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The Canary Islands (; (スペイン語:Islas Canarias) (:ˈizlas kaˈnaɾjas), ), also known as ''the Canaries'' ((スペイン語:Canarias)), are a Spanish archipelago located just off the southern coast of Morocco, west of its southern border. The Canaries constitute one of Spain's 17 autonomous communities and are among the outermost regions (OMR) of the European Union proper. The main islands are (from largest to smallest) Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro. The archipelago also includes a number of islands and islets: La Graciosa, Alegranza, Isla de Lobos, Montaña Clara, Roque del Oeste and Roque del Este. The archipelago's beaches, climate and important natural attractions, especially Maspalomas in Gran Canaria and Teide National Park and Mount Teide (a World Heritage Site) in Tenerife (the third tallest volcano in the world measured from its base on the ocean floor), make it a major tourist destination with over 12 million visitors per year, especially Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote.〔(Página web ) del ISTAC sobre entrada de turistas en Canarias.〕〔(Principal'!A1 Estadísticas de Turismo de Tenerife ) 〕 The islands have a subtropical climate, with long warm summers and moderately warm winters. The precipitation levels and the level of maritime moderation varies depending on location and elevation. Green areas as well as desert exist on the archipelago. Due to their location above the temperature inversion layer, the high mountains of these islands are ideal for astronomical observation. For this reason, two professional observatories, Teide Observatory on the island of Tenerife and Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on the island of La Palma, have been built on the islands. The capital of the Autonomous Community is shared by the cities of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria,〔(''Real Decreto de 30 de noviembre de 1833'' ) en wikisource〕〔(''Real Decreto de 30 de noviembre de 1833'' ) en el sitio web oficial del Gobierno de Canarias〕 which in turn are the capitals of the provinces of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Province of Las Palmas. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has been the largest city in the Canaries since 1768, except for a brief period in 1910.〔(Canarias7. Economía. La población de Canarias se ha multiplicado por trece en los últimos 250 años )〕 Between the 1833 territorial division of Spain and 1927 Santa Cruz de Tenerife was the sole capital of the Canary Islands. In 1927 a decree ordered that the capital of the Canary Islands be shared, as it remains at present.〔(''Real Decreto de 30 de noviembre de 1833'' ) on wikisource〕〔(''Real Decreto de 30 de noviembre de 1833'' ) at the official website of the Canary Islands Government〕 The third largest city of the Canary Islands is San Cristóbal de La Laguna (a World Heritage Site) on Tenerife. This city is also home to the ''Consejo Consultivo de Canarias'', which is the supreme consultative body of the Canary Islands.〔(Sede del Consejo Consultivo de Canarias )〕 During the times of the Spanish Empire the Canaries were the main stopover for Spanish galleons on their way to the Americas because of the prevailing winds from the northeast. ==Etymology== The name ''Islas Canarias'' is likely derived from the Latin name ''Canariae Insulae'', meaning "Islands of the Dogs", a name applied originally only to Gran Canaria. According to the historian Pliny the Elder, the Mauretanian king Juba II named the island ''Canaria'' because it contained "vast multitudes of dogs of very large size".〔Pliny the Elder, ''The Natural History'', Chap. 37. (32.)—The Fortunate Islands〕 Another speculation is that the so-called dogs were actually a species of monk seal (''canis marinus'' or "sea dog" was a Latin term for "seal"〔Lewis and Short, ''A Latin Dictionary'', ''canis'', sense II. B〕), critically endangered and no longer present in the Canary Islands. The dense population of seals may have been the characteristic that most struck the few ancient Romans who established contact with these islands by sea. Alternatively, it is said that the original inhabitants of the island, Guanches, used to worship dogs, mummified them and treated dogs generally as holy animals.〔(10 Facts about the Canary Islands ) - Touropia.com - Retrieved 22 August 2011.〕 The ancient Greeks also knew about a people, living far to the west, who are the "dog-headed ones", who worshipped dogs on an island.〔 Some hypothesize that the Canary Islands dog-worship and the ancient Egyptian cult of the dog-headed god, Anubis are closely connected but there is no explanation given as to which one was first. Other theories speculate that the name comes from a reported Berber tribe living in the Moroccan Atlas, named in Roman sources as ''Canarii'', though Pliny again mentions the relation of this term with dogs. The connection to dogs is retained in their depiction on the islands' coat-of-arms (shown above). What is certain is that the name of the islands does not derive from the canary bird; rather, the birds are named after the islands. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Canary Islands」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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