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:
Antigua
Betancuria
La Oliva
Pájara
Puerto del Rosario
Tuineje
We visited all of them. 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 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.
Geology: Fuerteventura is the oldest island in the Canary Islands dating back 20 million years to a volcanic eruption. The majority of the island was created about 5 million years ago and since then eroded by wind and weather. On the seabed off the west coast of the island rests a block of rock 22km long and 11km wide, which appears to have slid off the island largely intact at some point in prehistory, similar to the predicted future collapse of Cumbre Vieja, a geological fault on the neighboring island, La Palma. 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.
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