Machico

Machico (pron. IPA2|mɐ'ʃiku) is a city and a municipality located in the northeastern part of the Madeira Islands. The city was founded in 1451. Machico is the easternmost municipality on the island and is the third most populous city after the capital Funchal and Câmara de Lobos. The population of the municipality was 21,747 in 2001. The city itself has a population of 10,894. [ [http://62.48.187.117/atlas/Cap2/Cap2d_2.html UMA POPULAÇÃO QUE SE URBANIZA, Uma avaliação recente - Cidades, 2004] Nuno Pires Soares, Instituto Geográfico Português (Geographic Institute of Portugal)]

It is located 17 km NE of Funchal, NW of the Savage Islands, 20 km SE of Santana and WSW of Porto Santo.

*Location:
**Latitude: 32.7 (32°42') N
**Longitude: 16.7667 (16°46') W

Machico is linked with road to Funchal and Santana and a small road connecting Ribeira Seca and Caniçal. The mountains lie to the west and a smaller range to the northeast.

The main source of the economy is agriculture, tourism, and fishing while a small number of businesses are in the downtown area. The forests lie to the central and western parts while the grasslands covers the northeastern portion. The harbor has an excellent promenade with lights and offers a view of Machico, the mountain slopes and the road linking to Santana and the northern part of the island. A small harbor filled with yachts lies east of Machico.

Machico has several primary schools, lower secondary school, an upper secondary school, banks, a post office, a small port, beaches and squares or plazas ("praças").

History

Machico was the firts place in the island of Madeira were the Portuguese explorers João Gonçalves Zarco, Tristão Vaz Teixeira and Bartolomeu Perestrelo arrived in between 1418 and 1420. The then village of Machico was the seat of the firt Captaincy in Madeira, since May 1440, headed by the first Captain-major, Tristão Vaz Teixeira.

Parishes

The 5 parishes of Machico include:
* Água de Pena
* Caniçal
* Machico
* Porto da Cruz
* Santo António da Serra

The largest parish in population and density is Machico, with a population of 10,894 (density of 686.2/km² and area of 17.41 km²), while the smallest parish in population is Santo António da Serra. The largest parish in area and the smallest parish in density is Porto da Cruz, while the smallest in area is Água de Pena. The highest parish is Santo António da Serra.

References