Alboran Island

Coordinates: 35°56′22″N 03°02′07″W / 35.93944°N 3.03528°W / 35.93944; -3.03528
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Alborán
Alborán is located in Spain
Alborán
Alborán
Location of Alborán Island in Spain
Alborán is located in Andalusia
Alborán
Alborán
Location of Alborán Island in Andalusia
Geography
LocationAlboran Sea
Coordinates35°56′22″N 03°02′07″W / 35.93944°N 3.03528°W / 35.93944; -3.03528
Area0.07 km2 (0.027 sq mi)
Highest elevation15 m (49 ft)
Administration
ProvinceProvince of Almería
MunicipalityAlmería
Demographics
Populationmilitary staff only

Alboran Island (Spanish: Isla de Alborán) is a small islet of Spain (province of Almería) in the Alboran Sea, part of the western Mediterranean Sea, about 56 kilometres (35 mi; 30 nmi) north of the Moroccan coast and 85 kilometres (53 mi; 46 nmi) from the Spanish mainland. The main buildings are an automated lighthouse built in the 19th century, a small cemetery, and a harbor.

Description

The island is a flat platform about 15 metres (49 feet)

above sea level
and about 71,200 m2 (17.6 acres; 7.1 ha) in area. 100 m (328 ft) off the northeastern end of the island is the small islote de La Nube (literally, islet of the cloud).

Natural history

Alboran has a volcanic origin, located in an important seismic zone where the African plate collides with the Eurasian plate. In 1899, a new igneous rock was discovered on Alboran, with the name of alboranite, in honor of the island.

The islet has been recognised as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports a breeding population of Audouin's gulls as well as various species of passerines on migration.[1]

The

ex-situ conservation
stocks in 1999.

In 2001, the United Nations declared the island and its seabed a Specially Protected Area of Mediterranean Importance.[2]

History

The island became a power base of Mustafa ben Yusuf al Mahmud ed Din (

Battle of Alboran in 1540.[3]

Alborán has been known in error as "Albusama".[4]

The aristocrat Archduke Ludwig Salvator of Austria visited the island and published in 1899 an illustrated book in German about the island.[5][6]

In 1963, the Spanish army established a permanent detachment of Spanish Navy Marines for the control and protection of the island.[3]

Administration

The island has belonged to Spain since 1540,[7] and to the municipality of Almería since the 19th century.[8]

References

  1. ^ "Alborán island". BirdLife Data Zone. BirdLife International. 2021. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  2. .
  3. ^ .
  4. reyno de Fez , en frente de la de Alhucema
    ." (Antonio Vegas 1806. Diccionário geográfico universal, que comprende la descripción de las quatro partes del mundo, s.v. "Alhucema").
  5. ^ Salvator, Ludwig; Woerl, Leo (1899). Erzherzog Ludwig Salvator aus dem Oesterreichischen Kaiserhause als Forscher des Mittelmeers (in German). Woerls Reisebucher-Verlag.
  6. ^ "Alboran". www.ludwigsalvator.com. Archived from the original on 2021-04-15. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
  7. ^ Hernández Bru, Víctor (29 July 2018). "Alborán: historias y misterios de esa isla almeriense tan ignorada". Ideal (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  8. ^ Sevillano, Antonio (5 October 2014). "Isla de Alborán: Documentos (y II)". Diario de Almería (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 December 2023.