Capital: Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

Area: 7,447 km²

Islas Canarias are an archipelago of the Kingdom of Spain. The group consists of seven larger islands and four smaller ones, each of volcanic origin. They are located off the north-western coast of Africa (Morocco and the Western Sahara) in the Atlantic Ocean. The nearest island is 108 km from the northwest African coast. They form an autonomous community of Spain.

The larger islands are: Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro and the smaller ones: Graciosa, Alegranza, Los Lobos and Montana Clara.

Together with the Azores, Cape Verde, Madeira, and the Savage Isles they form Macaronesia. This is a new name for these tropical and subtropical volcanic Islands in the Atlantic Ocean near Europe and Africa.

The Teide volcano on Tenerife is the highest mountain in Spain at 3,718 m and the third largest volcano on Earth.

Four of Spain's fourteen national parks are located in the Canary Islands, testimony to their environmental value. The flora of the islands consists of about two thousand species, five hundred and twenty of which are to be considered endemic, and as many as five hundred and ninety three that are rare or becoming extinct.

The Haria Lizard is the smallest of the Gallotias which is a genus of 5 different lizards endemic to the Canary Islands. There are also 3 endemic species of skinks and 1 gecko.

There are some bird species which are confined to the Macaronesia Island group, others to individual Islands and occasional avian waifs from America all which draw ornithologists. White-Faced Storm Petrel, Cory’s Shearwater, Madeiran Storm-Petrel, Berthelot’s Pipit, Fuerteventura Stonechat and Blue Chaffinch are just a few specialties