Learn about the history and natural landscapes of Madeira Island overview of Madeira Island, Portugal .Contunico © ZDF Enterprises GmbH, MainzSee all videos for this article Madeira Island, the largest of the group, is 34 miles ( 55 km ) hanker, has a maximum width of 14 miles ( 22 kilometer ) and a coastline of about 90 miles ( 144 kilometer ), and rises in the center to Ruivo Peak ( 6,106 feet [ 1,861 metres ] above ocean charge ). The greater partially of the department of the interior above 3,000 feet ( 900 metres ) is uninhabited and uncultivated ; communities of scatter huts are normally built either at the mouths of ravines or upon slopes that descend from the mountains to the coast .
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Porto Santo Island is about 26 miles ( 42 kilometer ) northeast of Madeira. Its main town, Vila de Porto Santo, is locally called the Vila. At each end of the island are hills, of which Facho Peak, the highest, reaches 1,696 feet ( 515 metres ). Crops include wheat, grapes, and barley.
The Desertas dwell about 11 miles ( 18 kilometer ) southeast of Madeira and consist of three islets : Chão, Bugio, and Deserta Grande, along with the Prego do Mor off the north end of Chão Island. Rabbits and angry goats live on the poor pasture and attract casual hunters to once-inhabited Deserta Grande. The Selvagens, or Salvage Islands, are three uninhabited rocks located 156 miles ( 251 kilometer ) south of Madeira, between the latter and the Canary Islands. The largest has a circumference of about 3 miles ( 5 kilometer ) .
Learn about the challenges of terrace cultivation on Madeira island overview of patio cultivation, with a focus on Madeira Island .Contunico © ZDF Enterprises GmbH, MainzSee all videos for this article department of agriculture has long been the dominant action of Madeira and Porto Santo islands. Crops historically grown on the islands include fresh potatoes ; gourds of respective kinds ; kalo, or taro, introduced from the Pacific islands ; most of the culinary vegetables of Europe ; cereals ; sugarcane ; and versatile fruits, such as oranges, lemons, guava, mangoes, loquats, custard apples, figs, pineapples, and bananas. Banana plantations and vineyards now predominate, and bananas and the eponymous Madeira wine are among the most authoritative exports. early economic activities include sugar process, fish, and handicrafts such as carpentry, wicker, and embroidery—the last of which was introduced to Madeira in the 1850s by Elizabeth Phelps, the daughter of an english wine shipper. By the early twenty-first century, tourism had made major inroads. Area 309 square miles ( 801 square kilometer ). Pop. ( 2001 ) 245,011 ; ( 2011 ) 267,785 ; ( 2018 est. ) 253,945.
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Madeira Islands, c. 1900 Map of the Madeira Islands ( c. 1900 ), from the tenth edition of Encyclopædia Britannica .Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
