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Madeirans
Madeirenses

Total population
c. 1,600,000
Regions with significant populations
Madeira 1,553,078 (2019) 72.1% of the total Canary Islands population
Significant Canary Islander diaspora in
Portugal (other)	Total unknown
Venezuela	42,671
South Africa	40,602
United Kingdom	2,390
Australia	1,600
Languages
Portuguese
Religion
Predominantly Roman Catholic (85%)
Related ethnic groups
Azoreans, other Portuguese, Canarians

Madeirans (Portuguese: madeirenses), are the people of the Madeira Islands, an autonomous region of Portugal near the coast of northwest Africa. The distinctive variety of the Spanish language spoken in the region is known as habla canaria (Canary speech) or the (dialecto) canario (Canarian dialect). The Canarians, and their descendants, played a major role during the conquest, colonization, and eventual independence movements of various countries in Latin America. Their ethnic and cultural presence is most palpable in the countries of Uruguay, Venezuela, Cuba and the Dominican Republic as well as the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico.

History

Main articles: Canary Islands in pre-colonial times, Conquest of the Canary Islands, and Kingdom of the Canary Islands

The original inhabitants of the Canary Islands are commonly known as Guanches (although this term in its strict sense only refers to the original inhabitants of Tenerife). They are most probably descendants of the Berber peoples of northern Africa.

The islands were conquered by Castile at the beginning of the 15th century. In 1402, they began to subdue and suppress the native Guanche population. The Guanches were initially enslaved and gradually absorbed. As a result, genetic analyses of modern Canarians show mainly a mixture of European and North African genes, and low frequencies of sub-Saharan genes, with quite a lot of variation (see Ancestry).

After subsequent settlement by Europeans, the remaining Guanches were gradually assimilated by the settlers and their culture largely vanished. Alonso Fernández de Lugo, conqueror of Tenerife and La Palma, oversaw extensive immigration to these islands during a short period from the late 1490s to the 1520s from mainland Europe, mostly Castile and Portugal. At subsequent judicial enquiries, Fernández de Lugo was accused of favoring Genoese and Portuguese immigrants over Castilians.

Ancestry

The native inhabitants of the Canary Islands hold a gene pool that is predominantly European and native Guanche. Guanche genetic markers have also been found recently in Puerto Rico and, at low frequencies, in peninsular Spain after later emigration from the Canary Islands.

Population genetics

Canarian girls singing in Gran Canaria 1972.

Uniparental markers

The most frequent (maternal-descent) mtDNA haplogroup in Canary Islands is H (37.6%), followed by U6 (14.0%), T (12.7%), not-U6 U (10.3%) and J (7.0%). Two haplogroups, H and U6, alone account for more than 50% of the individuals. Significant frequencies of sub-Saharan maternal L haplogroups (6.6%) is also consistent with the historical records on introduction of sub-Saharan female slave labour in Canary Islands. However, some Sub-Saharan female lineages are also found in North African populations, and as a result, some of these L lineages could have been introduced to the Islands from North Africa. A 2009 study of DNA extracted from the remains of aboriginal inhabitants found that 7% of lineages were haplogroup L, which leaves open the possibility that these L lineages were part of the founding population of the Canary Islands. Sub-Saharan female lineages have been found in frequencies of 10% or more in some islands.

A 2003 genetics research article by Nicole Maca-Meyer et al. published in the European Journal of Human Genetics compared aboriginal Guanche mtDNA (collected from Canarian archaeological sites) to that of today's Canarians and concluded that "despite the continuous changes suffered by the population (Spanish colonization, slave trade), aboriginal mtDNA lineages constitute a considerable proportion [42–73%] of the Canarian gene pool". According to this article, both percentages are obtained using two different estimation methods; nevertheless according to the same study the percentage that could be more reliable is the one of 73%.

Although the Berbers are the most probable ancestors of the Guanches, it is deduced that important human movements (e.g., the Islamic-Arabic conquest of the Berbers) have reshaped Northwest Africa after the migratory wave to the Canary Islands and the "results support, from a maternal perspective, the supposition that since the end of the 16th century, at least, two-thirds of the Canarian population had an indigenous substrate, as was previously inferred from historical and anthropological data." mtDNA haplogroup U subclade U6b1 is Canarian-specific

A 2019 genetics research article confirms that most lineages observed in the ancient samples have a Mediterranean distribution, and belong to lineages associated with the Neolithic expansion in the Near East and Europe (T,J,X…). This phylogeographic analysis of Canarian ancient mitogenomes, the first of its kind, shows that some lineages are restricted to Central North Africa (H1cf, J2a2d and T2c1d3), while others have a wider distribution, including both West and Central North Africa, and, Europe and the Near East.

Ancient Canarians

Main article: Guanches

The Guanches are related to the indigenous Berbers. In 2017, the first genome-wide data from the Guanches confirmed a North African origin and that they were genetically most similar to ancient North African Berber peoples of the nearby North African mainland. It also showed that modern inhabitants of Gran Canaria carry an estimated 16%–31% Guanche autosomal ancestry.

Culture

See also: Canarian cuisine and Music of the Canary Islands

Shepherd's leap

Silbo Gomero demonstration at a restaurant in La Gomera

Modern-day Canarian culture is Spanish, with some Guanche influences. Some of the Canarian traditional sports such as lucha canaria ("Canarian fight"), juego del palo ("stick game") or salto del pastor ("shepherd's jump"), among others, have their roots in Guanche culture. Additionally, other traditions include Canarian pottery, words of Guanche origin in the Canarian speech and the rural consumption of guarapo gomero and gofio. The inhabitants of La Gomera also retain an ancient way of communicating across deep ravines by means of a whistled speech called Silbo Gomero, which can be heard up to 3 km (2 miles) away. This indigenous whistled language was invented by the Guanches, and was then adopted by the Spanish settlers in the 16th century after the Guanches were culturally assimilated into the population. The language was also formerly spoken on El Hierro, Tenerife and Gran Canaria

The holidays celebrated in the Canary Islands are of international, national and regional or insular character. The official day of the autonomous community is Canary Islands Day on 30 May. The anniversary of the first session of the Parliament of the Canary Islands, based in the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, held on 30 May 1983, is commemorated with this day. The most famous festival of the Canary Islands is the carnival. The carnival is celebrated in all the islands and all its municipalities, perhaps the two busiest being those of the two Canarian capitals; the Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Tourist Festival of International Interest) and the Carnival of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. It is celebrated on the streets between the months of February and March. But the rest of the islands of the archipelago have their carnivals with their own traditions among which stand out: The Festival of the Carneros of El Hierro, the Festival of the Diabletes of Teguise in Lanzarote, Los Indianos de La Palma, the Carnival of San Sebastián de La Gomera and the Carnival of Puerto del Rosario in Fuerteventura.

The strong influence of Latin America in Canarian culture is due to the constant emigration and return over the centuries of Canarians to that continent, chiefly to Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela. To a lesser extent, they also went to the US states of Louisiana (mostly the southern portion) and Texas (mostly in and around San Antonio), and some areas in eastern Mexico including Nuevo León and Veracruz.

Religion

Main articles: Religion in Canary Islands, Religion in Spain, and Catholic Church in Spain

Catholic Church

Peter of Saint Joseph de Betancur, the first canarian catholic saint.

The majority of native Canary Islanders are Roman Catholic with various smaller foreign-born populations of other Christian beliefs such as Protestants from northern Europe.

The appearance of the Virgin of Candelaria (Patron of Canary Islands) was credited with moving the Canary Islands toward Christianity. Two Catholic saints were born in the Canary Islands: Peter of Saint Joseph de Betancur and José de Anchieta. Both born on the island of Tenerife, they were respectively missionaries in Guatemala and Brazil.

The Canary Islands are divided into two Catholic dioceses, each governed by a bishop:

• Diócesis Canariense: Includes the islands of the Eastern Province: Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote. Its capital was San Marcial El Rubicón (1404) and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (1483–present). There was a previous bishopric which was based in Telde, but it was later abolished.
• Diócesis Nivariense: Includes the islands of the western province: Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro. Its capital is San Cristóbal de La Laguna (1819–present).

Other religions

Around 5 percent of Canarians belong to a minority religion. Separate from the overwhelming Christian majority are a minority of Muslims who are usually foreign-born. At present, there are in the Canary Islands a figure of approximately 70,000 Muslims and 40 mosques and places of worship throughout the archipelago.

Among the followers of Islam, the Islamic Federation of the Canary Islands exists to represent the Islamic community in the Canary Islands as well as to provide practical support to members of the Islamic community.

Isleño trapper and sons, Delacroix Island, 1941

Statistics

The distribution of beliefs in 2012 according to the CIS Barometer Autonomy was as follows:

• Catholic 84.9%
• Atheist/Agnostic/Unbeliever 12.3%
• Other religions 1.7%

Among the believers 38.7% go to religious services frequently.

Canarian diaspora

Main article: Isleño

Historically, the Canary Islands have served as a hub between Spain and the Americas; favoured by that circumstance, large groups of Canary islanders have emigrated and settled all over the New World as early as the 15th century, mainly in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Venezuela and Uruguay.

Demographics

The Canarian population includes long-tenured and new waves of mainland Spanish immigrants, including Andalucians, Galicians, Castilians, Catalans, Basques and Asturians of Spain; old settlers of Portuguese, Italian, the Dutch or Flemish, British, and French origin, as well as recent foreign-born arrivals. In 2019 the total population was 2,153,389, of which 72.1% were native Canary Islanders. A total of 80.6%, or 1,735,457, were born in Spain and 19.4%, or 417,932, were born outside the country. Of these, the majority are from the Americas, mainly from Venezuela (66,573) and Cuba (41,792) and Colombia (31,368). There are 38,768 people from Africa, the majority from Morocco (24,268).

Population history
Year	Population
1768	155,763
1787	168,928
1797	173,865
1842	241,266
1860	237,036
1887	301,983
1900	364,408
1920	488,483
1940	687,937
1960	966,177
1981	1,367,646
1990	1,589,403
2000	1,716,276
2010	2,118,519
2011	2,082,655
2019	2,152,590

Population of the Canary Islands 2019
Birthplace		Population	Percent
Canary Islands		1,553,517	72.1
Other regions (Spain)		176,302	8.2
Total, Spain		1,735,457	80.6
Foreign-born		417,932	19.4
Americas		201,257	9.3
Venezuela		66,573	-
Cuba		41,792	-
Colombia		31,361	-
Argentina		17.429	-
Uruguay		8,687	-
Rest of Europe		154,511	7.2
Italy		39,469	-
Germany		25,921	-
United Kingdom		25,339	-
Africa		38,768	1.8
Morocco		24,268	-
Asia		23,082	1.1
China		9,848	-
Oceania		314	0.0
Total		2,153,389	100.0%
Source

Canarian identity

According to a 2012 study by the Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas, when asked about national identity, the majority of respondents from the Canary Islands (49.3%) consider themselves Spanish and Canarian in equal measures, followed by 37.1% who consider themselves more Canarian than Spanish. Only 6.1% of the respondents consider themselves only Canarian.

National Sentiment in the Canary Islands
Only Spanish	3.5%
More Spanish than Canarian	2.0%
Equally Spanish and Canarian	49.3%
More Canarian than Spanish	37.1%
Only Canarian	6.1%
Did not answer	2.0%

Notable Canarians

Engineer and General Augustin de Betancourt.

Realist novelist Benito Pérez Galdós.

{{Portuguese people}}

• Cristiano Ronaldo, footballer
• José Tolentino Mendonça, Catholic cardinal
• Herberto Hélder, poet
• Lourdes de Castro, artist
• Max, singer
• Baltazar Dias
• Alberto João Jardim
• Ireneu Barreto, judge
• João Rodrigues, sailor
• José Manuel Coelho
• Edgar Silva
• Virgílio Teixeira, actor
• Vânia Fernandes, singer
• Fátima Lopes, stylist
• Francisco and Henrique Franco
• Dionísio Pestana
• Jorge Jardim Gonçalves
• Joe Berardo

See also

• Berberism
• Canarian dialect
• Cubans
• Guanche language
• Isleños
• Nationalities in Spain
• White Puerto Ricans
• White Dominicans (Dominican Republic)