Canary Islands: Names, Capitals, Provinces

If you want to learn the name of each of the islands of the archipelago, as well as their capitals and provinces, you should take a look at this article.

The Canary Islands are a Spanish archipelago of volcanic origin, which is really close to the African continent (only 100 kilometres away). It is made up of 8 islands, which are Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, La Palma, La Gomera, El Hierro and La Graciosa, the latter recently recognised as an island and not as an islet.

5 islets also form part of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands, which are: Isla de Lobos, Montaña Clara, Alegranza, Roque del Este and Roque del Oeste. All of them are uninhabited.

A very curious and interesting fact that you will discover is that the sea adjacent to the islands and islets forms part of the surface of the Canary Islands, which is why they are called “Canary Islands waters”. This brings its surface area from 7,500 km2 (islands and islets only) to more than 29,000 km2, taking into account the “Canary waters”.

Number of provinces and capitals

The Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands is divided into 2 provinces: Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas.

The province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife is made up of the following islands:

• • La Palma
  • El Hierro
  • La Gomera
  • Tenerife

While the province of Las Palmas is made up of these islands:

• • Lanzarote
  • Fuerteventura
  • Lanzarote
  • Fuerteventura
  • Gran Canaria
  • La Graciosa

Another curious fact is that, with the exception of La Graciosa, all the islands have an island council, an administrative system unique to the archipelago. Each has significant powers and responsibilities for the management and welfare of the islands.

Capitals of the Canary Islands and capitals of each island

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Another singularity of the Spanish archipelago is that it does not have only one capital, but 2 capitals: Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. This results in the need to alternate the seat of the president between both capitals, according to the legislative period. The seat of the vice-presidency is also distributed, being different from that of the president.

As for other governmental and administrative bodies, they are equally divided between Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. For example, the Parliament of the Canary Islands is located in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, while the Government Delegation is located in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

And if you are interested in knowing the capitals of each island, here they are:

• El Hierro: Valverde
• La Palma: Santa Cruz de La Palma
• La Gomera: San Sebastián de La Gomera
• Tenerife: Santa Cruz de Tenerife
• Gran Canaria: Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
• Fuerteventura: Puerto del Rosario
• Lanzarote: Arrecife
• La Graciosa: Caleta del Sebo

Thus we end this article on the names, capitals and provinces of the Canary Islands archipelago, a paradise of great biodiversity, full of beaches with crystal-clear waters, volcanoes, mountains, villages full of history and a very rich gastronomy.