Canary Islands: volcanic islands off the coast of Morocco

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The Canary Islands are an archipelago, located in the Atlantic Ocean off the African coast of Morocco. The islands are located between 27º37 ‘and 29º25’ north latitude and 13º20 ‘and 18º10’ east longitude, they form one of the autonomous communities of Spain.

The archipelago covers a total of 7,447 km² and has over 2,000,000 inhabitants, made up of eight main islands. The largest island is that of Tenerife (2,034 km²). Then there are Fuerteventura (1,659 km²), Gran Canaria (1,560 km²), Lanzarote (845 km²), La Palma (708 km²), La Gomera (369 km²), El Hierro (268 km²) and La Graciosa (29 km²).

Administratively, the autonomous community of the Canary Islands is divided into two provinces. That of Las Palmas, with the capital Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and that of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, with the capital Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Tenerife is the most populous island with almost 900,000 inhabitants.

The islands are of volcanic origin, and largely semi-desert. Their geography presents rocky coasts and important mountains, among which, the highest mountain in Spain, the Teide volcano (3,718 meters), which is located on the island of Tenerife.

AN ARCHIPELAGO WITH MANY NATURAL ATTRACTIONS

The natural beauties make the tourist industry, together with agriculture and fishing, the main economic activity of the archipelago. Renowned for long beaches bathed by the Atlantic ocean, the Canary Islands are full of natural attractions. Just know that in the archipelago there are 4 national parks (Parque Nacional de Timanfaya (Lanzarote), Parque Nacional del Teide (Tenerife), Parque Nacional de la Caldera de Taburiente (La Palma), Parque Nacional de Garajonay (La Gomera)) and as many as 9 natural parks.

In the Canary Islands there are also 3 sites declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site: The Garajonay National Park on the island of La Gomera. The Teide national park and the town of San Cristóbal de La Laguna on the island of La Tenerife.

The climate of the islands.

Page of the Canary Islands Government.