The Probert Encyclopaedia of Places of the World

CANARY ISLANDS

The Canary islands (formerly known as the Fortunate Islands) are an archipelago in the Atlantic ocean off the north west coast of Africa. They are thirteen in number, seven of which are considerable: Palma, Ferro, Gomera, Teneriffe, Grand Canary, Fuerteventura, and Lancerota. The other six are very small: Graciosa, Roca or Rocca, Allegranza, Sta. Clara, Inferno, and Lobos. All are volcanic, rugged and mountainous, frequently presenting precipitous cliffs to the sea. Of the Guanches, the mysterious tribe who originally inhabited these islands, we know little. The islands were discovered and conquered by the Spaniards between 1316 and 1334; they then passed into the hands of the Portuguese, but were reconquered toward the end of the 15th century by the Spaniards, who extirpated the inhabitants, and now constitute the great bulk of the population.
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