Madeira

Madeira is an archipelago of volcanic origin in the North Atlantic Ocean, belonging to Portugal.[1] It comprises two inhabited islands, Madeira and Porto Santo, and two uninhabited groups, the Desertas and the Selvagens.[1] The regional capital, Funchal, is located on Madeira Island.[1] The Madeira archipelago includes eight volcanic islands in the Atlantic, 600 miles (1,000 km) southwest of the mainland.[2]

Geography and Geology

Madeira Island, the largest of the group, is 34 miles (55 km) long, has a maximum width of 14 miles (22 km) and a coastline of about 90 miles (144 km), and rises in the centre to Ruivo Peak (6,106 feet [1,861 metres] above sea level).[1] Madeira forms an asymmetrical mountainous hump in midocean, rising to 6,109 feet (1,862 metres) in the interior, falling more steeply in the north.[2]

Madeira Island is the top of a massive shield volcano that rises about 3.7 miles (6km) from the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. The volcano formed atop an east-west rift in the oceanic crust.[5] Construction of the bulk of the volcano began during the Miocene Epoch over five million years ago and continued into the Pleistocene until about 700,000 years ago.[5]

Thick layers of basalt alternating with beds of ash and scoriae create a stepped relief that has been deeply dissected into gorges and canyons.[2] The cratorial Curral das Freiras is about 2,265 feet (690 metres) deep.[2] Paul da Serra is a bleak high-level plateau.[2]

Climate and Hydrology

Madeira Island's geographical position and mountainous landscape result in a very pleasant climate. Temperatures are about 72°F (22°C) in the summer and about 61°F (16°C) during the winter. With its mild humidity, the weather of the island is classified as subtropical.[5] The island of Madeira is wet in the northwest but dry in the southeast.[5]

In the sixteenth century the Portuguese began building aqueducts to carry water to the agricultural regions. The most recent was made in the 1940s. Many are cut into the sides of mountains, and it was also necessary to dig 25 miles of tunnels.[5] Today the aqueducts not only supply water to the southern parts of the island but provide hydro-electric power. There are over 1,350 miles of aqueducts which provide a remarkable network of walking paths.[5]

History

Discovery and Early Settlement

Madeira, known originally to the Romans as the Purple Islands, was rediscovered, possibly accidentally, by Portuguese sailors and settled by Portugal as early as 1418 or as late as 1420.[5] Three young sea captains, João Gonçalves Zarco, Tristão Vaz Teixeira and Bartolomeu Perestrelo, were blown off course on their journey around the African coast, and after many days at sea found land on a small island that they named Porto Santo - the very first of the many discoveries made by Henry's school of navigation.[4]

But on rounding the headland they discovered the bay of Machico, the threshold to the heavily forested island that they named Madeira.[4] They decided to call this place Madeira because it means "wood" in Portuguese.[10] At the time of the discovery, the island was completely covered by a dense laurel forest.[7]

King John I of Portugal ordered the colonisation of the island, around 1425, with the first families coming from the Algarve region and then from the northern region of the mainland.[4] Fifteen years later, in 1440, the system of captaincy was established, dividing the archipelago into three captaincies: Machico was given to Tristão Vaz Teixeira, Bartolomeu Perestrelo was nominated as captain-donee of Porto Santo, and Gonçalves Zarco became captain-donee of Funchal.[4]

Economic Development

In addition, with their rich volcanic soil, mild climate, and sufficient rainfall, the islands were exploited for agriculture, especially wheat, wine, and sugar cane, with African slaves being exploited to work the latter plantations.[8] Infante D. Henrique is credited with the introduction of sugar cane from Sicily in 1452, and in 1453, the sweet Malvasia grapes from Cyprus or Crete.[20] Sugar became the great cash crop. Madeira produced so much sugar that the price for sugar in Europe was halved. By the end of the 1400's, Madeira was the world's greatest producer of sugar.

As Portugal's possessions expanded into the Americas, it was found that Brazil was able to produce better and cheaper sugar. Thus in the late 1500's, the island's farmers found that wine was a more profitable crop.[20] The first vineyards introduced in the island were Malmsey, imported from Greece, in the XV century leading to the production of liquorish wine, Madeira Wine.[12]

Economy

Tourism

Tourism is the backbone of Madeira's economy. Every year around 650.000 foreign guests come to the island. The English come first, closely followed by the German visitors.[13] In 2023, Madeira recorded over 10.9 million tourist overnight stays, a 13.6% increase compared to 2022, according to the Regional Directorate of Statistics of Madeira (DREM).[19]

Around 15% of the Madeirans work in the hotel industry, almost a quarter of the population is employed in agriculture.[13] The growth of tourism in Madeira is positively impacting the Madeira wine market, as many tourists are eager to experience the local wines. Visitors often purchase Madeira wine as a souvenir or gift, or to enjoy during their stay on the island.[15]

Agriculture and Wine Industry

Agriculture has long been the dominant activity of Madeira and Porto Santo islands. Crops historically grown on the islands include sweet potatoes; gourds of various kinds; kalo, or taro, introduced from the Pacific islands; most of the culinary vegetables of Europe; cereals; sugarcane; and various fruits, such as oranges, lemons, guavas, mangoes, loquats, custard apples, figs, pineapples, and bananas. Banana plantations and vineyards now predominate, and bananas and the eponymous Madeira wine are among the most important exports.[1]

The strongest pillar of agriculture is the cultivation of bananas. They were grown for personal use as early as the 19th century. In 1911 the English shipowner John Milburn Leacock began exporting.[13]

Today the vines occupy around 1.800 hectares. Of this, however, only about 500 hectares are used for quality wine, which is then also exported.[13] madeira wine Market Size was estimated at 0.64 (USD Billion) in 2023. The Madeira Wine Market Industry is expected to grow from 0.68(USD Billion) in 2024 to 1.1 (USD Billion) by 2032. The madeira wine Market CAGR (growth rate) is expected to be around 6.25% during the forecast period (2024 - 2032).[15]

Traditional Industries

Other economic activities include sugar processing, fishing, and handicrafts such as woodworking, wickerwork, and embroidery—the last of which was introduced to Madeira in the 1850s by Elizabeth Phelps, the daughter of an English wine shipper.[1] About 30.000 Madeira women embroider, mostly at home. A state craft institute monitors the quality of the work and awards seals of approval. Payment is based on the number of stitches. A large part is exported, especially to Italy.[13]

Demographics and Culture

There were 245,806 inhabitants in 2006 in the two main islands, while only 4,800 live on Porto Santo Island. The population density is 337 inhabitants per square kilometer in Madeira and 112 in Porto Santo.[5] Today almost half of the island's population of 260,000 inhabitants live in greater Funchal.[3]

The original settlers were Portuguese; later genetic admixtures came from occupying pirate forces, British merchants, Spanish priests, and Africans, Moors, and Jews.[3] The language spoken is Portuguese.[5] The great majority of the Portuguese population (84 percent) belongs to the Roman Catholic Church, but only about 19 percent attend mass and take the sacraments regularly.[5]

Natural Heritage

Laurisilva Forest

The Laurisilva of Madeira is an outstanding relict of a previously widespread laurel forest type. It is the largest surviving area of laurel forest and is believed to be 90% primary forest.[21] Currently, it occupies an area of around 15.000 hectares in Madeira, which corresponds to 20% of the island, with greater expression in the high areas of the north.[24]

It contains a unique suite of plants and animals, including many endemic species such as the Madeiran long-toed pigeon.[21] The property has great importance for biodiversity conservation with at least 76 vascular plant species endemic to Madeira occurring in the property, together with a high number of endemic invertebrates and two endemic birds including the emblematic Madeiran Laurel Pigeon.[22]

The Laurisilva of Madeira was awarded UNESCO World Heritage status in 1999 – and for good reason: It's ancient: The Laurisilva is a living remnant of a prehistoric forest type that once covered much of Southern Europe during the Tertiary period.[27] The forests of the property and their associated biological and ecological process are largely undisturbed, and play a predominant role in the island´s hydrological balance.[21]

Levadas

The settlers of Madeira constructed water channels, known as levadas, which run through the forest following the contours of the landscape, and clinging to the cliffs and steep-sided valleys. Typically 80-150 cm wide and constructed of stone or more recently concrete, they carry water from the forest to hydropower stations and to the towns of the south, where they provide essential drinking water and irrigation supplies.[21]

Its sheer cliffs are strung with levadas, historic irrigation canals that carry freshwater from the island's north to farms in the south. Some levadas traverse the UNESCO-listed Laurisilva, the world's largest surviving laurel forest, a vestige of the primary forests that blanketed southern Europe millions of years ago.[9]

Political Status

Administratively, they form the autonomous region of Madeira.[1] The islands are today an autonomous region of Portugal.[8] Today the island group is an autonomous region of Portugal and remains a useful stopping point in the Atlantic - nowadays for cruise ships instead of slave ships - and acts as a relay station for the Atlantic submarine cable system.