The Canary Islands, also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are 100 kilometres west of Morocco. They are the southernmost of the autonomous communities of Spain. The islands have a population of 2.2 million people and they are the most populous special territory of the European Union.
Gran Canaria, also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, an archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa which is part of Spain. As of 2019 the island had a population of 851,231 that constitutes approximately 40% of the population of the archipelago. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the capital of the island, is the biggest city of the Canary Islands and the ninth of Spain.
Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of 2,034 square kilometres (785 sq mi) and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of January 2022, it is also the most populous island of Spain and of Macaronesia.
Phonolite is an uncommon extrusive rock, of intermediate chemical composition between felsic and mafic, with texture ranging from aphanitic (fine-grained) to porphyritic. Phonolite is a variation of the igneous rock trachyte that contains nepheline or leucite rather than quartz. Its intrusive equivalent is nepheline syenite. Phonolite is typically fine grained and compact. The name phonolite comes from the Ancient Greek meaning "sounding stone" due to the metallic sound it produces if an unfractured plate is hit; hence, the English name clinkstone is given as a synonym.
La Palma, also known as La isla bonita and officially San Miguel de La Palma, is the most north-westerly island of the Canary Islands, Spain. La Palma has an area of 708 square kilometres (273 sq mi) making it the fifth largest of the eight main Canary Islands. The total population at the end of 2020 was 85,840, of which 15,716 lived in the capital, Santa Cruz de La Palma and about 20,467 in Los Llanos de Aridane. Its highest mountain is the Roque de los Muchachos, at 2,423 metres (7,949 ft), being second among the peaks of the Canaries only to the peaks of the Teide massif on Tenerife.
El Hierro, nicknamed Isla del Meridiano, is the second-smallest and farthest-south and -west of the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa, with a population of 10,968 (2019). Its capital is Valverde. At 268.51 square kilometres (103.67 sq mi), it is the second-smallest of the eight main islands of the Canaries.
Lanzarote is a Spanish island, the easternmost of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. It is located approximately 125 kilometres off the north coast of Africa and 1,000 kilometres from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering 845.94 square kilometres, Lanzarote is the fourth-largest of the islands in the archipelago. With 152,289 inhabitants at the start of 2019, it is the third most populous Canary Island, after Tenerife and Gran Canaria. Located in the centre-west of the island is Timanfaya National Park, one of its main attractions. The island was declared a biosphere reserve by UNESCO in 1993. The island's capital is Arrecife, which lies on the eastern coastline. It is the smaller main island of the Province of Las Palmas.
Teide, or Mount Teide, is a volcano on Tenerife in the Canary Islands, Spain. Its summit is the highest point in Spain and the highest point above sea level in the islands of the Atlantic.
The Cumbre Vieja is an active volcanic ridge on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, Spain. The spine of Cumbre Vieja trends in an approximate north–south direction, comprising the southern half of La Palma, with both summit ridge and flanks pockmarked by dozens of craters and cones. The latest eruption began on 19 September 2021 in a forested area of Las Manchas locality known as Cabeza de Vaca. Voluminous lava flows quickly reached populated areas downslope, fanning out across settlements and banana plantations, destroying thousands of buildings and ultimately pouring over steep cliffs into the ocean to enlarge the island at several locations. The volcano went quiet on 13 December 2021, and on 25 December 2021, the local government declared the eruption to be over.
Caldera de Taburiente National Park is a national park on the island of La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain. It contains the Caldera de Taburiente, which dominates the northern part of the island, and was designated as a national park in 1954. The telescopes of the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory are situated very close to the summit.
Pico do Fogo is the highest peak of Cape Verde and West Africa, rising to 2,829 metres (9,281 ft) above sea level. It is an active stratovolcano lying on the island of Fogo. The main cone last erupted in 1680, causing mass emigration from the island. A subsidiary vent erupted in 1995. The only deadly eruption was in 1847 when earthquakes killed several people.
The Orotava Valley is an area in the northern part of the island of Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. The valley measures 10 km by 11 km, and stretches from the north coast to about 2,000 m elevation, at the northern foot of Pico del Teide. To the west and east, the valley is delimited by two steep escarpments, respectively the Ladera de Tigaiga and the Ladera de Santa Ursula. The Orotava valley formed as the result of a large landslide some 560,000 years ago. The valley takes its name from La Orotava, the largest town in the area. Other towns are Los Realejos and Puerto de la Cruz. In the era of the Guanches, before the conquest by the Spanish in 1496, the valley was known as Taoro.
Garajonay National Park is located in the center and north of the island of La Gomera, one of the Canary Islands (Spain). It was declared a national park in 1981 and a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986. It occupies 40 km2 and it extends into each of the six municipalities on the island.
Teide National Park is a national park located in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.
Mount Guajara is a 2,718 m (8,917 ft) high mountain on Tenerife, in the Canary Islands.
The Roque Cinchado is a rock formation, regarded as emblematic of the island of Tenerife. It lies within the Teide National Park in the municipality of La Orotava, near the volcano of the same name, in the heart of the island.
Relation of the eruptions of which one has historical record in the Island of Tenerife:
Teide Cableway is an aerial tramway that goes up Mount Teide, the highest peak in Spain, located in the Teide National Park in Tenerife, Canary Islands. Starting at the base station at 2,356 metres (7,730 ft) above sea level, it ascends to the top station at 3,555 m (11,663 ft) in eight minutes, at a maximum speed of 8 m/s (26 ft/s) and carrying 44 people per cabin. Conceived in 1929, construction of the cableway started on 5 September 1963 and was completed on 27 July 1971, starting operations on 2 August 1971. It was renovated between 1999 and 2007.
The 1826 Canary Islands storm was the worst weather-related disaster in the history of the Canary Islands, claiming at least 298 lives. It was likely either a tropical cyclone or a storm system derived from a tropical cyclone.
The geology of the Canary Islands is dominated by volcanic rock. The Canary Islands and some seamounts to the north-east form the Canary Volcanic Province whose volcanic history started about 70 million years ago. The Canary Islands region is still volcanically active. The most recent volcanic eruption on land occurred in 2021 and the most recent underwater eruption was in 2011-12.
