Total population | |
---|---|
c. 1,600,000 [1] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Canary Islands 1,553,078 (2019) [1] 72.1% of the total Canary Islands population | |
Significant Canary Islander diaspora in | |
Spain (other) | Total unknown |
Venezuela | 42,671 [2] [3] |
Cuba | 40,602 [4] |
Argentina | 2,390 [2] |
Mexico | 1,600 |
Dominican Republic | Unknown |
Puerto Rico | Unknown |
Western Sahara | Unknown |
Languages | |
Canarian Spanish, Silbo Gomero | |
Religion | |
Predominantly Roman Catholic (85%) [5] | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Isleños, other Spaniards, Madeirans, Portuguese, Berbers (Guanches) |
Canary Islanders, or Canarians (Spanish : canarios), are the people of the Canary Islands, an autonomous community of Spain near the coast of Northwest Africa. The distinctive variety of the Spanish language spoken in the region is known as habla canaria (Canary speech) or the (dialecto) canario (Canarian dialect). The Canarians, and their descendants, played a major role during the conquest, colonization, and eventual independence movements of various countries in Latin America. Their ethnic and cultural presence is most palpable in the countries of Uruguay, Venezuela, Cuba and the Dominican Republic as well as the US territory of Puerto Rico.
The original inhabitants of the Canary Islands are commonly known as Guanches (although this term in its strict sense only refers to the original inhabitants of Tenerife). They are most probably descendants of the Berbers of North Africa. [6] [7]
The islands were conquered by Castile at the beginning of the 15th century. In 1402, they began to subdue and suppress the native Guanche population. The Guanches were initially enslaved [ citation needed ] and gradually absorbed. As a result, genetic analyses of modern Canarians show mainly a mixture of European and North African genes, and low frequencies of sub-Saharan genes, with quite a lot of variation (see Ancestry).
After subsequent settlement by Europeans, the remaining Guanches were gradually assimilated by the settlers and their culture largely vanished. Alonso Fernández de Lugo, conqueror of Tenerife and La Palma, oversaw extensive immigration to these islands during a short period from the late 1490s to the 1520s from mainland Europe, mostly Castile and Portugal. At subsequent judicial enquiries, Fernández de Lugo was accused of favoring Genoese and Portuguese immigrants over Castilians. [8]
The native inhabitants of the Canary Islands hold a gene pool that is predominantly European (predominantly Portuguese and Galicians, but also Normans and Flemings) [9] [10] and native Guanche. Guanche genetic markers have also been found recently in Puerto Rico and, at low frequencies, in peninsular Spain after later emigration from the Canary Islands. [11]
The most frequent (maternal-descent) mtDNA haplogroup in Canary Islands is H (37.6%), followed by U6 (14.0%), T (12.7%), not-U6 U (10.3%) and J (7.0%). Two haplogroups, H and U6, alone account for more than 50% of the individuals. Significant frequencies of sub-Saharan maternal L haplogroups (6.6%) is also consistent with the historical records on introduction of sub-Saharan female slave labour in Canary Islands. However, some Sub-Saharan female lineages are also found in North African populations, and as a result, some of these L lineages could have been introduced to the Islands from North Africa. [12] [13] A 2009 study of DNA extracted from the remains of aboriginal inhabitants found that 7% of lineages were haplogroup L, which leaves open the possibility that these L lineages were part of the founding population of the Canary Islands. [14] Sub-Saharan female lineages have been found in frequencies of 10% or more in some islands.
A 2003 genetics research article by Nicole Maca-Meyer et al. published in the European Journal of Human Genetics compared aboriginal Guanche mtDNA (collected from Canarian archaeological sites) to that of today's Canarians and concluded that "despite the continuous changes suffered by the population (Spanish colonization, slave trade), aboriginal mtDNA lineages constitute a considerable proportion [42–73%] of the Canarian gene pool". According to this article, both percentages are obtained using two different estimation methods; nevertheless according to the same study the percentage that could be more reliable is the one of 73%. [15]
Although the Berbers are the most probable ancestors of the Guanches, it is deduced that important human movements (e.g., the Islamic-Arabic conquest of the Berbers) have reshaped Northwest Africa after the migratory wave to the Canary Islands and the "results support, from a maternal perspective, the supposition that since the end of the 16th century, at least, two-thirds of the Canarian population had an indigenous substrate, as was previously inferred from historical and anthropological data". [16] mtDNA haplogroup U subclade U6b1 is Canarian-specific [17] [16]
A 2019 genetics research article confirms that most lineages observed in the ancient samples have a Mediterranean distribution, and belong to lineages associated with the Neolithic expansion in the Near East and Europe (T,J,X…). This phylogeographic analysis of Canarian ancient mitogenomes, the first of its kind, shows that some lineages are restricted to Central North Africa (H1cf, J2a2d and T2c1d3), while others have a wider distribution, including both West and Central North Africa, and, Europe and the Near East. [18]
Y-DNA, or Y-chromosomal, (direct paternal) lineages were not analysed in this study; however, an earlier[ which? ] study giving the aboriginal y-DNA contribution at 6% was cited by Maca-Meyer et al., but the results were criticized as possibly flawed due to the widespread phylogeography of y-DNA haplogroup E1b1b1b, which may skew determination of the aboriginality versus coloniality of contemporary y-DNA lineages in the Canaries. Regardless, Maca-Meyer et al. state that historical evidence does support the explanation of "strong sexual asymmetry...as a result of a strong bias favoring matings between European males and aboriginal females, and to the important aboriginal male mortality during the Conquest". [19]
Indeed, according to a recent study by Fregel et al. 2009, in spite of the geographic nearness between the Canary Islands and Morocco the genetic ancestry of the Canary islands males is mainly of European origin. Nearly 67% of the haplogroups resulting from are Euro–Eurasian (R1a (2.76%), R1b (50.62%), J (14%), I (9.66%) and G (3.99%)). Unsurprisingly the Castillian conquest brought the genetic base of the current male population of the Canary Islands. Nevertheless, the second most important haplogroup origin is Northern Africa. E1b1b (14% including 8.30% of the typical berber haplogroup E-M81), E1b1a and E1a (1.50%), and T (3%) haplogroups are present at a rate of 33%. [20] [21] According to the same study, the presence of autochthonous North African E-M81 lineages, and also other relatively abundant markers (E-M78 and J-M267) from the same region in the indigenous Guanche population, "strongly points to that area [North Africa] as the most probable origin of the Guanche ancestors". In this study, Fregel et al. estimated that, based on Y-chromosome and mtDNA haplogroup frequencies, the relative female and male indigenous Guanche contributions to the present-day Canary Islands populations were respectively of 41.8% and 16.1%. [20]
The maternal lineages of mitochondrial DNA in Canary Islanders show the prevalence of European ancestry in all islands except La Gomera, in which the Northwest African lineage is stronger:
Island/NW African mtDNA | Sample size | % U6 | % L | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|
La Gomera | 46 | 50.01 % | 10.86 % | 60.87 % |
El Hierro | 32 | 21.88 % | 12.49 % | 34.37 % |
Lanzarote | 49 | 20.40 % | 8.16 % | 28.56 % |
Gran Canaria | 80 | 11.25 % | 10 % | 21.25 % |
Tenerife | 174 | 12.09 % | 7.45 % | 19.54 % |
La Palma | 68 | 17.65 % | 1.47 % | 19.12 % |
Fuerteventura | 42 | 16.66 % | 2.38 % | 19.04 % |
Study: Fregel 2009 [22]
A 2002 study analyzing the mitochondrial DNA from the teeth of the 18th-century Canarian population, found that the 18th-century Canary Islanders had a bit more of North African heritage than European, with minor sub-Saharan roots, which the author links to the former trade of black slaves.
North-African | European | Sub-Saharan | |
---|---|---|---|
Canary Islands [23] | 50.2% | 43.2% | 6.6% |
An autosomal study in 2011 found an average Northwest African influence of about 17% in Canary Islanders with a wide interindividual variation ranging from 0% to 96%. According to the authors, the substantial Northwest African ancestry found for Canary Islanders supports that, despite the aggressive conquest by Castile in the 15th century and the subsequent immigration, genetic footprints of the first settlers of the Canary Islands persist in the current inhabitants. Paralleling mtDNA findings, the largest average Northwest African contribution was found for the samples from La Gomera. [24]
Island | N | Average NW African ancestry |
---|---|---|
La Gomera | 7 | 42.50 % |
Fuerteventura | 10 | 21.60 % |
La Palma | 7 | 21.00 % |
El Hierro | 7 | 19.80 % |
Lanzarote | 13 | 16.40 % |
Tenerife | 30 | 14.30 % |
Gran Canaria | 30 | 12.40 % |
Total Canary Islanders | 104 | 17.40 % |
Another recent study by Guillen-Guio et al. 2018 sequenced the entire genomes of a sample of 400 adult men and women from all the islands except La Graciosa to determine the relationship of Canarian genetic diversity to the more frequent complex pathologies in the archipelago. The study indicated that Canarian DNA shows distinctive genetic markers, the result of a combination of factors such as the geographic isolation of the islands, the adaption to the environment of its inhabitants and the historic admixture of the Pre-Hispanic population of the archipelago (coming from North Africa), with European and from Sub-Saharan area individuals. Drawing on these data, it was estimated that the Canarian population is, on average at an autosomal level, 75% European, 22% North African and 3% Sub-saharan. [26] According to the authors "the proportion of SSA ancestry we observed in Canary Islanders likely originated in the postconquest importation of enslaved African people.". This study reported the below Genomic Ancestry Proportions in Canary Islanders. [25]
Island | North African | Sub-Saharan African | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Min. | Mean | Max. | Min. | Mean | Max. | |
Fuerteventura | 0.218 | 0.255 | 0.296 | 0.011 | 0.027 | 0.046 |
Lanzarote | 0.214 | 0.254 | 0.296 | 0.014 | 0.032 | 0.057 |
Gran Canaria | 0.155 | 0.200 | 0.264 | 0.005 | 0.032 | 0.082 |
Tenerife | 0.149 | 0.208 | 0.255 | 0.002 | 0.015 | 0.057 |
La Gomera | 0.160 | 0.221 | 0.289 | 0.013 | 0.048 | 0.092 |
La Palma | 0.170 | 0.200 | 0.245 | 0.000 | 0.013 | 0.032 |
El Hierro | 0.192 | 0.246 | 0.299 | 0.005 | 0.020 | 0.032 |
Source: Genomic Ancestry Proportions (from ADMIXTURE, K-4) in Canary Islanders (Guillen-Guio et al. 2018) [25]
The Guanches are related to the indigenous Berbers. In 2017, the first genome-wide data from the Guanches confirmed a North African origin and that they were genetically most similar to ancient North African Berber peoples of the nearby North African mainland. It also showed that modern inhabitants of Gran Canaria carry an estimated 16%–31% Guanche autosomal ancestry. [27]
Modern-day Canarian culture is Spanish, with some Guanche influences. Some of the Canarian traditional sports such as lucha canaria ("Canarian fight"), juego del palo ("stick game") or salto del pastor ("shepherd's jump"), among others, have their roots in Guanche culture. Additionally, other traditions include Canarian pottery, words of Guanche origin in the Canarian speech and the rural consumption of guarapo gomero and gofio . The inhabitants of La Gomera also retain an ancient way of communicating across deep ravines by means of a whistled speech called Silbo Gomero, which can be heard up to 3 km (2 miles) away. [28] This indigenous whistled language was invented by the Guanches, and was then adopted by the Spanish settlers in the 16th century after the Guanches were culturally assimilated into the population. The language was also formerly spoken on El Hierro, Tenerife and Gran Canaria [29] [28]
The holidays celebrated in the Canary Islands are of international, national and regional or insular character. The official day of the autonomous community is Canary Islands Day on 30 May. The anniversary of the first session of the Parliament of the Canary Islands, based in the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, held on 30 May 1983, is commemorated with this day. The most famous festival of the Canary Islands is the carnival. The carnival is celebrated in all the islands and all its municipalities, perhaps the two busiest being those of the two Canarian capitals; the Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Tourist Festival of International Interest) and the Carnival of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. It is celebrated on the streets between the months of February and March. But the rest of the islands of the archipelago have their carnivals with their own traditions among which stand out: The Festival of the Carneros of El Hierro, the Festival of the Diabletes of Teguise in Lanzarote, Los Indianos de La Palma, the Carnival of San Sebastián de La Gomera and the Carnival of Puerto del Rosario in Fuerteventura.
The strong influence of Latin America in Canarian culture is due to the constant emigration and return over the centuries of Canarians to that continent, chiefly to Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela. To a lesser extent, they also went to the US states of Louisiana (mostly the southern portion) and Texas (mostly in and around San Antonio), and some areas in eastern Mexico including Nuevo León and Veracruz. [30]
The Spanish language variety that is typical and conventional in the Canary Islands is usually called the Canarian Spanish, Canarian dialect or Canarian speech, and is used by the approximately two million Spanish speakers who live in the Canary Islands. It is a dialect variety that falls within what has been called the "Atlantic variety", similar to those of Spanish-speaking America, and also to those of the south of the Iberian Peninsula, especially western Andalusia.
The dialect most similar to the Canarian dialect, given the historical link between both areas, is the Caribbean dialect, spoken in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola (Dominican Republic), and the coast of the Caribbean Sea (Venezuela, northern Colombia, and Panama). In addition, lexically, the Canarian dialect is widely influenced by the Portuguese language, from which a certain part of its lexicon is derived.
The majority of native Canary Islanders are Catholic with various smaller foreign-born populations of other Christian beliefs such as Protestants from northern Europe.
The appearance of the Virgin of Candelaria (Patron of Canary Islands) [31] [32] was credited with moving the Canary Islands toward Christianity. In this sense, it is also important to highlight the figure of Saint Peter of Saint Joseph de Betancur, a missionary in Guatemala in the 17th century, who is the first saint of Canarian origin. [33] Another saint venerated by the Catholic Church with this ethnic origin is Saint Joseph of Anchieta, also a missionary, in this case in 16th century Brazil. [34]
The Canary Islands are divided into two Catholic dioceses, each governed by a bishop:
Around 5 percent of Canarians belong to a minority religion. Separate from the overwhelming Christian majority are a minority of Muslims who are usually foreign-born. [35] At present, there are in the Canary Islands a figure of approximately 70,000 Muslims and 40 mosques and places of worship throughout the archipelago. [36]
Among the followers of Islam, the Islamic Federation of the Canary Islands exists to represent the Islamic community in the Canary Islands as well as to provide practical support to members of the Islamic community. [37] For its part, there is also the Evangelical Council of the Canary Islands in the archipelago.
Other religious faiths represented include Jehovah's Witnesses, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as Hinduism. [2] Minority religions are also present such as the Church of the Guanche People which is classified as a neo-pagan native religion. [2] Also present are Buddhism, [2] Judaism, [2] Baháʼí, [2] African religion, [2] and Chinese religions. [2]
The distribution of beliefs in 2012 according to the CIS Barometer Autonomy was as follows: [38]
Among the believers 38.7% attend religious services frequently.
Historically, the Canary Islands have served as a hub between Spain and the Americas; favoured by that circumstance, large groups of Canary islanders have emigrated and settled all over the New World as early as the 15th century, mainly in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Uruguay.
The Canarian population includes long-tenured and new waves of mainland Spanish immigrants, old settlers of Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, British, and French origin, as well as recent foreign-born arrivals. [39] In 2019 the total population was 2,153,389, of which 72.1% were native Canary Islanders. [40] A total of 80.6%, or 1,735,457, were born in Spain and 19.4%, or 417,932, were born outside the country. Of these, the majority are from the Americas, mainly from Venezuela (66,573) and Cuba (41,792) and Colombia (31,368). There are 38,768 people from Africa, the majority from Morocco (24,268). [39] [41]
Population history [42] | ||
---|---|---|
Year | Population | |
1768 | 155,763 | |
1787 | 168,928 | |
1797 | 173,865 | |
1842 | 241,266 | |
1860 | 237,036 | |
1887 | 301,983 | |
1900 | 364,408 | |
1920 | 488,483 | |
1940 | 687,937 | |
1960 | 966,177 | |
1981 | 1,367,646 | |
1990 | 1,589,403 | |
2000 | 1,716,276 | |
2010 | 2,118,519 | |
2011 | 2,082,655 [43] | |
2019 | 2,152,590 [1] | |
Birthplace | Population | Percent | |
---|---|---|---|
Canary Islands | 1,553,517 | 72.1 | |
Other regions (Spain) | 176,302 | 8.2 | |
Total, Spain | 1,735,457 | 80.6 | |
Foreign-born | 417,932 | 19.4 | |
Americas | 201,257 | 9.3 | |
Venezuela | 66,573 | - | |
Cuba | 41,792 | - | |
Colombia | 31,361 | - | |
Argentina | 17.429 | - | |
Uruguay | 8,687 | - | |
Rest of Europe | 154,511 | 7.2 | |
Italy | 39,469 | - | |
Germany | 25,921 | - | |
United Kingdom | 25,339 | - | |
Africa | 38,768 | 1.8 | |
Morocco | 24,268 | - | |
Asia | 23,082 | 1.1 | |
China | 9,848 | - | |
Oceania | 314 | 0.0 | |
Total | 2,153,389 | 100.0% | |
Source [41] [40] |
According to a 2012 study by the Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas, when asked about national identity, the majority of respondents from the Canary Islands (49.3%) consider themselves Spanish and Canarian in equal measures, followed by 37.1% who consider themselves more Canarian than Spanish. Only 6.1% of the respondents consider themselves only Canarian. [44]
Only Spanish | 3.5% |
More Spanish than Canarian | 2.0% |
Equally Spanish and Canarian | 49.3% |
More Canarian than Spanish | 37.1% |
Only Canarian | 6.1% |
Did not answer | 2.0% |
Part of a series on the |
Spanish people |
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Rojigualda (historical Spanish flag) |
Regional groups |
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Significant Spanish diaspora |
Category • Spainportal |
The Canary Islands, also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish region, autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are 100 kilometres west of Morocco and the Western Sahara. They are the southernmost of the autonomous communities of Spain. The islands have a population of 2.2 million people and are the most populous special territory of the European Union.
The Guanche were the indigenous inhabitants of the Spanish Canary Islands, located in the Atlantic Ocean some 100 kilometres (60 mi) to the west of modern Morocco and the North African coast. The islanders spoke the Guanche language, which is believed to have been related to the Berber languages of mainland North Africa; the language became extinct in the 17th century, soon after the islands were colonized.
The genus Gallotia are the lacertids of the Canary Islands. This genus consists of a group that has been evolving there ever since the first islands emerged from the sea over 20 million years ago. The endemic species and subspecies of this group have a number of characteristics that make them quite special within their family (Lacertidae); their only close relatives are the sandrunner lizards (Psammodromus) of the western Mediterranean region. Gallotia are characteristic for eating significant quantities of plants, and several lineages are often presented as classic examples for insular gigantism. However, a find of an even larger Gallotia species from the early Miocene of mainland Europe casts doubt on this assumption. Instead the ancestor of all modern Gallotia species of the Canary islands was probably already very large but carnivorous.
Guanche is an extinct language or dialect continuum that was spoken by the Guanches of the Canary Islands until the 16th or 17th century. It died out after the conquest of the Canary Islands as the Guanche ethnic group was assimilated into the dominant Spanish culture. The Guanche language is known today through sentences and individual words that were recorded by early geographers, as well as through several place-names and some Guanche words that were retained in the Canary Islanders' Spanish.
E-M215 or E1b1b, formerly known as E3b, is a major human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup. E-M215 has two basal branches, E-M35 and E-M281. E-M35 is primarily distributed in North Africa and the Horn of Africa, and occurs at moderate frequencies in the Middle East, Europe, and Southern Africa. E-M281 occurs at a low frequency in Ethiopia.
Haplogroup U is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup (mtDNA). The clade arose from haplogroup R, likely during the early Upper Paleolithic. Its various subclades are found widely distributed across Northern and Eastern Europe, Central, Western and South Asia, as well as North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and the Canary Islands.
Haplogroup L3 is a human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroup. The clade has played a pivotal role in the early dispersal of anatomically modern humans.
The Canary Islands have been known since antiquity. Until the Spanish colonization between 1402 and 1496, the Canaries were populated by an indigenous population, whose origin was Amazigh from North Africa.
The Movement for the Self-Determination and Independence of the Canary Islands, was an independentist organization and socialist nature, founded in 1964 by Antonio Cubillo, whose objective was the secession of the Canary Islands from Spain. During the 1970s it operated through two terrorist groups: the Guanche Armed Forces (FAG) and the Canarian Armed Detachments (DAC), directly, but unintentionally causing one death. It maintained good relations with other terrorist groups, mainly First of October Anti-Fascist Resistance Groups (GRAPO), who provided it with weapons and explosives, and with socialist Arab governments, such as Libya and Algeria, which provided financing and in Algiers they had a radio station. Also MPAIAC radio programs asked the Canarian people to "return to their roots" and tried to popularize the Berber language.
Haplogroup H is a human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroup. The clade is believed to have originated in Southwest Asia, near present day Syria, around 20,000 to 25,000 years ago. Mitochondrial haplogroup H is today predominantly found in Europe, and is believed to have evolved before the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). It first expanded in the northern Near East and Southern Caucasus, and later migrations from Iberia suggest that the clade reached Europe before the Last Glacial Maximum. The haplogroup has also spread to parts of Africa, Siberia and Inner Asia. Today, around 40% of all maternal lineages in Europe belong to haplogroup H.
African admixture in Europe refers to the presence of human genotypes attributable to periods of human population dispersals out of Africa in the genetic history of Europe.
The conquest of the Canary Islands by the Crown of Castile took place between 1402 and 1496 in two periods: the Conquista señorial, carried out by Castilian nobility in exchange for a covenant of allegiance to the crown, and the Conquista realenga, carried out by the Spanish crown itself during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs. It has been described as the first instance of post-Roman European settler colonialism in Africa.
Gallotia goliath is an extinct giant lizard species from the island of Tenerife of the Canary Islands, Spain. This reptile lived before the arrival of humans and is believed to have grown to at least 0.9 metres (3.0 ft) long. It was described by the German herpetologist Robert Mertens. Fossils of this lizard have been found in volcanic caves, where they often appear with those of other animals, like the Tenerife giant rat.
The genetic history of North Africa encompasses the genetic history of the people of North Africa. The most important source of gene flow to North Africa from the Neolithic Era onwards was from Western Asia, while the Sahara desert to the south and the Mediterranean Sea to the north were also important barriers to gene flow from sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Europe in prehistory. However, North Africa is connected to Western Asia via the Isthmus of Suez and the Sinai peninsula, while at the Straits of Gibraltar, North Africa and Europe are separated by only 15 km (9 mi), similarly Malta, Sicily, Canary Islands, Lampedusa and Crete are close to the coasts of North Africa.
E-Z827, also known as E1b1b1b, is a major human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup. It is the parent lineage to the E-Z830 and E-V257 subclades, and defines their common phylogeny. The former is predominantly found in the Middle East; the latter is most frequently observed in North Africa, with its E-M81 subclade observed among the ancient Guanche natives of the Canary Islands. E-Z827 is also found at lower frequencies in Europe, and in isolated parts of Southeast Africa.
Bimbache or Bimbape is the name given to the inhabitants of El Hierro, who inhabited the island before the Spanish conquest of the Canary Islands that took place between 1402 and 1496. The Bimbache are one of several peoples native to the Canaries, with a genetic and cultural link to the Berber people of North Africa. The Bimbache people shared a common link with other aboriginal peoples of the Canary Islands.
Listed here are the human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups found in various ethnic groups and populations from North Africa and the Sahel (Tuaregs).
Kehf el Baroud, sometimes mistakenly spelled Kelif el Boroud, is an archaeological site in Morocco. It is located to the south of Rabat, near the Aterian industry of Dar es Soltan.
As in the rest of Spain, the majority religion in the Canary Islands is the Catholic Church. The Catholic religion has been the majority since the Conquest of the Canary Islands in the fifteenth century. This religion would largely replace the Canarian aboriginal religion through the prohibition of the latter and syncretism. According to a survey conducted in 2019, Canary Islands is the fifth autonomous community in Spain with the highest percentage of people who declare themselves to be Catholics after the Region of Murcia, Extremadura, Galicia, Aragon, and Castile and León. 76.7% of the population is Catholic.
El Museo Canario is an archeological museum in Las Palmas, the capital city of Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands. It is dedicated to the pre-colonial history of the Canary Islands.
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