Macaronesian

The Macaronesia.

Macaronesia is the collective name for five archipelagos in the North Atlantic, more or less close to the African continent: the Azores, the Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Madeira and the Salvajes Islands.

The term comes from the Greek μακάρων νησοι or μακάρων νήσοι (blessed islands), lucky islands, islands of the Blessed or the abode of deceased heroes according to Greek mythology, in the extreme West.

The islands of Macaronesia have many natural characteristics (botanical, zoological, geological and climatological) in common: they are, for example, of volcanic origin and host a particularly rich and diverse flora, with abundant endemism.

To these islands is added the so-called African Macaronesian enclave, an area of the African coast located approximately between the Canary Islands and Cape Verde (that is, between the coast of Western Sahara and the Gambia River, approximately), which shares some of the endemic species of the Macaronesian archipelagos.

Geology

Azores Madeira Savages (between Madeira and Canary Islands) Canary Islands Cape Verde

All the islands of Macaronesia have a volcanic origin, although the nature of this volcanism is only clear in the case of the Azores, which rise directly above the mid-Atlantic ridge. Regarding the rest of the archipelagos, there is speculation about the existence of several hot spots in the Atlantic Ocean. In addition, in some islands located on the continental-oceanic transition crust, such as Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, the rise of pyroclastic material has been able to transport sedimentary material from the continental edge to the surface.

Paleomacaronesian

The oldest rocks of present-day Macaronesia are found in Salvaje Grande, with an age of 27 million years, suggesting that this was the first island of the group. However, thanks to modern underwater mapping systems, seamounts and mountain ranges have been discovered that present evidence of having emerged above sea level in the past. These seamounts originated in the Paleogene (64-25 Ma BP) due to the activity of the same hot spots that would later originate the islands we know today in Madeira and the Canary Islands. A third hot spot would have formed the Sahara archipelago, between the Canary Islands and Cape Verde, currently submerged. Finally, to the south of the Azores is another archipelago formed solely by seamounts called Gran Meteor. The oldest of these seamounts, Omonde (Madeira volcanic province) and Lars (Canary Islands volcanic province), are at least 70 million years old, having emerged during the Cretaceous. This practically triples the estimated age of the group of islands that is Macaronesia.

Climate

The Macaronesian climate is determined by the prevailing winds, the trade winds and occasionally by the sirocco, ocean currents (Canary current) and its geographical latitude. It ranges from the oceanic, temperate and humid climate of the Azores and Madeira, to the mild tropical climate with very little and irregular rainfall in Cape Verde.

Flora

The islands present unique ecosystems made up of endemic fauna and flora. Neither was geologically part of the African continent, so biodiversity reached the islands via air and sea.

The important enclaves of laurel forest stand out, a type of relict forest from the tertiary era that covers areas of Madeira, the Azores and the Canary Islands and are redoubts of those that existed in the Mediterranean area before the ice ages. The felling of forests to obtain wood and arable land has produced a significant setback of the native vegetation, with the laurisilva being reduced to small redoubts. Something similar to what happens with the dragon tree, which appears in the Canary Islands, Cape Verde and Morocco, and with a good part of the biota of the islands, which is in serious danger of extinction.

View of Ponta Furada, on the island of São Jorge, Azores.

The flora varies depending on the height and its exposure or not to the humid trade winds, coming from the northeast. Thus, in the Canary Islands, for example, several clearly differentiated bioclimatic floors can be distinguished:

• Ground zone. It is divided in turn into a coastal belt dominated by the sweet tabaiba, awning or tarajal up to 100 m and, above it, the xerophic communities, formed by cardones, classrooms, verodes, bejeques, dredges and palm trees.
• Laurisilva Forest. It appears in those islands with high enough mountains to generate the sea of clouds, usually on the northern slopes between 600 and 1500 m. Lauraceae are the predominant plants, accompanied by ferns, sages and filmmakers, as well as brezos and fayas.
• Pain. The canary pine is the main species and may be present until 1900 m of altitude. Although it has little sotobosque, there are also codes, jars or tomillos.
• High mountain. The peak areas of the islands with the largest mountains have a bushy vegetation formed by numerous endemisms, among which are leguminous, tajinaste or violet.

Demographics

Until the 15th century the only inhabited Macaronesian archipelago was the Canary Islands, which was colonized in ancient times by North African peoples. Subsequently, all the archipelagos have received strong migratory currents from Europe and Africa. At present, many of these island territories support a high or very high population.

Flag	Archipelago	State	Inhabitants
	Canary Islands	SpainSpain	2.176.412
	Cape Verde	Cape VerdeCape Verde	566.252
	Madeira	Portugal	250.769
	Azores Islands	Portugal	236.440
	Salvage Islands	Portugal	3
Total Macaronesia			3.229.873

• 

  Azores

• 

  Cape Verde

• 

  Canary Islands

• 

  Madeira

• 

  North Savage

• 

  Survivors

Islands

Ponta do Sol, on the island of Santo Antão, Cape Verde.

Costa de Pitón Grande, in the Wild Islands.

North coast of Madeira Island.

Volcano in Fuerteventura, Canary Islands.

Caldeira das Sete Cidades, São Miguel, Azores.

Name	Archipelago	State	Population (2009)	Surface (km2)	Maximum height. (m s. n. m.)	Discover... lying1
Alegranza	Canary Islands		0	10.30	289
Boavista	Cape Verde		5398	620,00	387
Branco	Cape Verde		0	3,00	126
Brava	Cape Verde		6642	67.00	976	1462
Bugio	Madeira		0	3,00	411	1420
Cal	Madeira		0	1.40	178
Chão	Madeira		0	1,00	104	1420
Cima	Madeira		0	0.30	121
Corvo	Azores		425	17,13	718	1452
Desert Great	Madeira		0	10,00	479	1420
Faial	Azores		15 476	173,00	1043	1451
Flowers	Azores		3907	143,00	914	1452
Fogo	Cape Verde		37 861	476,00	2829	1460
Fuerteventura	Canary Islands		103 167	1659.74	812	1339
La Gomera	Canary Islands		22 769	369.76	1487	1341
Graciosa	Azores		5500	60.84	402	1450
La Graciosa	Canary Islands		644	29,05	266
Gran Canaria	Canary Islands		838 397	1560,10	1956	1341
The Iron	Canary Islands		10 892	268,71	1501	1341
Lanzarote	Canary Islands		141 938	845.94	670	1312
Wolves	Canary Islands		0	4.58	127	1339
Madeira	Madeira		245 806	740,70	1862	1418
Maio	Cape Verde		7506	265,00	436	1460
Mountain Clara	Canary Islands		0	2.70	256
La Palma	Canary Islands		86 996	708,32	2426	1341
Pico	Azores		15 500	444.80	2351	1439
Big Piton	Savages		0	0.20	49	1438
Little Piton	Savages		0	0.08	18	1438
Porto Santo	Madeira		4474	42.17	517	1418
Raso	Cape Verde		0	7.00	73
Roque del Este	Canary Islands		0	0.06	84
Roque del Oeste	Canary Islands		0	0.01	41
Sal	Cape Verde		17 631	216,00	406	1460
Big Savage	Savages		0	2.45	163	1438
Santa Maria	Azores		5578	97.40	590	1427
Santa Luzia	Cape Verde		0	35,00	395	1462
Santiago	Cape Verde		266 161	991.00	1394	1460
Santo Antão	Cape Verde		47 484	779,00	1979	1462
São Jorge	Azores		10 500	237,59	1053	1439
São Miguel	Azores		126 000	746.00	1103	1427
São Nicolau	Cape Verde		13 310	388.00	1340	1462
São Vicente	Cape Verde		74 136	227,00	725	1462
Tenerife	Canary Islands		928 604	2034.38	3718	1341
Terceira	Azores		55 833	402,20	1023	1439

Notes

¹ Date of rediscovery in the case of the Canary Islands, known in antiquity.^{[citation required]}