Geography of Lanzarote

Lanzarote, the northernmost and – together with Fuerteventura – also the easternmost of the Canary Islands, is located only 125 km (77 miles) from the African mainland. It is the fourth largest island of the archipelago and has an actual population of around 108.000 inhabitants. Its surface covers 846 sq. kilometres (326 sq. miles) and only 21 kilometres (13 miles) separate the west from the east coast at its widest point, which means that it can easily be crossed in short car journeys. Geographically, Lanzarote belongs to Macaronesia, a group of islands in the Atlantic including the Canary Islands as well as the archipelagos of Madeira, the Azores and Cape Verde.

Lanzarote is a contrasting desert island of volcanic origin, with largely predominating lava fields. It has a long history of volcanic eruptions and almost every type of rock found on the island is of volcanic origin.

The ‘Island of the 1000 volcanoes’ – as it is frequently called – is despite its high number of volcanic peaks – it boasts around 300 - the least mountainous of the archipelago, with its highest mount – the volcano Peñas del Chache near Haría in the northern part of the island – reaching 670 m (2,198 ft) above sea level. Its interior is barren, reminiscent of a lunar landscape, covered with volcanic massifs and plains, dotted with small craters and cones and amorphous eruptive rock formations.

Lanzarote is the island of the Canary archipelago, which is most dominated - physically and culturally – by its dormant volcanic power. The well-documented Timanfaya eruptions between 1730 and 1736 were the longest lasting and most powerful periods of volcanic activity ever known. They devastated two thirds of the island – almost the whole southern part – creating a blackened, lifeless malpaís (badlands) of cinders, ash and lava, at the same time considerably increasing the surface of the island, with lava flows running into the sea. Although the oldest sediments, dating from 60 million years ago, indicate there was movement deep in the ocean, which permitted the Canaries to arise, it was eruptions from 15 million years ago, from which Lanzarote was formed like it is known today. The last eruptions, which lasted only two months, took place in 1824 in the same area as the ones from a hundred years before.

The landscapes of Lanzarote clearly demonstrate the usual volcanic process of a single major cone creating a number of smaller cones all around as outlets for gases and liquids. Lanzarote also boasts some fine examples of lava tubes – one has 7.5 km (4.7 miles) and is considered one of the longest in the world – and large caverns formed by gas explosions, some of which have collapsed (for good examples visit Cueva de los Verdes and Jameos del Agua).

Although some eruptions on the island occurred already thousands of years ago, the extremely dry climate and the erosion caused by strong winds explain the fact that vast badlands areas are still devoid of almost any vegetation.

Lanzarote also comprises the Chinijo archipelago, which consists of Isla la Graciosa and the islets of Montaña Clara, Alegranza, Roque del Este and Roque del Oeste. Together with Lanzarote’s north coast, this archipelago forms a Nature Reserve.

Lanzarote is surely the most remarkable of all the Canary Islands, with abundant natural assets of great value and fragility.