Geography 
Las Islas Canarias of Spain form an archipelago consisting of  7 islands, 6  islets and several rocks in the Atlantic Ocean. The islands are from East to West: El Hierro, La Palma, La Gomera, Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote. The latter is the islands which is closest to the Northwest African shore at some 108 km from the Western Sahara, contrasting with the maximum distance within the archipelago which is 485 km / 290 miles from North of La Palma to South-East of Fuerteventura. From the European continent the archipelago is at a 1.000 km distances. Geographically the islands are part of the African continent, they are located between latitudes of 27°38' North (South of El Hierro) and 29°24' North (North of Islet Alegranza) and between longitudes of 13°20' West (East of Islet Roque del Este) and 18°9' West (West of El Hierro). The latitude is the same as it is for Orlando and Tampa (USA), Chihuahua (Mexico), Delhi (India) or Kuwait (Persian Gulf) for example.  

Name 
Many think that the islands received their name from the canary birds. But it is right the contrary. All breeds of canary bird existing in the world descend from the wild canary bird, "serinus canarius". The wild canary has only brown feathers, with some green and yellow shades. The Spaniards caught some of them after the conquest, during the XV century, and it has been breeded to hundreds of different colors and "voices". 
Roman naturalist Plinius wrote that Juba, King of Mauritania and vassal of Rome in the I century b.C., sent an expedition to explore the mythical Fortunate Islands which were in the Dark Ocean beyond the Columns of Hercules (the Strait of Gibraltar). They gave name to some of these islands. One they called "Nivaria" for the snow covering its mountains (lat. nivea = snow) -the island of Tenerife. Other was called "Herbania" (lat. herba = grass) for the meadows they found there. A third one was named "Junonia" for the many doves they saw; the dove was the bird dedicated to goddess Juno. And one of the islands, in which they found a fierce breed of dogs (= lat. can, canis), was called "Canaria". 
Regardless of what Plinius wrote in the I century a.C., the fact is that the island called today Gran Canaria was inhabited by a tribe who called themselves the "canarii". The islands were called "Fortunate Islands" or "Islands of Fortune". During the XV century, the island of Canaria became famous for the brave defense deployed by their natives against the landings of the conquistadores. They started to call all islands "the Islands of Canaria", from which they were later called "Canary Islands" (Spanish Canarias).

Acient Native Population
On the arrival of the Spaniards all islands were inhabitad by the Guanches, who arrived to the islands some thousands year ago and were of North African origin. The islands were ruled by different tribes in mostly monarchical systems. Due to the fact that no iron could be found on the vulcanic formed islands the Guanches lived practically as stone-age people.

Legends 
Very few sea explorers reached the Canary Islands during ancient times. The islands lie in the Atlantic Ocean, the so-called "Dark Ocean", into which very few sailors dared to venture. Furthermore, the ocean current called "Canaries Stream" flows in a southwesterly direction before veering to the west to sweep the unwary ocean vessel off to the end of the world, as it was believed during centuries.  
Those few Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans who reached the islands and managed to return home to tell their story, surrounded the Canaries in a mist of magic and legend.  
According to the Mediterranean sailors' tales, the Atlantic Ocean was inhabited by all kind of monsters which destroyed the vessels and devored their daring crews. Once arrived at the world's edge, which was thought to be a flat disc, the unwise seamen would fall into the Abyss.  
Most likely there was an economic or militar reason for some of these legends. The Phoenicians, skillful sailors and trademen, knew some Atlantic searoutes along the African and European coast. They were not interested at all in having other people as competitors, so they tried to keep visitors at a distance by means of spreading awful rumours and legends.

Climate 
The climate of the Canaries, however, is a very specific one due to their condition of oceanic islands.

Political Situation 
Both from a historical, economical, political as well as a socio-cultural point of view, the Canary Islands are part of the European Continent, more than 1.000 kilometres away from the Iberian peninsula. 
The Canaries form an "Autonomous Community" within the Kingdom of Spain -like Andalusia, Catalonia, Basque Country, Galicia and the other nationalities and regions- and it is recognized as a particular "nationality" within the Spanish Nation. The islands have their own Government, Parliament and Administration, established by the Statute of Autonomy of the Canary Islands. The Canarian fiscal and economic system is different from the general Spanish one, which is in force in the major part of the Mainland.  

As a part of Spain, the Canaries are also part of the European Union. However, the islands enjoy some exceptions in the fiscal and economic area, due to their situation as "ultraperipherical region".

Language 
The language of the Canaries is Spanish (Castilian), but our accent is more like the Spanish spoken in the Caribbean -Cuba, Venezuela, Puerto Rico- and not like the Spanish spoken in Mainland Spain. We have not just the accent, but also a lot of words which are a living proof of the many links established through emigration between the islands and the Caribbean nations. A bus is a "guagua" -autobús in standard Spanish-, a silly guy is a "guanajo" -tonto in standard Spanish-, and so on... The language of the Canaries is Spanish (Castilian), but our accent is more like the Spanish spoken in the Caribbean -Cuba, Venezuela, Puerto Rico- and not like the Spanish spoken in Mainland Spain. We have not just the accent, but also a lot of words which are a living proof of the many links established through emigration between the islands and the Caribbean nations. A bus is a "guagua" -autobús in standard Spanish-, a silly guy is a "guanajo" -tonto in standard Spanish-, and so on... 

The Islands in Figures - Area and Population