Canary Islands Span. Islas Canarias, group of seven islands (1990 pop. 1,589,403), 2,808 sq mi (7,273 sq km), autonomous region of Spain, in the Atlantic Ocean off Western Sahara. They constitute two provinces of Spain. Santa Cruz de Tenerife (1990 pop. 770,627), 1,239 sq mi (3,209 sq km), includes Tenerife, Palma, Gomera, and Hierro. Las Palmas (1990 pop. 818,776), 1,569 sq mi (4,064 sq km), includes Grand Canary, Lanzarote, and Fuerteventura. Fuerteventura is 67 mi (108 km) from the African coast. The islands, of volcanic origin, are rugged; Mt. Teide (12,162 ft/3,707 m) is the highest point in Spain.

Wine was the main export of the Canaries until the grape blight of 1853; its place was taken by cochineal until aniline dyes came into general use. Today the leading exports are bananas, sugarcane, tomatoes, potatoes, and tobacco, which are grown where irrigation is possible. There is fishing on the open seas, and the Canaries, with their subtropical climate and fine beaches, have become a major tourist center. An oil refinery and other large-scale industries are located at Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

Pliny mentions an expedition to the Canaries c.40 BC, and they may have been the Fortunate Isles of later classical writers. They were occasionally visited by Arabs and by European travelers in the Middle Ages. Jean de Béthencourt, a Norman, settled at Lanzarote in 1402 and, with the support of the kingdom of Castile, became its king in 1404. The Treaty of Alcácovas (1479) between Portugal and Spain recognized Spanish sovereignty over the Canaries; conquest of the Guanches, the indigenous Berber inhabitants of the islands, was completed in 1496. The islands became an important base for voyages to the Americas. The Canaries were frequently raided by pirates and privateers; Las Palmas beat off Francis Drake in 1595 but was ravaged by the Dutch in 1599. In the French Revolutionary Wars, Horatio Nelson was repulsed (1797) at Santa Cruz. The Canary Islands became an autonomous region in 1982. In the early 21st cent. the islands, as part of Spain and the European Union, became a destination for illegal immigrants traveling by boat from Africa.

Canary Islands (Islas Canarias), Spain Canariae Insulae An autonomous community called Canarias and, according to the Roman scholar, Pliny the Elder (23–79), named after the many large dogs, from the Latin canis ‘dog’, on the island of Grand Canary (Gran Canaria). The name was then extended to the islands as a whole. Pliny also called them the ‘Blessed’ or ‘Fortunate Islands’ and Ptolemy^† chose them as the zero line of longitude (now Greenwich, England) because he believed there could be no inhabited place any further west. Spanish sovereignty was recognized in 1479.

Canary Islands Group of islands in the n Atlantic Ocean, c.110km (70mi) off the nw coast of Africa; they constitute two provinces of Spain – Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The major cities are Santa Cruz (215,132) and Las Palmas (208,944). The Canary Islands are mountainous and the climate warm, with little rainfall. Under Spanish rule since the 16th century, the Canaries are now an autonomous region of Spain. Industries: agriculture, fishing, tourism. Area: 7273 sq km (2807 sq mi). Pop. (1999) 1,630,015.

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Physical map

Websites

http://www.spaintour.com/canarias.htm