| El Hierro Nickname: Isla del Meridiano |
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 Flag of El Hierro |
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| Geography | |
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| Location | Atlantic Ocean |
| Archipelago | Canary Islands |
| Area | 278 km² |
| Highest point | Malpaso 1,501 m |
| Administration | |
 Spain |
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| Autonomous Community | Canary Islands |
| Province | Santa Cruz de Tenerife |
| Largest city | Valverde (5,797) |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 10,162 (as of 2003) |
| Density | 37/km² |
El Hierro, nicknamed Isla del Meridiano (the "Meridian Island"), is a Spanish island. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. An island (ˈaɪlənd or isle (/ˈaɪl/ is any piece of land that is completely surrounded by water in two dimensions above high tide and isolated from other significant It is the smallest and furthest south and west of the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. The Canary Islands ( English pronunciation kəˈnæriː ˈaɪləndz Spanish: Islas Canarias, ˈizlas kaˈnarjas are a Spanish It is situated at 27°45' north, 18°00' west.
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History
The name of the island is derived from the Guanche language toponym Hero, which by the process of folk-etymology was transformed into "Hierro," meaning "iron" in Spanish, due to its similarity to that word. Guanche is an Extinct language, which used to be spoken by the Guanches of the Canary Islands until the 16th or 17th century Toponymy refers to the scientific study of place-names ( toponyms) their origins meanings use and Typology. Folk etymology is a term used in two distinct ways A commonly held misunderstanding of the origin of a particular word a False etymology. Thus, Ferro (Latin ferrum, "iron") was and is used as an alternative name for the island. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It is the name for the island in other languages, including French, German, and Danish. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Danish ( d̥ænsɡ̊ is one of the North Germanic languages (also called Scandinavian languages a sub-group of the Germanic branch of the Pliny the Elder, who used Juba II as his source, names a series of Canary Islands, and it is believed that his Capraria may have been Hierro. Gaius or Caius Plinius Secundus, ( AD 23 – August 25, AD 79 better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient Author Juba II ( Iuba in Latin Ιóβας (Ιóβα or Ιουβας in Greek) or Juba II of Numidia (reigned 25 BC - 23 AD was a king
The ancient natives of the island, called bimbaches, were conquered by Jean de Béthencourt –more through the process of negotiation than by military action. Jean de Béthencourt (c 1360 - 1425 was a French Explorer who in 1402 led an expedition to the Canary Islands, landing first on the north side of Béthencourt had as his ally and negotiator Augeron, brother of the island's native monarch. Augeron had been captured years previously by the Europeans and now served as mediator between the Europeans and the Guanches. In return for control over the island, Béthencourt promised to respect the liberty of the natives, but he eventually broke his promise, selling many of the bimbaches into slavery. As a social-economic system slavery is a legal institution under which a Person (called "a slave" is compelled to work for another Many Frenchmen and Galicians subsequently settled on the island. Galicia (occasionally Galiza) is an autonomous community in northwest Spain. There was a revolt of the natives against the harsh treatment of the governor Lázaro Vizcaíno, but it was suppressed.
Geography, flora and fauna
Like the rest of the chain, the island is sharply mountainous. It has an area of 278 km². To help compare different Orders of magnitude and geographical regions we list here areas between 100 km² and 1000 km² The highest point is situated in the middle of the island, in Malpaso, 1501 meters high. El Hierro is home to many unique species, such as the El Hierro Giant Lizard (Gallotia simonyi). Gallotia simonyi redirects here This page deals mostly with the extant Subspecies Gallotia simonyi machadoi. For more information on the flora and vegetation of the island see http://www.hierro-flora.de.
Tourism & Transportation
Like all of the Canary Islands, El Hierro is a tourist destination. It is served by a small airport, El Hierro Airport at Valverde and a ferry terminal, both of which connect to Tenerife. El Hierro Airport is an airport in El Hierro, Spain. Airlines and destinations Binter Canarias (Las Palmas Santa Cruz de la Tenerife (previously known and spelled as "Teneriffe" in English before mass tourism adopted the Spanish spelling a Spanish Island, is the largest
Political organization
The island is part of the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. In addition to its autonomous communities, Spain is divided into fifty Provinces. History This province was established when in 1927 when the Canarias province (with Santa Cruz de Tenerife as the capital city divided into two provinces It includes three municipalities:
Valverde is situated in the northeast and Frontera in the southwest, both contain several villages. Subdivisions History Information--> Sites of interest Punta na de la Orchilla - a lighthouse situated near the municipality Subdivisions History Information Sites of interest--> Historical population Persons--> Subdivisions History Information Sites of interest--> Historical population Persons--> Subdivisions History Information--> Sites of interest Punta na de la Orchilla - a lighthouse situated near the municipality
The seat of the island government (cabildo insular) is in Valverde town. 10162 people lived on the island in 2003.
The "Meridian Island"
The island was known in European history as the prime meridian in common use outside of the future British Empire. Upper Silesia (Horní Slezsko Oberschlesien Latin: Silesia Superior; Górny Śląsk Silesian: Gůrny Ślůnsk) is the southeastern part Year 1746 ( MDCCXLVI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a The Prime Meridian is the meridian (line of Longitude) at which longitude is defined to be 0° The British Empire was the largest empire in history and for over a century was the foremost global power. Already in the 2nd century A. The 2nd century is the period from 101 to 200 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian / Common Era. D. , Ptolemy considered a definition of the zero meridian based on the western-most position of the known world, giving maps with only positive (eastern) longitudes. Claudius Ptolemaeus ( Greek: Klaúdios Ptolemaîos; after 83 &ndash ca In the year 1634, France ruled by Louis XIII and Richelieu decided that Ferro's meridian should be used as the reference on maps, since this island is the most western position of the Old World and also thought to be exactly 20 degrees west of the Paris meridian, so indeed the exact position of Ferro was never considered. For the cognac see Louis XIII de Rémy Martin. Louis XIII ( September 27, 1601 – May 14, 1643) This article is about a cardinal For information on the Russian also called The Red Eminence, see Mikhail Andreyevich Suslov. The Old World consists of those parts of Earth known to Europeans Asians and Africans in the 15th century The Paris Meridian is a meridian line running through the Paris Observatory in Paris, France -- now longitude 2°20′14 Old maps (outside of Anglo-America) often have a common grid with Paris degrees at the top and Ferro degrees offset by 20 at the bottom. Louis Feuillée also worked on this problem in 1724. Louis Éconches Feuillée (sometimes spelled Feuillet) ( 1660 - April 18, 1732) was a French member of the Order of the Minims Year 1724 ( MDCCXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a
It was later found that the actual island of El Hierro itself is in fact 20° 23' 9" west of Paris, but the Ferro meridian was still defined as 20 degrees west of Paris.
According to the European longitude adjustment of Theodor Albrecht (ca. 1890) the Ferro meridian is 17° 39' 46. 02" west of the Greenwich meridian. But for the geodetic networks of Austria, Germany and Czechoslovakia, the value 17° 40' 00" was adopted in the 1920s, not only for practical reasons but also as it was discovered that the longitude of the Berlin (Rauenberg) fundamental point was miscalculated by 13. Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Czechoslovakia may also refer to what is now the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The 1920s is sometimes referred to as the " Jazz Age " or the " Roaring Twenties " when speaking about the United States and Canada Rauenberg is a town in the district of Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. 39". For the geodetic networks of Hungary and Yugoslavia, the value of Albrecht was used prior to the switch to the Greenwich prime meridian. Hungary (Magyarország 'mɔɟɔrorsaːg) officially in English the Republic of Hungary ( Magyar Köztársaság, literally Magyar (Hungarian Republic See also Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia ( Serbo-Croatian
Energy
According to the Ministry for Industry, Tourism and Commerce El Hierro will become the first island in the world to be energy self-sufficient. This will be achieved through a €54 million project combining a 10 megawatt wind farm with two water reservoirs to store excess energy. The watt (symbol W) is the SI derived unit of power, equal to one Joule of energy per Second. A wind farm is a group of Wind turbines in the same location used for production of electric power [1]
El Hierro in literature
- The island of Hierro is mentioned in Umberto Eco's novel "The Island of the Day Before" ("L'isola del giorno prima", 1994), a novel about a 17th century Italian nobleman trapped on an island on the International Date Line. Umberto Eco (born 5 January 1932 is an Italian Medievalist, semiotician, Philosopher, literary critic and Novelist, best The Island of the Day Before ( L'isola del giorno prima) is a 1994 Novel by Umberto Eco.
See also
Notes
External links
- Information on flora and vegetation of El Hierro
- Watch from above El Hierro points of interests and add your preferred ones (map provided by Google)
- Info-Portal of El Hierro (Spanish, English, German)
- Information about El Hierro (Spanish, English, German)
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