Contents
Canary Islands
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Canary Islands
Islas Canarias
— Autonomous Community —
Flag
Coat of arms
Country
Spain
Capital Santa Cruz de Tenerife
and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Government
- President Paulino Rivero (CC)
Area (1.5% of Spain; Ranked 13th)
- Total 7,447 km2 (2,875.3 sq mi)
Population (2009)[2]
- Total 2,098,593
- Density 281.8/km2 (729.9/sq mi)
- Pop. rank 8th
- Ethnic groups 85.7% Spanish, (Canarian
and Peninsulares), 14.3%
foreign nationals
ISO 3166-2 ES-CN
Anthem Arrorró
Official languages Spanish
Statute of Autonomy August 16, 1982
Parliament Cortes Generales
Congress seats 15
Senate seats 13 (11 elected, 2 appointed)
Website Gobierno de Canarias
The Canary Islands (pronounced /kəˈneəriː ˈaɪləndz/; Spanish: Islas Canarias, pronounced [ˈizlas kaˈnaɾjas]; 15°24′W / 28.1°N 15.4°W / 28.1; -15.4Coordinates: 15°24′W / 28.1°N 15.4°W / 28.1; -15.4) are a Spanish archipelago which, in turn, forms one of the Spanish Autonomous Communities and an Outermost Region of the European Union. The archipelago is located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the disputed border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The sea currents which depart from Canary's coasts used to lead ships away to America.[3] The islands highest to lowest are: Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, La Palma, La Gomera, El Hierro, Alegranza, La Graciosa and Montaña Clara.
Canary Islands currently has a population of 2,098,593 inhabitants, making it the eighth most populous of Spain's autonomous communities, with a density of 281.8 inhabitants per km². Tenerife is its most populous island with approximately one million inhabitants; the island of Gran Canaria is the second most-populous. The total area of the archipelago is 7447 km².[4][5][6] It also enjoys sub-tropical climate with longer hot days in summer and cool in winter.[7]
The status of capital city is shared by the cities of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria,[8][9] which in turn are the capitals of the provinces of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas. Until 1927 Santa Cruz de Tenerife was the only capital.[8][9] The third largest city of the Canary Islands is San Cristóbal de La Laguna (City World Heritage Site) on the island of Tenerife.[10][11][12]
Etymology
The name Islas Canarias is likely derived from the Latin term Insula Canaria, meaning "Island of the Dogs", a name applied originally only to Gran Canaria. It is speculated that the so called dogs were actually a species of Monk Seals ("sea dog" in Latin) now extinct.[13] The dense population of seals may have been the characteristic that most struck the few ancient Romans who established contact with these islands by sea. The connection to dogs is retained in their depiction on the islands' coat-of-arms (shown above).
The original inhabitants of the island, guanches used to worship dogs, mummified them and threat dogs generally as holy animals. In the ancient times the island was well known about its people who worshipped dogs there, and when the Romans first visited the island, they gave it the name: 'canaari', which means in Latin: "the ones who worship dogs", or "the ones with dogs". The ancient Greeks also knew about a people, living far in the west, who are the "dog-headed ones", who worship dogs on an island. Some theorize that the Canary Islands dog-worship and the ancient Egyptian cult of the dog-headed god, Anubis are in close connection, but there is no explanation as to which one was first, and how is it possible for those two far areas to be in contact with each other.[citation needed]
Geography
Physical geography
The islands and their capitals are:
Island CapitalTenerife Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Gran Canaria Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Lanzarote Arrecife
La Palma Santa Cruz de La Palma
La Gomera San Sebastián de La Gomera
El Hierro Valverde
Fuerteventura Puerto del Rosario
La Graciosa (Lanzarote) Caleta de Sebo
Tenerife, with 865,070 inhabitants, is both the Canary Islands' and Spain's most populous island. Tenerife is also the largest island of the archipelago. The island of Fuerteventura is the second largest in the archipelago and located 100 km from the African coast.
The islands form the Macaronesia ecoregion with the Azores, Cape Verde, Madeira, and the Savage Isles. The archipelago consists of seven large and several smaller islands, all of which are volcanic in origin.[14] The Teide volcano on Tenerife is the highest mountain in Spain, and the third largest 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 associated with the opening of the Atlantic. Underwater magmatism commenced during the Cretaceous, and reached the ocean's surface during the Miocene. The islands are considered as a distinct physiographic section of the Atlas Mountains province, which in turn is part of the larger African Alpine System division.
According to the position of the islands with respect to the NE trade winds, the climate can be mild and wet or very dry. Several native species form laurisilva forests.
Four of Spain's thirteen national parks are located in the Canary Islands, more than any other autonomous community. In the early 90's, there were only five Spanish national parks, four of them being the Canarian parks, and the other one Doñana. The parks are:
Park IslandParque Nacional de la Caldera de Taburiente La Palma
Garajonay National Park La Gomera
Teide National Park Tenerife
Timanfaya National Park Lanzarote
Geology
The originally volcanic islands where –seven major islands, one minor island, and several small islets– were formed by the Canary hotspot. The Canary Islands is the only place in Spain where volcanic eruptions have been recorded during the Modern Era, with some volcanoes still active (even though recently inactive).[15]
Political geography
