Group
Canary Islands (Castilian colony)
The Canary Islands, also known as the Canaries (Spanish: Canarias), are a Spanish archipelago located just off the southern coast of Morocco, 100 kilometers (62 miles) west of its southern border.
The Canaries constitute one of Spain's seventeen autonomous communities and are among the outermost regions (OMR) of the European Union proper.
The main islands are (from largest to smallest) Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro.
The archipelago also includes a number of islets: La Graciosa, Alegranza, Isla de Lobos, Montaña Clara, Roque del Oeste and Roque del Este.The archipelago's beaches, climate and important natural attractions, especially Maspalomas in Gran Canaria and Teide National Park and Mount Teide (a World Heritage Site) in Tenerife (the third tallest volcano in the world measured from its base on the ocean floor), make it a major tourist destination with over twelve million visitors per year, especially Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote.
The islands have a subtropical climate, with long warm summers and moderately warm winters.
Due to their location above the temperature inversion layer, the high mountains of these islands are ideal for astronomical observation.
For this reason, two professional observatories, Teide Observatory on the island of Tenerife and Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on the island of La Palma, have been built on the islands.The capital of the Autonomous Community is shared by the cities of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, which in turn are the capitals of the provinces of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Province of Las Palmas.
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has been the largest city in the Canaries since 1768, except for a brief period in 1910.Between the 1833 territorial division of Spain and 1927 Santa Cruz de Tenerife is the sole capital of the Canary Islands.
In 1927 a decree orders that the capital of the Canary Islands be shared, as it remains at present.
The third largest city of the Canary Islands is San Cristóbal de La Laguna (a World Heritage Site) on Tenerife.
This city is also home to the Consejo Consultivo de Canarias, which is the supreme consultative body of the Canary Islands.
Member Cities
- Alcáçovas Evora Portugal Location
- Almirante Bocas del Toro Panama Location
- Bajos de Haina San Cristobal Dominican Republic Location
- Barcelona Cataluña Spain Location
- Basseterre Saint Kitts-Nevis Location
- Betancuria Canary Islands Spain Location
- Bottom Saba Island Netherlands Antilles Location
- Carbet Martinique Location
- Chacachacare Trinidad Trinidad and Tobago Location
- Charlestown Saint Kitts-Nevis Location
- Christiansted U S Virgins (American) Virgin Islands Location
- Cienfuegos Cíenfuegos Cuba Location
- Columbus Channel Location
- Cádiz Andalucia Spain Location
- Funchal Madeira Islands Portugal Location
- George Town Cayman Islands Location
- Grand Bourg Guadeloupe Location
- Guanaja Islas de la Bahia Honduras Location
- Kingstown Saint Vincent Island Saint Vincent and Grenadines Location
- La Asunción Nueva Esparta Venezuela Location
- La Isabela Puerto Plata Dominican Republic Location
- La Navidad Nord Haiti Location
- Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Canary Islands Spain Location
- Lisbon > Lisboa Lisboa Portugal Location
- Madeira Madeira Islands Portugal Location
- Nuevitas Camagüey Cuba Location
- Oranjestad Sint Eustatius Netherlands Antilles Location
- Palos de la Frontera Andalucia Spain Location
- Peter Island British Virgins Virgin Islands Location
- Philipsburg Sint Maarten Island Netherlands Antilles Location
- Plana Cays Mayaguana Bahamas Location
- Plymouth Montserrat Location
- Point Nelson San Salvador and Rum Cay Bahamas Location
- Port Royal Kingston Jamaica Location
- Porto Santo Madeira Islands Portugal Location
- Puerto Castilla Colon Honduras Location
- Redonda Island Antigua & Barbuda Location
- Road Town British Virgins Virgin Islands Location
- Rome > Roma Lazio Italy Location
- Roseau Saint George Dominica Location
- Samana Cay Long Island Bahamas Location
- Samaná Samana Dominican Republic Location
- San Juan San Juan Puerto Rico United States Location
- San Sebastián de la Gomera Canary Islands Spain Location
- Sanlúcar de Barrameda Andalucia Spain Location
- Santa Cruz de Tenerife Canary Islands Spain Location
- Santa Cruz de la Mar Pequeña Tiznit Morocco Location
- Santo Domingo Distrito Nacional Dominican Republic Location
- Scarborough Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Location
- Seville > Sevilla Andalucia Spain Location
- Spanish Town British Virgins Virgin Islands Location
- St Ann's Bay Saint Ann Jamaica Location
- St George's Saint George Grenada Location
- St John's Saint John Antigua & Barbuda Location
- Trujillo Extremadura Spain Location
- Îles des Saintes Guadeloupe Location