Canary Islands

:"Canaries" redirects here. For the bird, see canary.

Physical geography

The islands and their capitals are:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Gran Canaria (capital Las Palmas de Gran Canaria);
• Tenerife (capital Santa Cruz de Tenerife);
• Lanzarote (capital Arrecife);
• La Palma (capital Santa Cruz de La Palma);
• La Gomera (capital San Sebastián de La Gomera);
• El Hierro (capital Valverde);
• Fuerteventura (capital Puerto del Rosario).

The nearest island is 108 km from the northwest African coast.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The islands form the Macaronesia ecoregion with the Azores, Cape Verde, Madeira, and the Savage Isles. The Teide volcano on Tenerife is the highest mountain in Spain, and the third largest volcano on Earth. According to the position of the islands with respect to the trade winds, the climate can be mild and wet or very dry. Several native species are conserved, like the dragon tree Dracaena draco and the Laurisilva forests.

Related Topics:
Macaronesia - Ecoregion - Azores - Cape Verde - Madeira - Savage Isles - Teide - Spain - Trade wind - Drago - Laurisilva

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Four of Spain's 13 national parks are located in the Canary Islands, more than any other autonomous community:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Parque Nacional de la Caldera de Taburiente on La Palma,
• Parque Nacional Garajonay on La Gomera,
• Parque Nacional del Teide on Tenerife,
• Parque Nacional Timanfaya on Lanzarote.