La Palma
Location, Geography, & Facts
La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain
La Palma, island, Santa Cruz de Tenerife provincia (province), in the comunidad autónoma (autonomous community) of the Canary Islands of Spain, in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwestern coast of Africa. The economy of La Palma revolves around irrigation-based farming. Bananas, tomatoes, and tobacco, along with embroidery, are exported from the port of Santa Cruz de La Palma, the island’s capital. Tourism has increased in importance. The island has some roads and an airstrip. Area 273 square miles (708 square km).
La Palma’s central geographic feature is La Caldera de Taburiente, a large volcanic caldera (about 5 miles [8 km] in diameter) that was established as a national park. The rim is breached on the west by a canyon, but it forms a mountain ridge up to 7,959 feet (2,426 metres) at Roque de los Muchachos, where there is an observatory. Its well-watered slopes are densely wooded and deeply dissected by ravines.
The Cumbre Vieja volcano is a large ridge made up of a complex of cinder cones that stretches north to south across the southern half of the island. Cumbre Vieja has a history of steady Strombolian eruptions (moderate bursts of expanding gases and cyclical or nearly continuous small lava ejections) from one or more vents (see volcano). Historical records of eruptions at Cumbre Vieja date to about 1480; the last three of its eruptions were in 1949, 1971, and 2021.
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