Pityusic Islands

Pityusic Islands
Pitiüses
Native name: Illes Pitiüses

Flag of Ibiza
Etymology Greek: Πιτυοῦσσαι, Pityûssai: pine-covered (islands)
Geography
Location Mediterranean Sea
Coordinates Coordinates: 38°42′N 1°27′E / 38.700°N 1.450°E / 38.700; 1.450
Archipelago Balearic Islands
Area 655.8 km2 (253.2 sq mi)
Highest elevation 476 m (1,562 ft)
Highest point Talaia, Ibiza
Administration
Spain
Autonomous Community Balearic Islands
Province Balearic Islands
Largest settlement Ibiza (pop. 37,408)
Demographics
Population 142,599 (1 January 2010)
Pop. density 217.44 /km2 (563.17 /sq mi)

The Pityusic Islands,[1][2] often referenced simply as the Pityuses (Catalan: Pitiüses [pitiˈuzəs], Spanish: Pitiusas; from the Greek πιτύα pitýa, pine tree), or commonly but informally (and ambiguously) as the Pine Islands, is the name given collectively to the Balearic islands of Ibiza (Catalan: Eivissa), Formentera, S'Espalmador and other small islets in the Mediterranean Sea.

Geography

The islands are situated approximately 100 kilometres (62 miles) southwest of the island of Majorca, and approximately 80 km (50 mi) east of the Cap de la Nau in the Iberian Peninsula.

History

In antiquity they were known as the Pityusa islands, listed in Claudius Ptolemy's Geography, under the names Ophiusis and Ebyssus, which had a town of the same name. The islands were used by Cilician pirates as a base. The Roman general Annius drove them out with a large fleet and with them the Roman renegade general Quintus Sertorius, who was seeking refuge there.

Administration

The Pine Islands are sometimes grouped together as part of the Balearic Islands, or else considered separate with the Balearics proper being Majorca and Minorca (which together with their islets form the Gymnesian Islands). Politically, they are part of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands.

Initially, they were administratively part of the same insular council (of Ibiza and Formentera), but since 2007 they are now separated between the insular council of Ibiza and the insular council of Formentera (each one is also assimilated to a single comarca), which are two of the four main administrative subdivisions of the province (and autonomous community) of the Balearic Islands.

Flags and coats of arms

See also

Further reading

  1. (in Spanish) Lagartija de las Pitiusas - Podarcis pityusensis (Boscá, 1883), Enciclopedia virtual de los vertebrados españoles, Alfredo Salvador, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Natural (CSIC), Madrid, published 20-06-2006.
  2. A new species of rail (Aves, Rallidae) from the Upper Pleistocene and Holocene of Eivissa (Pitiusic Island, Western Mediterranean), McMinn M., Palmer M. & Alcocer J.A., Ibis journal (ISSN 0019-1019), volume 147, pp. 706-716, published 2005. Referenced by the Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (IMEDEA).
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