Gran Canaria (in English, "Grand (or Great) Canary") is an island of the Canary Islands. Located in the Atlantic Ocean about 150 kilometers (~93 miles) off the northwestern coast of Africa and about 1350 km (~838 miles) from Europe. Gran Canaria is the second most populous island of the Canary Islands after Tenerife. Gran Canaria is also the third in extension Canary Islands.

History

Gran Canaria was populated by the Canarii (Guanches), who may have arrived as early as 500 BC. The Canarii called the island Tamarán or Land of the Brave. After over a century of European (French, Portuguese...) incursions and attempts at conquest, the island was conquered on April 29, 1483, after a campaign that lasted 5 years, by the Kingdom of Castile, with the support of Queen Isabella I, a conquest which turned out to be an important step towards the expansion of the unified Spain.

The capital city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria was founded on June 24, 1478, under the name "Real de Las Palmas", by Juan Rejón, head of the invading Castilian army. In 1492, Cristopher Columbus anchored in the Port of Las Palmas (and spent some time on the island) on his first trip to the Americas. Some reports suggest that Gran Canaria was formerly named, due to the island's shape, El Rondo (The Circle) by English explorer Paul C. Reilly who landed on the island in 1451.

Geography

Gran Canaria is located southeast of Tenerife and west of Fuerteventura. The island is of volcanic origin, mostly made of fissure vents. Gran Canaria is the second most populous island of the Canary Islands after Tenerife. Gran Canaria's surface area is 1,560 km² and its maximum altitude is 1,949 meters (Pico de Las Nieves). It has a round shape, with a diameter of approximately 50 km.

Gran Canaria is divided into twenty-one municipalities:

*Agaete

*Agüimes

*Artenara

*Arucas

*Firgas

*Gáldar

*Ingenio

*Mogán

*Moya

*Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

*San Bartolomé de Tirajana

*San Nicolás de Tolentino

*Sta. Brígida

*Sta. Lucía de Tirajana

*Santa María de Guía

*Tejeda

*Telde

*Teror

*Valleseco

*Valsequillo

*Vega de San Mateo

The island has a population of 820,257 with 378,628 (year 2005) of those in the capital city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is the capital of the province of Las Palmas, and also one of the two capitals of the autonomous community of the Canary Islands, along with Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

Climate

Gran Canaria's average daytime highs range from 20 °C in winter, to 26 °C in summer. Some cool nights occur in winter, but lows below 10 °C are unknown near the coast. Inland the climate is still mild but mountains areas see the occasional frost or snow. Annual rainfall averages 228 mm, most of this falling in the cooler months, with July, August and September normally rainless. Rainfall is unevenly distributed through the island with some areas being much drier than others. Cloud cover and sunshine is often quite variable during the cooler months, and in fact there can be several rather cloudy days at times in winter. Summers are generally quite sunny however, with the south of the island being most favoured.

credited to wikipedia