19, 2021, the volcanic Cumbre Vieja on the island erupted. It is the second-highest island of the Canaries, with the Roque de los Muchachos at as its highest point.

Santa Cruz de La Palma Santa Cruz de la Palma (Spanish for ''Holy Cross of La Palma'') is a city and a municipality on the east coast of the island of La Palma in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife of the Canary Islands. Santa Cruz de la Palma is the second-largest ...

(known to those on the island as simply "Santa Cruz") is its capital.

Tenerife

Tenerife is, with its area of , the most extensive island of the Canary Islands. In addition, with 904,713 inhabitants it is the most populated island of the archipelago and Spain. Two of the islands' principal cities are located on it: the capital,

and San Cristóbal de La Laguna (a World Heritage Site). San Cristóbal de La Laguna, the second city of the island is home to the oldest university in the Canary Islands, the University of La Laguna.

, with its is the highest peak of Spain and also a World Heritage Site. Tenerife is the site of the worst air disaster in the history of aviation, in which 583 people were killed in the collision of two Boeing 747s on 27 March 1977.

La Graciosa

Graciosa Island or commonly La Graciosa is a volcanic island in the Canary Islands of Spain, located 2 km (1.2 mi) north of the island of Lanzarote across the Strait of El Río. It was formed by the Canary hotspot. The island is part of the Chinijo Archipelago and the Chinijo Archipelago Natural Park (Parque Natural del Archipiélago Chinijo). It is administrated by the municipality of Teguise. In 2018 La Graciosa officially became the eighth Canary Island. Before then, La Graciosa had the status of an islet, administratively dependent on the island of Lanzarote. It is the smallest and least populated of the main islands, with a population of about 700 people.

Data

Economy and environment

The economy is based primarily on

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

, which makes up 32% of the GDP. The Canaries receive about 12 million tourists per year. Construction makes up nearly 20% of the GDP and tropical agriculture, primarily bananas and tobacco, are grown for export to Europe and the Americas. Ecologists are concerned that the resources, especially in the more

arid A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most ar ...

islands, are being

overexploited Overexploitation, also called overharvesting, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to replenish. The term ap ...

but there are still many agricultural resources like

tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

es,

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

es,

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion ...

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years ago, ...

vine A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselv ...

s, dates, oranges, lemons,

fig The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

apricot An apricot (, ) is a fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus ''Prunus''. Usually, an apricot is from the species '' P. armeniaca'', but the fruits of the other species in ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca'' are also ...

peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in Zhejiang province of Eastern China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and others (the glossy-skinned, non-fu ...

es and

almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree native to Iran and surrounding countries, including the Levant. The almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree. Within the genus ...

s. Water resources are also being overexploited, due to the high water usage by tourists. Also, some islands (such as Gran Canaria and Tenerife) overexploit the ground water. This is done in such degree that, according to European and Spanish legal regulations, the current situation is not acceptable. To address the problems, good governance and a change in the water use paradigm have been proposed. These solutions depend largely on controlling water use and on demand management. As this is administratively difficult and politically unpalatable, most action is currently directed at increasing the public offer of water through import from outside; a decision which is economically, politically and environmentally questionable. To bring in revenue for environmental protection, innovation, training and water sanitation a

tourist tax A tourist tax is any revenue-generating measure targeted at tourists. It is a means of combating overtourism and a form of tax exporting (partial shifting of tax burden to non-citizens or non-residents). The tourist industry typically campaigns aga ...

was considered in 2018, along with a doubling of the

ecotax An environmental tax, ecotax (short for ecological taxation), or green tax is a tax levied on activities which are considered to be harmful to the environment and is intended to promote environmentally friendly activities via economic incentives. ...

and restrictions on holiday rents in the zones with the greatest pressure of demand. The economy is

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

25 billion (2001 GDP figures). The islands experienced continuous growth during a 20-year period, up until 2001, at a rate of approximately 5% annually. This growth was fueled mainly by huge amounts of

foreign direct investment A foreign direct investment (FDI) is an investment in the form of a controlling ownership in a business in one country by an entity based in another country. It is thus distinguished from a foreign portfolio investment by a notion of direct co ...

, mostly to develop tourism real estate (hotels and apartments), and European Funds (near €11 billion in the period from 2000 to 2007), since the Canary Islands are labelled Region Objective 1 (eligible for euro structural funds). Additionally, the EU allows the Canary Islands Government to offer special tax concessions for investors who incorporate under the Zona Especial Canaria (ZEC) regime and create more than five jobs. Spain gave permission in August 2014 for Repsol and its partners to explore oil and

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

prospects off the Canary Islands, involving an investment of €7.5 billion over four years, to commence at the end of 2016. Repsol at the time said the area could ultimately produce 100,000 barrels of oil a day, which would meet 10 percent of Spain's energy needs. However, the analysis of samples obtained did not show the necessary volume nor quality to consider future extraction, and the project was scrapped. Despite currently having very high dependence on fossil fuels, research on the renewable energy potential concluded that a high potential for renewable energy technologies exists on the archipelago. This, in such extent even that a scenario pathway to 100% renewable energy supply by 2050 has been put forward. The Canary Islands have great natural attractions, climate and

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...

es make the islands a major tourist destination, being visited each year by about 12 million people (11,986,059 in 2007, noting 29% of Britons, 22% of Spanish (from outside the Canaries), and 21% of

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

). Among the islands, Tenerife has the largest number of tourists received annually, followed by Gran Canaria and Lanzarote. The archipelago's principal tourist attraction is the Teide National Park (in Tenerife) where the highest mountain in Spain and third largest

in the world (Mount

), receives over 2.8 million visitors annually. The combination of high mountains, proximity to Europe, and clean air has made the

Roque de los Muchachos Roque de los Muchachos (English: "Rock of the Boys") is a rocky mound at the highest point on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, Spain. The rocks are found at an elevation of above sea level, not far from the Observatorio del Roque d ...

peak (on La Palma island) a leading location for

telescope A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally meaning only an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to observe ...

s like the

Grantecan The Gran Telescopio Canarias (GranTeCan or GTC) is a reflecting telescope located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on the island of La Palma, in the Canaries, Spain. It is the world's largest single-aperture optical telescope. Constr ...

. The islands, as an autonomous region of Spain, are in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

and the

Schengen Area The Schengen Area ( , ) is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and j ...

. They are in the European Union Customs Union but outside the

VAT A value-added tax (VAT), known in some countries as a goods and services tax (GST), is a type of tax that is assessed incrementally. It is levied on the price of a product or service at each stage of production, distribution, or sale to the en ...

area.Territorial status of EU countries and certain territories

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

, retrieved 18 December 2018 Instead of VAT there is a local Sales Tax (IGIC) which has a general rate of 7%, an increased tax rate of 13.5%, a reduced tax rate of 3% and a zero tax rate for certain basic need products and services. Consequently, some products are subject to additional VAT if being exported from the islands into mainland Spain or the rest of the EU. Canarian time is

Western European Time Western European Time (WET, UTC±00:00) is a time zone covering parts of western Europe and consists of countries using UTC±00:00 (also known as Greenwich Mean Time, shortly called GMT). It is one of the three standard time zones in the Europea ...

(WET) (or GMT; in summer one hour ahead of GMT). So Canarian time is one hour behind that of mainland Spain and the same as that of the UK, Ireland and mainland Portugal all year round.

Tourism statistics

The number of tourists who visited the Canary Islands had been in 2018 16,150,054 and in the year 2019 15,589,290.

GDP statistics

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the Canary Islands in 2015 was , per capita. The figures by island are as follows:

Transport

Current fleet

The Canary Islands have eight airports altogether, two of the main ports of Spain, and an extensive network of autopistas (highways) and other roads. For a road map see multimap.

Traffic congestion Traffic congestion is a condition in transport that is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. Traffic congestion on urban road networks has increased substantially since the 1950s. When traffic de ...

is sometimes a problem in Tenerife and on Grand Canaria. Large

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

boats and fast ferries link most of the islands. Both types can transport large numbers of passengers, cargo, and vehicles. Fast ferries are made of aluminium and powered by modern and efficient diesel engines, while conventional ferries have a steel hull and are powered by heavy oil. Fast ferries travel in excess of ; conventional ferries travel in excess of , but are slower than fast ferries. A typical ferry ride between La Palma and Tenerife may take up to eight hours or more while a fast ferry takes about two and a half hours and between Tenerife and Gran Canaria can be about one hour. The largest airport is the Gran Canaria Airport. Tenerife has two airports, Tenerife North Airport and Tenerife South Airport. The island of Tenerife gathers the highest passenger movement of all the Canary Islands through its two airports. The two main islands (Tenerife and Gran Canaria) receive the greatest number of passengers. Tenerife 6,204,499 passengers and Gran Canaria 5,011,176 passengers. The

port of Las Palmas Port of Las Palmas (also called La Luz Port) ( es, Puerto de Las Palmas Puerto de La Luz) is port for fishing, commercial, passenger and sports boats in the city of Las Palmas in the north-east of Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. For five cen ...

is first in freight traffic in the islands, while the

port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife The Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife ( es, link=no, 'Puerto de Santa Cruz de Tenerife') in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, is used by fishing boats, commercial and passenger ships, and sports. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, it is managed by the Port Autho ...

is the first fishing port with approximately 7,500 tons of fish caught, according to the Spanish government publication Statistical Yearbook of State Ports. Similarly, it is the second port in Spain as regards ship traffic, only surpassed by the Port of Algeciras Bay. The port's facilities include a border inspection post (BIP) approved by the European Union, which is responsible for inspecting all types of imports from third countries or exports to countries outside the European Economic Area. The port of

(Tenerife) has the greatest number of passengers recorded in the Canary Islands, followed by the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The Port of Las Palmas is the third port in the islands in passengers and first in number of vehicles transported. The SS America was beached at the Canary islands on 18 January 1994. However, the ocean liner broke apart after the course of several years and eventually sank beneath the surface.

Rail transport

The

Tenerife Tram Tenerife Tram ( es, Tranvía de Tenerife) is a light rail or tram service located on the island of Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands in Spain. It is operated by Metropolitano de Tenerife, a limited company now 100% owned by Cabildo de Tenerife. ...

opened in 2007 and is currently the only one in the Canary Islands, travelling between the cities of

and San Cristóbal de La Laguna. Three more railway lines are being planned for the Canary Islands:

Airports

* Tenerife South Airport – Tenerife * Tenerife North Airport – Tenerife * César Manrique-Lanzarote Airport – Lanzarote * Fuerteventura Airport – Fuerteventura * Gran Canaria Airport – Gran Canaria *

La Palma Airport La Palma Airport ( es, link=no, Aeropuerto de La Palma) is an airport located in Breña Baja and Villa de Mazo, south of the city of Santa Cruz de La Palma on La Palma in the Canary Islands. It is operated by Aeropuertos Españoles y Navegaci� ...

– La Palma *

La Gomera Airport La Gomera Airport ( es, link=no, Aeropuerto de La Gomera) is an airport located near the town of Playa Santiago on the island of La Gomera in the Canary Islands, southwest by road from the island's capital city, San Sebastián de la Gomera. A ...

– La Gomera *

El Hierro Airport El Hierro Airport ( es, link=no, Aeropuerto de El Hierro, also known as ) is an airport located northeast of Valverde. It is the only existing airport on the Island of El Hierro, Canary Islands, Spain. It was inaugurated in December 1972. Howe ...

– El Hierro

Ports

* Port of Puerto del Rosario – Fuerteventura * Port of Arrecife – Lanzarote * Port of Playa Blanca—Lanzarote * Port of Santa Cruz de La Palma – La Palma * Port of San Sebastián de La Gomera – La Gomera * Port of La Estaca – El Hierro *

Port of Las Palmas Port of Las Palmas (also called La Luz Port) ( es, Puerto de Las Palmas Puerto de La Luz) is port for fishing, commercial, passenger and sports boats in the city of Las Palmas in the north-east of Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. For five cen ...

– Gran Canaria *

Port of Arinaga The port of Arinaga is a small seaport off the eastern coast of the Spanish island of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, themselves located in the Mid-Atlantic. It was not until the later part of the 19th century when the construction of a sma ...

– Gran Canaria * Port of Agaete – Gran Canaria *

Port of Los Cristianos The Port of Los Cristianos is a port of the Atlantic Ocean located in the town of Los Cristianos, in the municipality of Arona on the island of Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain). It is administered by the ''Port Authority of Santa Cruz de Tenerife' ...

– Tenerife *

Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife The Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife ( es, link=no, 'Puerto de Santa Cruz de Tenerife') in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, is used by fishing boats, commercial and passenger ships, and sports. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, it is managed by the Port Autho ...

– Tenerife *

Port of Garachico The Port of Garachico is a port located in the municipality of Garachico in the north of Tenerife, administered by the ''Port Authority of Santa Cruz de Tenerife''. History The old Port of Garachico was the most important on the island of Tener ...

– Tenerife * Port of Granadilla – Tenerife

Health

The ''Servicio Canario de Salud'' is an autonomous body of administrative nature attached to the Ministry responsible for Health of the Government of the Canary Islands. The majority of the archipelago's hospitals belong to this organization: * Hospital Nuestra Señora de los Reyes – El Hierro * Hospital General de La Palma – La Palma * Hospital Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe – La Gomera *

Hospital Universitario Nuestra Señora de Candelaria Hospital Universitario Nuestra Señora de Candelaria or University Hospital of the Nuestra Señora de Candelaria is a large teaching hospital of general scope in Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain). Located in the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Af ...

– Tenerife *

Hospital Universitario de Canarias Hospital Universitario de Canarias or University Hospital of the Canary Islands it is a teaching hospital of general scope in Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain). Located in the city of San Cristóbal de La Laguna. Affiliated with the education and r ...

– Tenerife *

Hospital del Sur de Tenerife The Hospital del Sur de Tenerife (in English: ''Hospital of the South of Tenerife'') is located in the municipality of Arona, in the south of the island of Tenerife ( Canary Islands, Spain). It was opened in 2015. The Hospital del Sur de Tenerif ...

– Tenerife *

Hospital del Norte de Tenerife The Hospital del Norte de Tenerife (in English: ''Hospital of the North of Tenerife'') is located in the municipality of Icod de los Vinos, in the north of the island of Tenerife ( Canary Islands, Spain). It was opened in 2012. The Hospital del N ...

– Tenerife * Hospital Universitario de Gran Canaria Doctor Negrín – Gran Canaria *

Hospital Universitario Insular de Gran Canaria The Hospital Universitario Insular de Gran Canaria (''Insular University Hospital of Gran Canaria'') is a teaching hospital of general scope in Gran Canaria ( Canary Islands, Spain). Located in the city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, it was founde ...

– Gran Canaria * Hospital General de Lanzarote Doctor José Molina Orosa – Lanzarote * Hospital General de Fuerteventura – Fuerteventura

Wildlife

2012-01-10 14-53-40 Spain Canarias Cofete

Prehistoric fauna

Before the arrival of the Aborigines, the Canary Islands were inhabited by a variety of endemic animals, such as extinct giant lizards (''

''), giant tortoises ('' Centrochelys burchardi'' and '' C. vulcanica''), and

and Gran Canaria giant rats (''Canariomys bravoi'' and ''C. tamarani''), among others. Extinct birds known only from

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

and

Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togethe ...

age bones include the

Canary Islands quail The Canary Islands quail (''Coturnix gomerae'') is an extinct quail species that once occurred on the islands of El Hierro, La Palma, Tenerife and Fuerteventura (Canary Islands, Spain). Extinction This quail was most likely still present in th ...

(''Coturnix gomerae''),

Dune shearwater The dune shearwater (''Puffinus holeae''), also known as the Canarian shearwater or Hole's shearwater, was a relatively large shearwater which bred in the Canary Islands archipelago of the North Atlantic Ocean. Fossils have also been found ...

(''Puffinus holeae''), Lava shearwater (''P. olsoni''),

Trias greenfinch The Trias greenfinch (''Chloris triasi'') is an extinct passerine from the family of finches (Fringillidae). The fossil remains were unearthed in the Cuevas de los Murciélagos near San Andrés y Sauces in the north of La Palma, Canary Islands ...

(''Chloris triasi''),

Slender-billed greenfinch The slender-billed greenfinch ''("Carduelis" aurelioi)'' is an extinct songbird in the finch family Fringillidae. It was endemic to the island Tenerife in the Canary Islands, and became extinct after human settlement of the islands. Taxonomy T ...

(''C. aurelioi'') and the

Long-legged bunting The long-legged bunting (''Emberiza alcoveri'') is an extinct flightless species of bunting. It was distinguishable by its long legs and short wings, and it inhabited Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands. It is one of the few flightless passeri ...

(''Emberiza alcoveri''). In addition are some unidentified bird eggshell fragments from the

of Lanzarote, which have been suggested to be from an extinct

ratite A ratite () is any of a diverse group of flightless, large, long-necked, and long-legged birds of the infraclass Palaeognathae. Kiwi, the exception, are much smaller and shorter-legged and are the only nocturnal extant ratites. The systematics ...

species.

Terrestrial wildlife

With a range of habitats, the Canary Islands exhibit diverse plant species. The bird life includes European and African species, such as the

black-bellied sandgrouse The black-bellied sandgrouse (''Pterocles orientalis'') is a medium large bird in the sandgrouse family. The nominate race breeds in Iberia, northwest Africa, the Canary Islands, Turkey, Iran, Cyprus and Israel. The eastern form ''P. o. arenar ...

; and a rich variety of

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

(local) taxa including the: *

Canary Canary originally referred to the island of Gran Canaria on the west coast of Africa, and the group of surrounding islands (the Canary Islands). It may also refer to: Animals Birds * Canaries, birds in the genera ''Serinus'' and ''Crithagra'' i ...

* Graja, a subspecies of red-billed chough endemic to La Palma * Blue chaffinch: **

Gran Canaria blue chaffinch The Gran Canaria blue chaffinch (''Fringilla polatzeki'') is a species of passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It is endemic to Gran Canaria in Spain's Canary Islands. Taxonomy Until 2015, the species ''Fringilla teydea'' was classif ...

endemic to Gran Canaria **

Tenerife blue chaffinch The Tenerife blue chaffinch (''Fringilla teydea'') is a species of passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It is endemic to Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands. This bird is the natural symbol of this island, together with the Canary Is ...

endemic to Tenerife *

Canary Islands chiffchaff The Canary Islands chiffchaff (''Phylloscopus canariensis'') is a species of leaf warbler endemic to the Canary Islands, Spain. Sometimes the English name is spelled Canary Island chiffchaff. Taxonomy Previously the Canary Island chiffchaff was ...

Fuerteventura chat The Canary Islands stonechat (''Saxicola dacotiae''), also known as the Fuerteventura stonechat or Fuerteventura chat, and formerly known as the Canary Islands chat due to its once widespread distribution on the Canary Islands, is a sedentary re ...

Tenerife goldcrest The Tenerife goldcrest, ''Regulus regulus teneriffae'', (sometimes considered a separate species, ''R. teneriffae'') is a very small passerine bird in the kinglet family, closely resembling the goldcrest but with a broader black band across the f ...

* La Palma chaffinch * Canarian Egyptian vulture *

Bolle's pigeon Bolle's pigeon (''Columba bollii'') is a species of the genus Columba of family Columbidae, doves and pigeons, endemic to the Canary Islands, Spain. This bird is named after the German naturalist Carl Bolle, who was the first to distinguish it ...

Laurel pigeon The laurel pigeon or white-tailed laurel pigeon (''Columba junoniae'') is a species of bird in the Columba genus in the family Columbidae (doves and pigeons). It is endemic to the Canary Islands, Spain, and resides in laurel forest habitat. I ...

Plain swift The plain swift (''Apus unicolor'') is a medium-sized swift. Although this bird is superficially similar to a barn swallow or house martin, it is not related to those passerine species. The resemblances between the groups are due to convergent ev ...

Houbara bustard The houbara bustard (''Chlamydotis undulata''), also known as African houbara, is a relatively small bustard native to North Africa, where it lives in arid habitats. The global population is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 2014. ...

Spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

s *

Snake Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...

s *

Scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...

s *

Canary Islands oystercatcher The Canary Islands oystercatcher, Canarian oystercatcher, or Canarian black oystercatcher (''Haematopus meadewaldoi''), Etymology: ''Haematopus'', Latinized Ancient Greek for "bloody-footed", from ''(h)aimato-'' (αίματό-), '"blood-" + ''-p ...

(extinct) Terrestrial fauna includes

gecko Geckos are small, mostly carnivorous lizards that have a wide distribution, found on every continent except Antarctica. Belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, geckos are found in warm climates throughout the world. They range from . Geckos ar ...

s, wall lizards, and three endemic species of recently rediscovered and critically endangered giant lizard: the

El Hierro giant lizard The El Hierro giant lizard (''Gallotia simonyi machadoi'') is a subspecies of lacertid (wall lizard) that can be found on the island of El Hierro, one of the Canary Islands. It is considered to be a subspecies of ''Gallotia simonyi'', Simony's ...

(or

Roque Chico de Salmor giant lizard __NOTOC__ The Roque Chico de Salmor giant lizard (''Gallotia simonyi simonyi'') was the nominate subspecies of the lacertid (wall lizard) ''Gallotia simonyi''. It was once present on a small islet near El Hierro in the Canary Islands. ''Gallo ...

La Gomera giant lizard The La Gomera giant lizard (''Gallotia bravoana'') is a lacertid (wall lizard) species that can be found on the island of La Gomera, one of the Canary Islands. It is easily distinguishable from any other member of ''Gallotia'' by the intense ...

, and

La Palma giant lizard The La Palma giant lizard (''Gallotia auaritae'') is a giant lacertid historically living on the island of La Palma (Canary Islands, Spain); its habitat ranged from sea level up to altitudes of 800 m. It probably lives in xerophytic vegetation ...

. Mammals include the Canarian shrew, Canary big-eared bat, the Algerian hedgehog (which may have been introduced) and the more recently introduced mouflon. Some endemic mammals, the lava mouse,

Tenerife giant rat The Tenerife giant rat (''Canariomys bravoi'') is an extinct species of rodent endemic to the island of Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands, Spain. Many remains have been found during archeological digs. Most remains are from the Pleistoc ...

and Gran Canaria giant rat, are extinct, as are the

long-legged bunting The long-legged bunting (''Emberiza alcoveri'') is an extinct flightless species of bunting. It was distinguishable by its long legs and short wings, and it inhabited Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands. It is one of the few flightless passeri ...

, the

eastern Canary Islands chiffchaff The eastern Canary Islands chiffchaff or Lanzarote Island chiffchaff (''Phylloscopus canariensis exsul'') is an extinct subspecies of the Canary Islands chiffchaff endemic to the island of Lanzarote – and possibly also Fuerteventura – in the ...

and the giant prehistoric tortoises;

and

Marine life

The

marine life Marine life, sea life, or ocean life is the plants, animals and other organisms that live in the salt water of seas or oceans, or the brackish water of coastal estuaries. At a fundamental level, marine life affects the nature of the planet. M ...

found in the Canary Islands is also varied, being a combination of

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe and ...

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

and

species. In recent years, the increasing popularity of both

scuba diving Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for "Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chris ...

and

underwater photography Underwater photography is the process of taking photographs while under water. It is usually done while scuba diving, but can be done while diving on surface supply, snorkeling, swimming, from a submersible or remotely operated underwater veh ...

have provided biologists with much new information on the marine life of the islands. Fish species found in the islands include many species of

shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimo ...

ray Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (g ...

, moray eel, bream, jack,

grunt Grunt, grunts or grunting may refer to: Sound and music * Grunting (tennis), in tennis refers to the loud noise, sometimes described as "shrieking" or "screaming", made by some players during their strokes * Death grunt, the death metal singin ...

, scorpionfish,

triggerfish Triggerfish are about 40 species of often brightly colored fish of the family Balistidae. Often marked by lines and spots, they inhabit tropical and subtropical oceans throughout the world, with the greatest species richness in the Indo-Pacific. ...

grouper Groupers are fish of any of a number of genera in the subfamily Epinephelinae of the family Serranidae, in the order Perciformes. Not all serranids are called "groupers"; the family also includes the sea basses. The common name "grouper" is u ...

, goby, and

blenny Blenny (from the Greek and , mucus, slime) is a common name for many types of fish, including several families of percomorph marine, brackish, and some freshwater fish sharing similar morphology and behaviour. Six families are considered "true ...

. In addition, there are many invertebrate species, including

sponge Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through t ...

jellyfish Jellyfish and sea jellies are the informal common names given to the medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, a major part of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animals with umbrella- ...

, anemone,

crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all the ...

mollusc Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...

sea urchin Sea urchins () are spiny, globular echinoderms in the class Echinoidea. About 950 species of sea urchin live on the seabed of every ocean and inhabit every depth zone from the intertidal seashore down to . The spherical, hard shells (tests) of ...

starfish Starfish or sea stars are star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea (). Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to as brittle stars or basket stars. Starfish ...

sea cucumber Sea cucumbers are echinoderms from the class Holothuroidea (). They are marine animals with a leathery skin and an elongated body containing a single, branched gonad. Sea cucumbers are found on the sea floor worldwide. The number of holothuria ...

and

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and sec ...

. There are a total of five different species of marine turtle that are sighted periodically in the islands, the most common of these being the

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

loggerhead sea turtle. The other four are the

green sea turtle The green sea turtle (''Chelonia mydas''), also known as the green turtle, black (sea) turtle or Pacific green turtle, is a species of large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae. It is the only species in the genus ''Chelonia''. Its range exten ...

hawksbill sea turtle The hawksbill sea turtle (''Eretmochelys imbricata'') is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Eretmochelys''. The species has a global distribution, that is largel ...

leatherback sea turtle The leatherback sea turtle (''Dermochelys coriacea''), sometimes called the lute turtle or leathery turtle or simply the luth, is the largest of all living turtles and the heaviest non-crocodilian reptile, reaching lengths of up to and weights ...

and

Kemp's ridley sea turtle Kemp's ridley sea turtle (''Lepidochelys kempii''), also called the Atlantic ridley sea turtle, is the rarest species of sea turtle and is the world's most endangered species of sea turtle. It is one of two living species in the genus '' Lepido ...

. Currently, there are no signs that any of these species breed in the islands, and so those seen in the water are usually migrating. However, it is believed that some of these species may have bred in the islands in the past, and there are records of several sightings of leatherback sea turtle on beaches in Fuerteventura, adding credibility to the theory. Marine mammals include the large varieties of

cetacean Cetacea (; , ) is an infraorder of aquatic mammals that includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Key characteristics are their fully aquatic lifestyle, streamlined body shape, often large size and exclusively carnivorous diet. They propel them ...

s including rare and not well-known species (see more details in the '' Marine life of the Canary Islands''). Hooded seals have also been known to be vagrant in the Canary Islands every now and then. The Canary Islands were also formerly home to a population of the rarest

pinniped Pinnipeds (pronounced ), commonly known as seals, are a widely distributed and diverse clade of carnivorous, fin-footed, semiaquatic, mostly marine mammals. They comprise the extant families Odobenidae (whose only living member is the walru ...

in the world, the Mediterranean monk seal.

Native flora gallery

File:Arbutus canariensis2.jpg, ''

Arbutus canariensis ''Arbutus canariensis'', known in Spanish as ''madroño canario'', is a species of shrub or tree in the Ericaceae, heath family. It is Endemism, endemic to the Canary Islands of Spain, specifically Tenerife, La Gomera, Gran Canaria, El Hierro, an ...

'' File:Argyranthemum frutescens cv Vera 2.jpg, ''

Argyranthemum frutescens ''Argyranthemum frutescens'', known as Paris daisy, marguerite or marguerite daisy, is a perennial plant known for its flowers. It is native to the Canary Islands (part of Spain). Hybrids derived from this species (garden marguerites) are widely ...

'' File:Bosea yervamora berries.JPG, ''Bosea yervamora'' File:Canarina canariensis Tenerife (02).jpg, ''

Canarina canariensis ''Canarina canariensis'' is a species of flowering plant in the bellflower family Campanulaceae, commonly known as the Canary Island bellflower, and known locally as bicácaro. Description It is a scrambling herbaceous perennial with glabrous (s ...

'' File:Digitalis (Isoplexis) canariensis by Scott zona - 004.jpg, '' Digitalis canariensis'' File:Tajinaste rojo.jpg, ''

Echium wildpretii ''Echium wildpretii'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Boraginaceae. It is an herbaceous biennial plant that grows up to in height. The species is endemic to the Canary Islands, and is found mainly on Mount Teide in Tenerife. T ...

'' File:Euphorbia canariensis2.jpg, ''

Euphorbia canariensis ''Euphorbia canariensis'', commonly known as the Canary Island spurge, Hercules club or in Spanish ''cardón'', is a succulent member of the genus ''Euphorbia'' and family Euphorbiaceae endemic to the Canary Islands. It is the plant symbol of t ...

'' File:Gonospermum elegans.jpg, ''Gonospermum elegans'' File:Lavatera acerifolia var. acerifolia (Jardín Botánico Canario Viera y Clavijo).jpg, '' Lavatera acerifolia var. acerifolia'' File:Lavatera phoenicea1.jpg, '' Lavatera phoenicea'' File:Lotus berthelotii1.jpg, ''

Lotus berthelotii Lotus may refer to: Plants *Lotus (plant), various botanical taxa commonly known as lotus, particularly: ** ''Lotus'' (genus), a genus of terrestrial plants in the family Fabaceae **Lotus flower, a symbolically important aquatic Asian plant also ...

'' File:Pericallis webbii.jpg, ''Pericallis webbii'' File:Persea indica.jpg, '' Persea indica'' File:Phoenix canariensis (Puntallana) 01.jpg, ''

'' File:Sonchus palmensis (Barlovento) 04.jpg, '' Sonchus palmensis'' File:Spartocytisus supranubius.jpg, ''

Spartocytisus supranubius ''Cytisus supranubius'' (also known as white-flowered broom or retama del Teide) is a species of broom endemic to the Canary Islands. This species is found at about 2000m altitude on Tenerife in Las Cañadas del Teide and on mountain tops on La P ...

Holidays

Some holidays of those celebrated in the Canary Islands are international and national, others are regional holidays and others are of insular character. The official day of the autonomous community is Canary Islands Day on 30 May. The anniversary of the first session of the Parliament of the Canary Islands, based in the city of

, held on 30 May 1983, is commemorated with this day. The common festive calendar throughout the Canary Islands is as follows: In addition, each of the islands has an island festival, in which it is a holiday only on that specific island. These are the festivities of island patrons saints of each island. Organized chronologically are: Desfile del Sábado de Carnaval, en Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Desfile del Sábado de Carnaval, en Santa Cruz de Tenerife

The most famous festivals of the Canary Islands is the carnival. It is the most famous and international festival of the archipelago. The carnival is celebrated in all the islands and all its municipalities, perhaps the two busiest are those of the two Canarian capitals; the

Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife The Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife ( es, Carnaval de Santa Cruz de Tenerife}) is held each February in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the capital of the largest island of the Canary Islands, Spain and attracts people from all over the world. It i ...

(''Tourist Festival of International Interest'') and the Carnival of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. It is celebrated on the streets between the months of February and March. But the rest of the islands of the archipelago have their carnivals with their own traditions among which stand out: The Festival of the Carneros of El Hierro, the Festival of the Diabletes of Teguise in

, Los Indianos de La Palma, the Carnival of San Sebastián de La Gomera and the Carnival of Puerto del Rosario in

Science and technology

In the 1960s, Gran Canaria was selected as the location for one of the 14

ground stations A ground station, Earth station, or Earth terminal is a terrestrial radio station designed for extraplanetary telecommunication with spacecraft (constituting part of the ground segment of the spacecraft system), or reception of radio waves fro ...

in the Manned Space Flight Network (MSFN) to support the

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

space program.

Maspalomas Station Maspalomas Station is an INTA-operated, ESTRACK radio antenna ground station for communication with spacecraft located at the southern area of Gran Canaria island, on the INTA campus. It is situated on the Montaña Blanca hill and is visible fro ...

, located in the south of the island, took part in a number of space missions including the

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, an ...

Moon landings and

Skylab Skylab was the first United States space station, launched by NASA, occupied for about 24 weeks between May 1973 and February 1974. It was operated by three separate three-astronaut crews: Skylab 2, Skylab 3, and Skylab 4. Major operations in ...

. Today it continues to support satellite communications as part of the

ESA , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (1205 ...

network. Because of the remote location, a number of astronomical observatories are located in the archipelago, including the Teide Observatory on Tenerife, the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma, and the

Temisas Astronomical Observatory The Temisas Astronomical Observatory ( es, Observatorio Astronomico del Temisas) is an astronomical observatory on the island of Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands, Spain. It is located on Montaña de Arriba, Temisas, in the Agüimes municipality ...

on Gran Canaria. Tenerife is the home of the

Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) is an astrophysical research institute located in the Canary Islands, Spain. It was founded in 1975 at the University of La Laguna. It operates two astronomical observatories in the Canary Islands: ...

(Astrophysical Institute of the Canaries). There is also an Instituto de Bio-Orgánica Antonio González (Antonio González Bio-Organic Institute) at the University of La Laguna. Also at that university are the Instituto de Lingüística Andrés Bello (Andrés Bello Institute of Linguistics), the Centro de Estudios Medievales y Renacentistas (Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies), the Instituto Universitario de la Empresa (University Institute of Business), the Instituto de Derecho Regional (Regional Institute of Law), the Instituto Universitario de Ciencias Políticas y Sociales (University Institute of Political and Social Sciences) and the Instituto de Enfermedades Tropicales (Institute of Tropical Diseases). The latter is one of the seven institutions of the Red de Investigación de Centros de Enfermedades Tropicales (RICET, "Network of Research of Centers of Tropical Diseases"), located in various parts of Spain. The Instituto Volcanológico de Canarias (Volcanological Institute of the Canary Islands) is based in Tenerife.

Sports

A unique form of wrestling known as

Canarian wrestling Canarian Wrestling is a form of folk wrestling, originally from the Canary Islands, where it is known as . Description Wrestlers start in the middle of a sand circle, called . The aim is to make their opponent touch the sand with any part of th ...

(''lucha canaria'') has opponents stand in a special area called a "terrero" and try to throw each other to the ground using strength and quick movements. Another sport is the "game of the sticks" (palo canario) where opponents fence with long sticks. This may have come about from the shepherds of the islands who would challenge each other using their long walking sticks. Furthermore, there is the shepherd's jump (''salto del pastor''). This involves using a long stick to vault over an open area. This sport possibly evolved from the shepherd's need to occasionally get over an open area in the hills as they were tending their sheep. The two main

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

teams in the archipelago are: the CD Tenerife (founded in 1912) and

UD Las Palmas Unión Deportiva Las Palmas, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Las Palmas, on the island of Gran Canaria in the autonomous community of Canary Islands. Founded on 22 August 1949, it plays in Segunda División, holding home games at the ...

(founded in 1949). As of the 2018/2019 season, both Tenerife and Las Palmas play in

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

. When in the same division, the clubs contest the

Canary Islands derby The Canary Islands derby is any football match contested between Spanish sides UD Las Palmas and CD Tenerife, who are regarded as the top two sides in the Canary Islands. World Soccer Magazine rated it as one of the 50 greatest rivalries in the w ...

. There are smaller clubs also playing in the mainland Spanish football league system, most notably

UD Lanzarote Unión Deportiva Lanzarote is a Spanish football team based in Arrecife, Lanzarote, in the autonomous community of Canary Islands. Founded in 1970 it plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 12, holding home games at the ''Ciudad Deportiva de La ...

and CD Laguna, although no other Canarian clubs have played in the top flight. The mountainous terrain of the Canary Islands also caters to the growing popularity of

ultra running An ultramarathon, also called ultra distance or ultra running, is any footrace longer than the traditional marathon length of . Various distances are raced competitively, from the shortest common ultramarathon of to over . 50k and 100k are bot ...

and ultramarathons as host of annual competitive long-distance events including

CajaMar Tenerife Bluetrail Fred. Olsen Tenerife Bluetrail, better known simply as Tenerife Bluetrail (formerly CajaMar Tenerife Bluetrail), is an ultramarathon by mountain that offers five modalities of different characteristics for people with or without disabilities. It is ...

Transvulcania Transvulcania is a long distance race that is held annually on La Palma, one of the western Canary Islands. It is considered one of the hardest mountain-ultramarathons in the world and one of the most important in Spain. The total route has a leng ...

on La Palma, Transgrancanaria on Gran Canaria, and the Half Marathon des Sables on

. A yearly Ironman Triathlon has been taking place on

since 1992.

Notable athletes

* Paco Campos, (1916–1995); a footballer who played as a forward. With 127 goals, 120 of which were for Atlético Madrid, he is the highest scoring player from the Canary Islands in La Liga. * Nicolás García (taekwondo), Nicolás García Hemme, born 20 June 1988 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, 2012 London Olympics, Taekwondo Silver Medalist in Men's Welterweight category (−80 kg). * Al Cabrera, Alfredo Cabrera, (1881–1964); shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1913 * Sergio Rodríguez, born in San Cristóbal de La Laguna in 1986, played point guard for the Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings, and New York Knicks. * David Silva, born in Arguineguín in 1986, plays association football for Real Sociedad, member of the 2010 FIFA World Cup champion Spain national football team * Juan Carlos Valerón, born in Arguineguín in 1975, played association football for Deportivo de La Coruña, Deportivo la Coruna and UD Las Palmas, Las Palmas. * Pedro (footballer, born 1987), Pedro, born in

in 1987, plays association football for S.S. Lazio, Lazio, member of the 2010 FIFA World Cup champion Spain national football team * Carla Suárez Navarro, born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in 1988, professional tennis player * Paola Tirados, born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in 1980, synchronized swimmer, who participated in the Olympic Games of 2000, 2004 and 2008. She won the silver medal in Beijing in 2008 in the team competition category. * Jesé, born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in 1993, plays association football for UD Las Palmas, Las Palmas. * Christo Bezuidenhout, born in

in 1970, played rugby union for Gloucester Rugby, Gloucester and South Africa national rugby union team, South Africa. * Pedri, born in Tegueste in 2002, plays association football for FC Barcelona, Barcelona.

References

Notes

Citations

References

* Alfred Crosby, ''Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900–1900'' (Cambridge University Press) * Felipe Fernández-Armesto, ''The Canary Islands after the Conquest: The Making of a Colonial Society in the Early-Sixteenth Century'', Oxford U. Press, 1982. ; * Sergio Hanquet, ''Diving in Canaries'', Litografía A. ROMERO, 2001. * Martin Wiemers:
The butterflies of the Canary Islands. – A survey on their distribution, biology and ecology (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea and Hesperioidea)
' – Linneana Belgica 15 (1995): 63–84 & 87–118

External links

Canary Islands Government

{{Authority control Canary Islands, Archipelagoes of Spain Autonomous communities of Spain Archipelagoes of Africa North Africa NUTS 1 statistical regions of the European Union NUTS 2 statistical regions of the European Union Outermost regions of the European Union Physiographic sections

Etymology

Physical geography

Climate

Geology

Natural symbols

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Politics

Governance

Political geography

Canarian nationalism

Defence

History

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After the conquest and the introduction of slavery

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See also

History

Geography

Culture

References

Notes

Citations

References

Further reading

External links