The archipelago known as the Canary Islands is situated in the Atlantic Ocean to the west of North Africa; the island of Fuerteventura being the closest point at only 52 nautical miles due west from the coast of Morocco. The seven main islands of Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, La Gomera, La Palma and El Hierro stretch from east to west in a 500km arch.

The island of Fuerteventura is the second largest of the islands, and measures 1660km2 (including the island of Los Lobos, just off the northernmost point of the island, at 6.40km2). It is thought to be the oldest of the islands, having been the result of a volcanic eruption some 20 million years ago.

The desert like landscape of the island is due to its geographical location; the winds from the Sahara Desert to the east bringing the white sand that makes up the spectacular beaches and sand dunes that the island is so famous for. The sand dunes of Corralejo, the most popular and cosmopolitan of the islands resorts, have now been designated a Natural Park, along with the Island of Los Lobos, and the area measures approximately 30km2.

The waters of the narrow strait that separates the two islands are also a natural reserve, teaming with many species of fish and larger sea dwellers, and being a superb site for diving. To the south is the Jandia Peninsular, which is also a designated Natural Park, the island having a total of 29% of protected land or nature areas including some that are underwater.

The residential population (human) at the last official count in 2001 was just over 70,000, which equates to only 38 people per km2. This is very much lower than the islands other large residential population, the goat! This number is only the static population, however, with many thousands of tourists from different countries also visiting the island throughout the year.

The island was originally divided into two tribal kingdoms, Jandia in the south and Maxorata to the north. The southern municipality of Jandia still exists today, with the predominantly German tourist resorts of Costa Calma, Morro Jable and La Pared on its coastline. The centre and north of the island is now made up of a number of different districts, but visitors will still come across the name of Maxorata on anything from locally produced goats cheese, to hotels and restaurants.

In ancient times, very few sea explorers dared to venture into the Atlantic Ocean; indeed it was actually referred to as the ‘Dark Ocean’. The trade winds that blow almost constantly were a huge deterrent to these voyagers, as well as the ‘Canarian Stream’, an ocean current that was thought to carry vessels to the end of the world, as it was then thought (although we now know that place as the continent of South America!) Later, in the 15th century, European explorers actually made use of this current as an aid to crossing the ocean to reach America. Ships would use the Canary Islands as a stop off point for collecting provisions, and the islands were actually the last port of call for the Spanish in 1492 before they landed at San Salvador in the Caribbean. In the same year Christopher Columbus set sail from the island of La Gomera, with his three ships, ‘La Nina’, ‘La Pinta’ and ‘La Santa Maria’, on his voyage of discovery.

A very common misconception is that the Canary Islands were named after the birds, when in actual fact, the birds were named after the islands. All of the worlds Canaries are directly descended from those birds found here by the Spanish Conquistadors in the 15th century. The birds were captured and taken back to Europe, where they soon became very fashionable pets due to their attractive colouring and beautiful singing voices. It is believed that the name was first given to Gran Canaria by King Juba II of Mauritania (25BC – 25AD), when his expedition to the islands found not humans, but ferocious dogs, and named the island after the Latin word for canine.

The geographical position of the islands, not too far above the tropic of Capricorn, puts them in a subtropical zone, on roughly the same latitude as Orlando in Florida and Delhi, India. You would imagine that this would make for similar weather patterns and conditions to these cities, but the climate in Fuerteventura is actually very different. The island boasts a fabulous all year round climate with warm winters and temperate summers. Generally the annual temperature variation is relatively small, with year round temperatures of 20 – 27 degrees Celsius.

The prevailing cool winds, that come from the north and northeast, do the job of moderating the climate, however, when the wind direction changes and the hot winds blow from across the Sahara Desert to the east, Fuerteventura can experience summer temperatures of 40 degrees and more. Rainfall is usually low and can be as little as 100mm a year, which obviously cannot provide the island with an adequate fresh water supply. Fuerteventura today has a number of de-salination plants, which take the salt water from the sea and extract the salt, to provide the residential and industrial user with all the fresh water necessary.