Fuerteventura Island

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 UNESCO in 2009.

Fuerteventura belongs to Province of Las Palmas, one of the two provinces that form the autonomous community of the Canary Islands. The island's capital is Puerto del Rosario, where the Insule Council is found, the government of the island. Fuerteventura has 119,732 inhabitants (), the fourth largest population of the Canary Islands and the third of the Province. At , it is the second largest of the Canary Islands, after Tenerife. From a geological point of view, Fuerteventura is the oldest island in the archipelago.

Toponymy

The island's name is a compound word formed by the Spanish words for "strong" (fuerte) and "fortune" (ventura). Traditionally, Fuerteventura's name has been regarded as a reference to the strong winds around the island and the resulting danger to nautical adventurers. However, it might have referred instead (or also) to wealth, luck or destiny.

In 1339 the Mallorcan navigator Angelino Dulcert, in the ''Planisferio de Angelino Dulcert'', referred to the island as "Forte Ventura".

Another theory is that the island's name derives from "Fortunatae Insulae" (Fortunate Islands), the name by which the Romans knew the Canary Islands.

The indigenous name of the island, before its conquest in the 15th century, was Erbania, divided into two regions (Jandía and Maxorata), from which the name majorero (originally majo or maxo) derives. However, it has been suggested that, at some point, Maxorata (which meant "the children of the country") was the aboriginal toponym of the entire island.

History

Precolonial history

The first settlers of Fuerteventura are believed to have come from North Africa. The word ''Mahorero'' (''Majorero'') or ''Maho'' is still used today to describe the people of Fuerteventura and is derived from the ancient word 'mahos', a type of goatskin shoe worn by these original inhabitants. They lived in caves and semi-subterranean dwellings, some of which have been excavated, revealing remnants of early tools and pottery. In antiquity, the island was originally known as ''Planaria'', in reference to the flatness of most of its terrain.

Phoenician settlers landed in Fuerteventura and Lanzarote.

Several Spanish and Portuguese expeditions to the islands were organized around 1340, followed by Moors and European slave traders. At the end of the Iberian conquest, the island was divided into two Guanches kingdoms, one adhering to King Guize and the other to King Ayoze. The territories of these kingdoms were called Maxorata (in the North) and Jandía (in the South) respectively. They were separated by a wall, which traversed the La Pared isthmus. Some remains have been preserved. The ancient name for the island, Erbania, is derived from this wall's name.

The conquest

The island's conquest began in earnest in 1402, commanded by French knights and crusaders Jean de Béthencourt and Gadifer de la Salle. They arrived with only 63 sailors out of the original 283, as many had deserted along the way. After arriving and settling in Lanzarote, the invaders made some first excursions to the neighboring islands. In 1404, Bethencourt and Gadifer founded Betancuria