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| Tenerife Location |
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Tenerife is the largest of the seven islands that make up the Canary Islands and occupies a central position between the islands of Gran Canaria, La Gomera and La Palma. The island is only just over 300 miles from the African continent and more than 1000 miles south of the Iberian peninsula. Tenerife has an area of almost 2000 square miles. Tenerife like the rest of the Canary Islands, is of volcanic origin. The last of the three eruptions in which the island was created about 3.5 million years ago. The last earthquake in Tenerife, from about 4 on the Richter scale, was in 2002. Tenerife boasts the highest point in Spain, The mountain called Teide (3717 m). Tenerife itself is noticeably different in a very dry southern part and a very wet and green north part of the Island. The Tenerife, Teide ,National Park is on the list of World Cultural Heritage sites. There is the possibility of obtaining a special permit in the offices of the Tenerife national parks to enable guests to climb to the summit.
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| Tenerife History |
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Tenerife consisted at the time of his conquest of nine different "Menceyatos", (the small kingdom) The natives were named the Guanches. Although History tells the Spanish troops under the Adelantado ( "military governor") Alonso Fernandez de Lugo, in the first battle of Acentejo in 1494 delivered a devastating defeat on the Guanches, because of the superior technology. They also had problems because the Spanish "imported" diseases they were not immune to -. As to the other islands of the Canaries, a large proportion of the population of Tenerife succumbed to diseases while immigrants from different parts of Europe to the Spanish Empire (Portugal, Flanders, Italy, Germany) came to the island of Tenerife and settled. After 1520, the original pine forests in Tenerife where cleared to make room for the cultivation of sugar cane. In the following centuries, the economy shifted in Tenerife the cultivation of other products of other goods such as wine and cochineal (for dyes) and bananas. In the 17th and 18th century Tenerife was subjected to many different attacks by the fleets of England (including by Admiral Nelson), in the battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife Later less hostile visitors came in the following centuries to Tenerife. The naturalist Alexander von Humboldt 1799 ascended the summit of Mount Teide and was fascinated by the beauty of the island. The tourists began in the 1890s to come to Tenerife in large numbers to visit, especially the northern cities of Puerto de la Cruz and Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Through fear of his political influence General Francisco Franco, before his ascent to power in March 1936 by the republican government was sent to Tenerife. However, Franco received orders to continue in Gran Canaria in the military coup cooperate, ultimately to the Spanish civil war resulted. The Canary Islands in July 1936 fell under the power of the nationalists and large segments of the population were for fear of opponents of the new government victims of mass executions. In the 1950s, because of the misery of the post-war period, thousands of inhabitants of Tenerife to emigrate to Cuba and other parts of Latin America. Many of them and there relatives will be found there today.
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| Flora and Fauna on Tenerife |
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The island of Tenerife, is made up of an unusually large ecological diversity. This is due primarily to their special ecological conditions under which many micro-climates prevail. This favors the growth of a variety of plants, where almost 1 500 different plant live in perfect harmony with nature. On Tenerife, there are about 150 unique species of plant, and thus the largest collection of endemic flowers through out Europe. We should remember that Tenerife is one of the world's most important natural regions. Nearly half of the island is in a protected regions of the 48 division, primarily the Teide National Park, half a century ago was built. This place, with its many attractions, is considered the best National Park in Spain since 2007 and is UNESCO World Heritage Site. The mountain is home to various wild animals, with more than 6020 species of invertebrates and 110 species of vertebrates, the lush Pine forest is a site to behold and well worth a visit. Tenerife has something for everyone, beaches, forests, mountains, deserts and hotels of all descriptions.
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