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Canarias, las islas tricontinentales

Mar 21, 2024
They are in Africa, but also in the European Union. And they have a very particular connection with the United States. We invite you to discover the Canary Islands, such special islands that they even have a unique language that does not need words. The Canary Islands archipelago is located in the Atlantic Ocean, off the northwest coast of Africa. They are a group of eight inhabited islands and some islets. If we sort the eight main islands by area and population, there will be little difference. But it will change the list a little if we list them by their maximum elevation.
canarias las islas tricontinentales
This is quite relevant, since they are of volcanic origin and reach a great height. If we leave aside La Graciosa, which is the smallest island and where only 700 people live, we can see that each of the other islands is above several recognized countries, such as Uruguay, Moldova, Lithuania or Denmark. Regarding their population, Tenerife and Gran Canaria concentrate 82% of the total of the archipelago, which exceeds two million inhabitants. We have spoken several times about countries that are tricontinental. Like Chile, which has a presence in America, Oceania and Antarctica. Or the United States, with islands in Asia and Oceania, in addition to its American territory.
canarias las islas tricontinentales

More Interesting Facts About,

canarias las islas tricontinentales...

Considering some islands as tricontinental seems stranger, although we can try. Administratively, the Canary Islands are one of the 17 autonomous communities of Spain. By belonging to this country, they are also part of the European Union as an outermost region. Regarding their location, they are located less than 100 kilometers from the African coast, within the plate of this continent, so geography places them there. On a historical and cultural level there is a great connection with America that we cannot ignore either. La Gomera, for example, was the last island that Christopher Columbus visited before his arrival in America. In fact, the Spanish finished conquering the Canary Islands in the same decade in which they arrived on the new continent.
canarias las islas tricontinentales
In those years it was an almost obligatory stop for ships preparing to cross the Atlantic. But the connection continued for centuries and can be seen in one point in particular: the accent. Many of the Spaniards who embarked for the new world came from Andalusia, particularly the city of Seville. There, unlike much of Spain, the pronunciation of c, s and z is not distinguished. And yes, both in the Canary Islands and in America people have a lisp. That is, we say these three letters in the same way. But there were also large migratory flows for centuries. Especially with Cuba and Venezuela.
canarias las islas tricontinentales
This explains why, even today, similar accents can be heard between these American countries and the Canary Islands. At a geographical level we can find some records in this archipelago. For example, we find the most southern and western points of the Kingdom of Spain. There is no place in this country that is further south than Punta de La Restinga, on the island of El Hierro. There we also located the place that is most west of all: Punta de la Orchilla. And this place has a unique historical and geographical value. For more than two centuries the zero meridian was taken as a reference.
Yes, at that time the imaginary line that we know today as the Greenwich meridian passed through this Spanish island. At that altitude they are separated by about 1,700 kilometers. Let's think that if this reference were still used today to determine the 0th meridian, the antimeridian, the international date line, would also change. It would stay in this place: it would cross the Kamchatka peninsula, in Russia, and the Solomon Islands. New Zealand, east of the line, could be one of the last countries to receive each day. And not one of the first, as is currently the case. In recent years, one of the most shocking news to come from the Canary Islands was the eruption of a volcano on La Palma.
There had been no activity in the entire archipelago for ten years. But on September 19, 2021, the eruption began, which lasted until December 13. During those 85 days of activity, no less than 150 million cubic meters of magma were released. This caused the destruction of 2,600 buildings and enormous damage to agriculture, the environment and infrastructure. The material losses were estimated at more than 800 million euros, but fortunately there were no fatalities. Despite this, a large number of tourists constantly come to the archipelago. Tenerife receives more than six million and Gran Canaria five million each year. The national parks of Cañadas del Teide or Caldera de Taburiente are some of the landscapes most requested by visitors.
But we left the most incredible story of the Canary Islands for last. It is a specific custom of a single island, La Gomera. The locals have a very particular custom. It is not its own language, but we can consider it a language. We are talking about the Gomero whistle: it is a form of communication that is carried out through whistles. They have so developed the technique to emit sounds and encode and decode messages that they can engage in conversations up to three kilometers away. On the island they speak Spanish, but the whistle can be used with any language.
To communicate, they simplify the alphabet. Depending on the tone and continuity, they have two sounds for vowels and another four for consonants. The equivalence of sounds is this. As you can imagine, this language carries a great possibility of ambiguity, since in isolation there are very different words that are whistled in the same way. For example, the jar whistles just like the soda. In most situations, these ambiguities are resolved through the context of the conversation. But counterquestions can also be asked to corroborate the meaning of what is expressed. Specialists on the subject assure that whistlers have a very wide vocabulary, since they usually resort to synonyms to clarify their messages when necessary.
In addition, clear messages are usually prepared, with concentrated information and without redundancies, which helps with agile and precise communication. The geography of the island itself favored the emergence of this language. Being full of mountains and ravines, the inhabitants were able to communicate at a distance on everyday issues. This way they avoided going up and down too many times on steep terrain. For a long time it was used informally by locals. In the second half of the 20th century its importance had begun to decline. But since 1999 it has been taught in the island's schools. This created a resurgence and is used more than before.
It is clear that with the arrival of mobile phones it is no longer as useful as before. But on a cultural level yes, since it is part of the identity of the place. In fact, UNESCO classified it as intangible cultural heritage of humanity. Obviously, whistling is a social language. Messages that are sent remotely can be heard by people who were not the recipients, so there are not too many secrets that are whistled. But the very coding they carried out gave rise to the plot of a successful Romanian film. In the midst of mafia, police, prisoners and a hidden loot of 30 million euros, a brilliant idea: travel to the island to learn to play the whistle.
In this way they could communicate at a distance and without others understanding them. Have you already tried whistling like they do in La Gomera in these minutes? We look forward to your honest message below. Before finishing, we remind you that we launched our first book. We are very happy because we know that hundreds of people have already bought it. In the book you will find photographs, graphics and updated information of the most incredible places on this planet. We also invite you to subscribe to Un Mundo Inmenso and perhaps join as a member. See you in the next video.

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