La Tortuga Island

Coordinates: 10°55′54″N 65°18′29″W / 10.93167°N 65.30806°W / 10.93167; -65.30806
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other islands with similar names, see Tortuga Island.
La Tortuga Island
Native name:
Isla La Tortuga
Federal dependencies of Venezuela

La Tortuga Island (Spanish: Isla La Tortuga; "La Tortuga" means "the turtle") is an uninhabited island of Venezuela, the largest in the Federal Dependencies of Venezuela. It is part of a group of islands that include the Tortuguillos and Cayo Herradura. Isla La Tortuga has an area of 156 km2 (60 sq mi).[1][2][3][4]

History

The island was visited by

marine turtles that come to lay eggs on its long sandy beaches every year.[5]

Cayo Herradura

The island was seasonally visited by the

Spanish who were eager to keep the Dutch off the island. They were definitively expelled in 1638 when the Spanish governor of Cumaná, Benito Arias Montano, and his forces destroyed their facilities and flooded the salt pans.[6]

Since then, with the exception of fishermen who visit the island seasonally, the island has remained unpopulated and largely untouched. There is some tourism on the island.

Gallery

See also

References

  1. ^ "Dependencias Federales: Guía de Viajes Y Turismo de las Dependencia Federales - Archipiélago de Los Roques" [Federal agencies Guide Travel And Tourism Federal Unit - Los Roques Archipelago]. guiaviajesvirtual.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  2. ^ Vila, Marco Aurelio. 1967: Aspectos geográficos de las Dependencias Federales. Corporación Venezolana de Fomento. Caracas. 115p.
  3. ^ Cervigon, Fernando. 1995: Las Dependencias Federales. Academia Nacional de la Historia. Caracas. 193p.
  4. ISBN 980-6427-10-6
  5. ^ Antczak, Maria Magdalena and Andrzej Antczak. 2006: Los Ídolos de las Islas Prometidas, Arqueología Prehispánica del Archipiélago de Los Roques. Editorial Equinoccio, Caracas. 630 p.
  6. ISSN 0079-4236
    .

External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Isla de la Tortuga.

10°55′54″N 65°18′29″W / 10.93167°N 65.30806°W / 10.93167; -65.30806

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