Regions of Spain
Las Islas Canarias: the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands
By m.p. - Nov 15, 2007 - 4:34 PM
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Fuerteventura is the closest Canary Island to the African coast, at a distance of 108 kilometres.
The archipelago is one of several groups of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean which make up the Macaronesia, together with the Azores, Madeira, the Savage Islands, and Cape Verde.
The islands are home to four national parks, four Biosphere Reserves, and also to the highest peak on Spanish territory: Mount Teide, rising up to a height of 3,718 metres in the centre of Tenerife.
Las Islas Canarias cover a total land area of 7,447 square kilometres and are divided into two provinces: Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The provincial capitals are the cities of the same name (on the islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria respectively), and share status as regional capital.
Each of the two provinces encompasses a number of islands: Santa Cruz de Tenerife – El Hierro, La Gomera, La Palma and Tenerife; and Las Palmas – Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, together with the six smaller islands of La Graciosa, Alegranza, Isla de Lobos, Montaña Clara, Roque del Este, and Roque del Oeste.
Overall population according to the January 2006 census was 1,995,833, with an average population density of 268 inhabitants per square kilometre.
The capitals of the seven main islands are as follows: Gran Canaria (pop. 807,049) – Las Palmas de Gran Canaria; Tenerife (pop. 852,945) – Santa Cruz de Tenerife; Lanzarote (pop. 127,457) – Arrecife; La Palma (86,062) – Santa Cruz de la Palma; La Gomera (pop. 21,952) – San Sebastián de la Gomera; El Hierro (pop. 10,668) – Valverde; and Fuerteventura (pop. 89,680) – Puerto del Rosario.
Tenerife is the largest of the main islands, with a surface area of 2,034.38 sq kms, followed by Fuerteventura, with 1,659.74. Gran Canaria is the third largest, with 1,560.10 sq kms, and Lanzarote, with 845.94 sq kms, is in fourth place. La Palma is next, with 708.32, followed by the two smallest: La Gomera – 369.76 sq kms, and El Hierro, with just 268.71.
The total coastal area is 1,583 kilometres.
The Canary Islands’ Autonomous Statute came into force on 10th August 1982, under the terms of the Spanish Constitution approved in 1978. It established a regional government and parliament, with administration of the islands further sub-divided into seven island councils, known as the ‘cabildo insular.’
The Socialist Party was elected to lead the regional government in the first regional election held in 1983, with the first session of the Islands’ new government held on 30th May that year now celebrated as a holiday throughout the Islas Canarias.
Presidency of the Islands’ government has, since 1995, been in the hands of the regionalist party, Coalición Canaria. The latest President, the CC candidate Paulino Rivero, was invested as President of the Canary Islands on 11th July 2007, with the support of the 19 CC members of the regional parliament and of the 15 Partido Popular regional MPs.
His election by the Canaries parliament came despite a victory for the Socialist Party in the 2007 regional election, who achieved a simple majority of 26 regional MPs and failed in their efforts to reach a governing pact with Coalición Canaria.
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