Betancuria

Betancuria is a Canarian municipality in the northern portion of the island of Fuerteventura in the Spanish province of Las Palmas, Canary Islands.

The population is 721 ( [http://www.gobiernodecanarias.org/istac/ ISTAC] , 2003), its density is 6.96/km² and is excepted to reach 100/km² and the area is 103.64 km². The population is the smallest in Fuerteventura as well as the province of Las Palmas and all of the Canary Islands. The city of Betancuria is named after Jean de Béthencourt and was founded in 1404 by Gadifer de La Salle and Jean de Béthencourt and was the main city in the central part of the island until the 1800s. It is located a main highway linking north to Puerto del Rosario and Tuineje and another east to Antigua. The main industry are agriculture and tourism. The Atlantic Ocean is to the west, the mountains cover much of the municipality along with barren land. Farmlands dominate the rest of the municipality.

Betancuria was sacked by pirates in older times. The island's capital moved to Antigua in 1834 before moving to the present capital of Puerto del Rosario.

Geography

*Location:
**Latitude: 28.41667 (28°25') N
**Longitude: 14.05 (14°3') W
*Altitude:
**Lowest: Atlantic Ocean
**Centre: 395 m
**Highest: central part
*Name of inhabitants: Betancurian "sing.", -s "pl."
*Postal code: 35637

Communities

*Ajuy, a fishing town ans Betancuria's nearest beach

Other

Betancuria has a school, a small lyceum, a few gymnasia, a few churches, beaches, a post office, and a square ("plaza").

External links

* [http://www.fuerteventura.com/Betancuria/index.shtml Betancuria Information,photos and map]

*http://www.fuerteventura-virtuell.de/fuerte_2/orte/t_betancu.htm
*Map and aerial photos
** [http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?latlongtype=decimal&latitude=28.41667&longitude=-14.05&zoom=6 Street map from Mapquest] . [http://maps.msn.com/map.aspx?&lats1=28.41667&lons1=-14.05&alts1=35 MapPoint] or [http://maps.google.com/maps?||=28.41667,-14.05 Google]
** [http://terraserver.microsoft.com/map.aspx?t=1&s=14&lon=-14.05&lat=28.41667&w=750&h=500 Aerial photograph from Microsoft Terraserver] or [http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=28.41667,-14.05&spn=0.11,0.18&t=k Google]
*Coordinates: coord|28|25|0|N|14|3|0|W|

ee also

*List of municipalities in Las Palmas