Destination Information - Madeiras Island and Porto Santo

CLIMATE
In April, the average temperature in Madeira usually hovers around 17°C/62°F but temperatures can fluctuate depending on where on the islands you are located.

CURRENCY
The unit of currency used in the Madeiras is the Euro.

ECONOMY
Agriculture – winemaking, sugar cane, bananas, cattle
Industry – fishing, tourism, offshore financial service

GEOGRAPHY
The Madeiras are located approximately 700km off the coast of Africa and are made up of Madeira Island and Porto Santo. Madeira Island is 58km long and 23km wide and has a rugged chain of mountains running for 48km along the middle. Porto Santo is 15km long and a mere 5km wide and in contrast to its neighbour, has a flat coastline with golden sandy beaches.

GOVERNMENT
Madeira is considered an Autonomous Political Region of Portugal and at time of writing is governed by the Social Democratic Party under President Dr. Alberto Joao Jardim.

HISTORY
A map dating from 1351, located in the Laurentian Library in Florence, shows three islands off the coast of Africa named “Porto Santo”, “Deserta” and “Isola de Lolegname” (Italian for “Island of Woods”).
However, it was not until 1418 that Portuguese adventurers Joao Goncalves Zarco and Tristao Vaz, on an exploration to Guineau, were blown off course and landed on Porto Santo. In 1419, Prince Henry sent a ship to colonize Porto Santo and a year later, Madeira (the Portugueues word for “wood”) was discovered and also settled. Both islands became a province of Portugal in 1425 and Madeira, in particular, thrived. Funchal became the third largest settlement in Portugal and the sugar cane crops were plentiful.
In 1580 Portugal was claimed by Spain and the Spainish ruled over Madeira until 1640 when they were defeated by the Portuguese who reclaimed all of their land. In the late 17th Century, the wine industry in Madeira began to take off, supported greatly by Britain who became highly important in the island’s economy. Many British migrants settled in Madeira and in the 18th century had virtually total control over the wine and sugar industries. The British even occupied Madeira twice during the Napolenic wars and established a chamber of commerce exclusively for top British firms.
The island economy was hit hard by the first and second world wars and from 1932 to 1968, Portugal was ruled by oppressive dictator Dr Antonio de Oliveira Salazar. Although a revolution in 1974 lead to the overthrowing of Salazar’s successor, the next two years saw much political unrest. In 1976 a new constitution was drawn up and within its scope, Madeira was deemed an Autonomous Political Region. Since then, Madeira has enjoyed continuing growth in its economy although there are pockets of poverty and average income is considerably below the EU average.

LANGUAGE
The official language spoken in Madeira is Portuguese but use of English is widespread.

RELIGION
Residents of Madeira are generally made up of Roman Catholics, Anglicans and Baptists.

PEOPLE
Approximately 253,000 people live on Madeira Island, with 90,000 of these living in Funchal. Less than 5,000 people live permanently on Porto Santo.

TIME
GMT

WILDLIFE
Some of the wildlife you might see while in Madeira includes dolphins, whales, porpoises and flying fish. 42 species of birds have been reported on Madeira including the little shearwater, Manx shearwater, Cory´s shearwater and Atlantic Herring Gull.