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BALEARIC ISLANDS (Baleares)

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Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 250 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BALEARIC ISLANDS (Baleares) , an See also:

archipelago of four large and eleven small islands in the Mediterranean See also:Sea, off the See also:east See also:coast of See also:Spain, of which See also:country it forms a See also:province. Pop. (1900) 311,649; See also:area, 1935 sq. m. The archipelago, which lies between 380 40' and 40° 5' N., and between r° and 5° E., comprises two distinct See also:groups. The eastern and larger See also:group, corresponding with the See also:ancient Insulae Baleares, comprises the two See also:principal members of the archipelago, See also:Majorca (See also:Spanish, Mallorca) and See also:Minorca (Spanish, Menorca), with seven islets:—Aire, Aucanada, Botafoch, See also:Cabrera, Dragonera, See also:Pinto and El Rey. The western group, corresponding with the ancient Pityusae or See also:Pine Islands, also comprises two relatively large islands, See also:Iviza (Spanish, Ibiza or, formerly, Ivica) and Formentera, with the islets of Ahorcados, Conejera, Pou and Espalmador. Majorca, Minorca and Iviza are described in See also:separate articles. Formentera is described with Iviza. The See also:total See also:population of the eleven islets only amounted to 171 in 1900, but all were inhabited. None of them is of any importance except Cabrera, which is full of caverns, and was formerly used as a See also:place of banishment. In 1808 a large See also:body of Frenchmen were landed here by their Spanish captors, and allowed almost to perish of See also:starvation. The origin of the name Baleares is a See also:mere See also:matter of conjecture; it is obvious, however, that the See also:modern Majorca and Minorca are obtained from the Latin See also:Major and See also:Minor, through the See also:Byzantine forms MatopiKa and MwopLKa; while Iviza is plainly the older Ebusus, a name probably of Carthaginian origin.

The Ophiusa of the Greeks (Colubraria of the See also:

Romans) is now known as Formentera. See also:Geology.—The strata which See also:form the Balearic Isles fall naturally into two divisions. There is an older See also:series, ranging from the Devonian to the Cretaceous, which is folded and faulted and forms all the higher hills, and there is a newer series of See also:Tertiary See also:age, which lies nearly See also:horizontal and rests unconformably upon the older beds. The direction of the folds in the older series is in Iviza nearly See also:west to east, in Majorca See also:south-west to See also:north-east, and in Minorca south to north, thus forming an arc See also:convex towards the south-east. The Devonian is visible only in Minorca, the Trias being the See also:oldest See also:system represented in the other islands. The higher See also:part of the Cretaceous is absent, and it appears to have been during this See also:period that the principal folding of the older beds took place. The See also:Eocene beds are nummulitic. There is a lacustrine group which has usually been placed in the See also:Lower Eocene, but the See also:discovery of See also:Anthracotherium magnum in the interbedded lignites proves it to be Oligocene, in part at least. The See also:Miocene included a See also:limestone with Clypeaster. See also:Pliocene beds also occur. See also:Climate, See also:Fauna, See also:Flora.—The climate of the archipelago, though generally mild, healthy and favourable to plant See also:life, is by no means See also:uniform, owing to the See also:differences of See also:altitude and shelter from See also:wind in different islands. The fauna and flora resemble those of the Mediterranean coasts of Spain or See also:France.

Inhabitants.—The islanders are a Spanish See also:

race, very closely akin to the Catalans; but the See also:long period of Moorish See also:rule has See also:left its See also:mark on their See also:physical type and customs. In See also:character they are industrious and hospitable, and pique themselves on their See also:loyalty and orthodoxy. See also:Crime is rare. There are higher See also:schools in the principal towns, and the See also:standard of See also:primary See also:education is well up to the See also:average of Spain. See also:Vaccination is See also:common except in the cities,—the See also:women often performing the operation themselves when medical assistance cannot be got. Castilian is spoken by the upper and commercial classes; the lower and agricultural employ a See also:dialect resembling that of the Catalans. See also:Commerce.—Fruit, See also:grain, See also:wine and oil are produced in the islands, and there is an active See also:trade with See also:Barcelona in fresh See also:fish, including large quantities of lobsters. Shoemaking is one of the most prosperous See also:industries. There is not a very active trade See also:direct with See also:foreign countries, as the principal imports—cotton, See also:leather, See also:petroleum, See also:sugar, See also:coal and timber—are introduced through Barcelona. The export trade is chiefly with the See also:Peninsula, France, See also:Italy, See also:Algeria and with See also:Cuba and See also:Porto Rico. Most of the agricultural products are sent to the Peninsula; wine, See also:figs, See also:marble, almonds, lemons and See also:rice to See also:Europe and See also:Africa. See also:Administration.—The administration of the Balearic Islands differs in no respect from that of the other Spanish provinces on the mainland.

There are five judicial districts (partidos judiciales), named after their See also:

chief towns—Inca, Iviza, See also:Manacor, See also:Palma and See also:Port Mahon. See also:History.—Of the origin of the See also:early inhabitants of the Balearic Islands nothing is certainly known, though See also:Greek and See also:Roman writers refer to the Boeotian and Rhodian settlements. There are numerous sepulchral and other monuments, which are generally believed to be of prehistoric .origin. According to See also:general tradition the natives, from whatever See also:quarter derived, were a See also:strange 'and See also:savage See also:people till they received some See also:tincture of See also:civilization from the Carthaginians, who early took See also:possession of the islands and built themselves cities on their coasts. Of these cities, Port Mahon, the most important, still retains the name which is derived from the See also:family of See also:Mago. About twenty-three years after the destruction of See also:Carthage the Romans accused the islanders of piracy, and sent against them Q. See also:Caecilius See also:Metellus, who soon reduced them to obedience, settled amongst them 3000 Roman and Spanish colonists, founded the cities of Palma and See also:Pollentia (Pollensa), and introduced the cultivation of the See also:olive. Besides valuable contingents of the celebrated Balearic slingers, the Romans derived from their new See also:conquest mules (from Minorca), edible snails, See also:sinope and See also:pitch. Of their occupation numerous traces still exist,—the most remarkable being the See also:aqueduct at Pollensa. In A.D. 423 the islands were seized by the See also:Vandals and in 798 by the See also:Moors. They became a separate Moorish See also:kingdom in 1009, which, becoming extremely See also:obnoxious for piracy, was the See also:object of a crusade directed against it by See also:Pope See also:Paschal II., in which the Catalans took the See also:lead.

This expedition was frustrated at the See also:

time, but was resumed by See also:James I. of See also:Aragon, and the Moors were expelled in 1232. During their occupation the See also:island was populous and productive, and an active commerce was carried on with Spain and Africa. See also:King James conferred the See also:sovereignty of the isles on his third son, under whom and his successor they formed an See also:independent kingdom up to 1349, from which time their history merges in that of Spain. In 1521 an insurrection of the peasantry against the See also:nobility, whom they massacred, took place in Majorca, and was not suppressed without much bloodshed. In the See also:War of the Spanish See also:Succession all the islands declared for See also:Charles; the See also:duke of See also:Anjou had no footing anywhere See also:save in the citadel of Mahon. Minorca was reduced by See also:Count See also:Villars in 1707; but it was not till See also:June 1715 that Majorca was subjugated, and meanwhile Port Mahon was captured by the See also:English under General See also:Stanhope in 1708. In 1713 the island was secured to them by the See also:peace of See also:Utrecht; but in 1756 it was invaded by a force of 12,000 See also:French, who, after defeating the See also:British under See also:Admiral Byng, captured Port Mahon. Restored to See also:England in 1763, the island remained in possession of the British till 1782, when it was retaken by the Spaniards. Again seized by the British in 1798, it was finally ceded to Spain by the peace of See also:Amiens in 1803. When the French invaded Spain in 1808, the Mallorquins did not remain indifferent; the See also:governor, D. Juan See also:Miguel de See also:Vives, announced, amid universal See also:acclamation, his See also:resolution to support See also:Ferdinand VII. At first the See also:Junta would take no active part in the war, retaining the See also:corps of See also:volunteers. that was formed for the See also:defence of the island; but finding it quite secure, they transferred a succession of them to the Peninsula to reinforce the See also:allies.

Such was the animosity excited against the French when their excesses were known to the Mallorquins, that some of the French prisoners, conducted thither in 1810, had to be transferred with all See also:

speed to the island of Cabrera, a transference which was not effected before some of them had been killed.

End of Article: BALEARIC ISLANDS (Baleares)

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