The elongated island has an area of 1660 km². The island is 100 km long from and 31 km wide.

It is part of the province of Las Palmas. It is divided into six municipalities. 100 individual settlements are distributed through these municipalities. A nearby islet, Islote de Lobos, is part of the municipality of La Oliva.

Located just 100 kilometres off the coast of North Africa, it is the second biggest of the islands, after Tenerife, and has the longest beaches in the archipelago. The island is a paradise for sun, beach and watersports enthusiasts.

The island is widely believed to be the oldest of the Canary Islands. Its strange form was created out of a series of volcanic eruptions many thousands of years ago.

The first tourist hotel was built here in 1965 followed by the construction of the airport at El Mattoral, heralding the dawn of a new era for the island. Fuerteventura, with its 3,000 sunshine hours a year, was placed firmly on the world stage as a major European holiday destination.

The island is on the same latitude as Florida and Mexico and temperatures here rarely fall below 18°C or rise above 24°C. There are no fewer than 152 beaches along its coastline - 50 kilometres of fine, white sand and 25 kilometres of black volcanic shingle.

The summer Trade Winds and winter swells of the Atlantic make this a year-round surfers' paradise. Sailors, scuba divers and big game fishermen are all drawn to these clear blue Atlantic waters where whales, dolphins, marlin and turtles are all common sights.

Much of the interior, with its large plains, lavascapes and volcanic mountains, consists of protected areas which can be best be explored in a 4x4 or (for the more daring) with a cross-country motorbike.

Geography

Fuerteventura is the oldest island in the Canary Islands dating back to 20 million years from a volcanic eruption. The majority of the island was created about 5 million years ago and since then eroded by wind and weather. The last volcanic activity in Fuerteventura was between 4,000 to 5,000 years ago. The highest point in Fuerteventura is Mount Jandía (807 m) in the southwestern part of the island. Geographical features include Istmo de la Pared which is 5 km wide and is the narrowest part of Fuerteventura, the island is divided into two parts, the northern portion which is Maxorata and the southwestern part called the Jandía peninsula. The island is the least settled in the Canary Islands.

Climate

The climate on the island throughout the year is pleasant. The island is also called the island of eternal springs. The sea adjusts the temperature making the hot Sahara winds blow away from the island of Fuerteventura. During the winter months, temperatures average a high of 21°C and a low of around 15°C, whereas during the summer a mean high of 27°C and a low of 20°C can be expected. Precipitation is about 147 mm per annum, most of which falls in the winter. The sandstorm known as the scirocco, Leveche in Spain blows to the southwest from the Sahara desert causing high temperatures and low visibility and drying air. Temperatures during this phenomena rise by 10 degrees Celsius. The wind brings in fine white sand, visibility drops to about 100 to 200 m or lower, and also African [locust]s. The local inhabitants call this phenomena the "Calima".

Sites of interest

The sites of interest includes Corralejo and El Jable to the north which are made up of fine sand dunes, the south is filled with long beaches and remote bays. The constant winds blowing the beaches make the paradise for windsurfing. Water skiing is common in the west coast where there are large waves. Windsurfing is common north of Corralejo or at the north coast.

At Cofete on the western side of Jandía a remote and imposing house - Villa Winter - looks out to sea across wide and generally empty beaches. It was reputedly built by a Herr Winter on land given by Generalissimo Franco.

In January 18, 1994, the luxury liner SS America (once was USS Westpoint) was abandoned and left in Playa de Garcey. Better known as The American Star, conspiracy theories abound as to how the ship came to be wrecked there.