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The Canary Islands IPA (Spanish Islas Canarias ) (28° 06'N, 15° 24'W) are an archipelago of the Kingdom of Spain consisting of seven islands of volcanic origin in the Atlantic Ocean. They are located off the north-western coast of Africa (Morocco and the Western Sahara). They form an autonomous community of Spain. Etymology The name derives probably from Berber North African tribes (the Canarii), in Berber language the islands are called Tkanaren, or possibly the Latin term Insularia Canaria meaning Island of the Dogs, a name applied originally only to the island of Gran Canaria. It is thought that the dense population of an endemic breed of large and fierce dogs was the characteristic that most struck the few ancient Romans who established contact with the islands by the sea. Pre-colonial times When Europeans began to explore the islands, they encountered several indigenous populations living at a relatively Neolithic level of technology. Although the history of the settlement of the Canary Islands is still unclear, linguistic and genetic analyses seem to indicate that at least some of these inhabitants shared a common origin with the Berbers of northern Africa. The original inhabitants came to be known collectively as the Guanches. The islands were known to the Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans, and are mentioned in a number of classical sources. Pliny the Elder describes a Carthaginian expedition to the Canaries, and they may have been the Fortunate Isles of other classical writers. Although largely forgotten in the Western world until their rediscovery, they may have been visited occasionally by Arab and Mediterranean travelers in the Middle Ages. Spanish conquest
Eighteenth to ninetenth centuries Because of the crises of single-crop cultivation in the eighteenth century and onward, the independence of Spain's American colonies in the nineteenth century caused severe recessions on the islands. A new cash crop, cochineal (cochinilla), came into cultivation during this time, saving the island's economy. Owing to economic crises in the archipelago, a series of emigrations, primarily for the Americas, took place during the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth centuries. During the Spanish-American War of 1898, the Spanish feared an American assault upon the islands, so fortified them; the assault never came. Early twentieth century At the beginning of the 20th century, the English introduced a new cash-crop, the banana, the export of which was controlled by companies such as Fyffes. The rivalry between the elites of the cities of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas for the capital of the islands would lead to the division of the archipelago into two provinces in 1927, though this has not laid to rest the rivalry between the two cities, which continues to this day. During the time of the Second Spanish Republic, workers' movements with marxist and anarchist ideologies 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. Franco regime In 1936, Francisco Franco travelled to the Canaries as General Commandant. From the Canaries, he launched the military uprising of July 17. He quickly took control of the archipelago, with the exception of a few focal points of resistance on the island of La Palma and in the town of Vallehermoso, on Gomera island. Despite the fact that there was never a proper war in the islands, they were one of the places where the post-war repression was most severe. During the Second World War, Winston Churchill prepared plans for the British seizure of the Canary Islands as a naval base, in the event of Gibraltar being invaded from the Spanish mainland. Opposition to Franco's regime did not begin to organise until the late 1950s, which experienced and upheaval of groups such as the Communist Party of Spain and the formation of various nationalist, leftist, and pro-independence armed movements, such as the Free Canaries Movement and the MPAIAC. Today After Franco's death and the installation of a democratic constitutional monarchy, a bill of autonomy was put forth for the Canaries which was approved in 1982. In 1983, the first autonomous elections were held, and were won by the Spanish socialist party, PSOE. The current ruling party is the Canarian Coalition. Physical geography
Political geography
Economy The economy is based primarily on tourism, which makes up 32% of the GDP. The Canaries receive about 10 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 islands, are being overexploited but there are still many agricultural resources like tomatoes, potatoes, onions, cochineal, sugarcane, grapes, vines, dates, oranges, lemons, figs, wheat, barley, corn, apricots, peaches and almonds. The economy is € 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, mostly to develop tourism real estate (hotels and apartments), and European Funds (near 11 billion euro in the period from 2000 to 2007), since the Canary Islands are labelled Region Objective 1 (eligible for euro structural funds). The combination of high mountains, proximity to Europe, and clean air has made the Roque de los Muchachos peak (on La Palma island) a leading location for telescopes like the Grantecan. The islands are outside European Union customs territory, though politically within the EU. The ISO 3166-1 α-2 code IC is reserved for representing them in customs affairs. Goods subject to Spanish customs and excise duties and Value Added Tax (VAT), such as tobacco or electronic goods, are therefore significantly cheaper in the Canaries. Spanish magazines usually have a similar or higher price than in the peninsula since VAT is substituted with air transport costs. The islands do not have a separate Internet country code from the rest of Spain. The currency is the euro. Canarian time is WET, one hour behind that of mainland Spain and the same as that of London. History Geography Culture Politics | |||||||||||||
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