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Pliny mentions certain Purple Islands, the position of which with reference to the Fortunate Islands or Canaries might seem to indicate Madeira islands. Plutarch (Sertorius, 75 AD) referring to the military commander Quintus Sertorius (d. 72 BC), relates that after his return to Cádiz, "he met seamen recently arrived from Atlantic islands, two in number, divided from one another only by a ...
Madeira generally has a mild/moderate subtropical climate with mediterranean summer droughts and winter rain. Many microclimates are found at different elevations. Madeira, uninhabited at the time, was claimed by Portuguese sailors in the service of Prince Henry the Navigator in 1419 and settled after 1420.
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Groundwater on Madeira is held in fractured volcanic rock aquifers, with widely varying transmissivity and dissolved mineral content. Water is generally slightly acidic to slightly alkaline and cold, although there are small quantities of thermal water near fault zones. Much of the water on the island comes from high-discharge springs. [5]
Madeira was at that time a part of the Iberian Union headed by the Monarchy of Spain. The Algerians had established a base on the islands of Cape Verde from which they operated against ships in the Atlantic. [3] In 1617 the Algerians arrived in Madeira with 8 vessels and 800 men. [1] They plundered the island and enslaved 1,200 inhabitants. [3]
The capital of Madeira is Funchal, which is located on the main island's south coast. Jews have been associated with Madeira from the era of Crypto-Jews to World War II evacuees. Like the Jews of mainland Portugal, Madeira Jews are mainly related to Sephardi history, a Jewish ethnic division that represents communities who have originated in ...
In the sixteenth century the Portuguese started building levadas to carry water to the agricultural regions. The most recent were made in the 1940s. Madeira is very mountainous, and building the levadas was often difficult. Many are cut into the sides of mountains, and it was also necessary to dig 25 kilometres (16 mi) of tunnels. [citation needed]
During this time Madeira was administratively referred to as the District of Funchal. From 1868 to 1881 Madeira had used overprinted stamps of Portugal. [1] [2] Beginning in 1868, postage stamps for Madeira were issued for the postal needs of the island group with its capital Funchal. Unoverprinted Portuguese stamps were used from 1881 to 1892.