RSSSituated in the subtropical North Atlantic, some 400 miles off the coast of Morocco, the Madeira archipelago consists of the main island of Madeira, its sister island Porto Santo and the outlying Salvage and Desertas island groups, all of which belong to the Funchal Municipality.
A good variety of seabirds (Cory's, little and Mediterranean Shearwaters) can be seen from land-based sea-watchers or from the ferry between Ponta de Sao Lourenco and Porto Santo. Another way to explore the archipelago is by yacht.
There are various other smaller islands such as Desertas a three island group (Iheu Chao, Deserta Grande and Iheu do Bugio, with a total land area of c.20 sq. km.), aligned along a north-south axis some 10 km southeast of Madeira. The Salvage Islands (Selvagens) are much smaller than Desertas, consisting of two small islands and nearby islets (total land area 2.73 square km). These are arranged into two groups, spread over an area of 20 km.
Madeira is the top of a large submarine volcano. The island is 36 miles long and 14 miles wide, rising 16,500 feet from the sea bed and 6,100 feet above sea level. Around 90% of the island is 600 feet or more above sea level and covered by a primitive laurel forest known as the laurisilva. The forest hosts an endemic pigeon, the Long-toed Pigeon, or Trocaz.
Madiera was discovered in 1419 by the Portuguese navigator Joao Goncalves Zarco. While at anchor off Porto Santo (which he had co-discovered in 1418) during a storm, Zarco's crew saw Madeira on the horizon and concluded this it must mark the end of the earth. Zarco returned the following year with a less nervous crew and reached the mountainous and densely forested island, which he named Ilha da Madeira (meaning Island of Wood). He was so taken with the place that he stayed on as Governor and colonizer. Except for some British occupation during the Napoleonic wars, the islands have remained under Portuguese rule. Remarkably, the island is one of the most densely populated areas of Europe, with an average of 65 people per square mile. About a million Madeira’s population live overseas, mostly in South Africa and Venezuela.
