Gran Canaria
Interesting Gran Canaria map, and guide to the island.
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Gran Canaria Map and Guide
Gran Canaria Map: Above you can view an interesting satellite map of Gran Canaria, providing an unusual view of the island, which is located in the Canary Islands archipelago, off the north-west coast of Africa. The main tourist resorts (mostly located in the south), are not shown on this Gran Canaria map, but you can view them by using the navigation buttons (zoom in, zoom out and pan). By using the map mode ("MAP"), together with zoom button you can get detailed street maps of Gran Canaria towns and villages, making it easier to get around the island.
Gran Canaria Info: The second most populated of the Spanish Canary Islands, Gran Canaria has some 838,000 residents and covers an area of around 600 square miles. A volcanic island, Gran Canaria was formed between 14 and 9 million years ago, and was first populated by a tribe known as the Guanches, and it was the Guanches who were finally conquered by the Spanish in 1483, when after some years of conflict, it was incorporated into the Kingdom of Castille.
The capital of Gran Canaria is the city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, which itself has a population of over 380,000, almost half that of the entire island.
Gran Canaria is divided into 21 municipalities, the largest being San Bartolomé de Tirajana.
Gran Canaria enjoys a fine all year round climate, and it is the beautiful weather which has helped it to develop as an extremely popular tourist destination, and is especially popular for winter holidays. Its average daytime temperature (high) ranges from 20° Centigrade in winter time to 26° Centigrade in summer time, the average annual rainfall is just 228 millimetres.
Tourism is of course the main industry in Gran Canaria, and it welcomes over 2 million visitors every year, most head for the southern resorts such as Playa del Ingles, Maspalomas, Puerto Rico and Puerto de Mogan.