Porto Santo Island

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Porto Santo
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Elevation:	402 m (1,319 feet)
Latitude:	33.0611° N (33°3'43" N)
Longitude:	16.356° W (16°21'23" W)
Location:	Madeira, Portugal
Area:	42.17 km²
Type:	Stratovolcano
Last eruption:	Unknown
First ascent:	-
Easiest route:	-

Porto Santo Island (pron. IPA ['poɾtu 'sɐ̃tu]) is a Portuguese island 50 km northeast of Madeira Island in the North Atlantic Ocean. The main urban area in which is one of the six Portuguese vilas/municipalities that have only one parish is the city of Porto Santo, also known as Vila Baleira (pron. IPA: ['vilɐ bɐ'lɐiɾɐ]), the only parish. The population in 2001 was 4,474. The density was 106.1/km². The island also has an airport which serves flights to Funchal, which is only a 15-minute flight away. It is the northernmost and the easternmost island of the Madeira Archipelago. The municipality has no boundaries which means it is encircled by the Atlantic Ocean. The nearest place is Machico in the island of Madeira to the southwest in which it serves its port to Funchal. The length of the island is about 9 km. The main industry is tourism. The island was discovered by João Gonçalves Zarco in 1419 along with Tristão Vaz Teixeira. The Porto Santo Golf Course, proposed by Spanish golfing champion Severiano Ballesteros, will be the largest course in the whole of the Madeira Archipelago and will be able to cater for 500 persons playing golf at once. There will be two 18-hole golf courses and one nine-hole course.

The first phase that was concluded on September 2004, involved the building of an 18-hole 72 par golf course for professional players, and a nine-hole 3 par circuit called 'Pitch and Put', which can be covered within one hour.

The second phase, which will be built in 2005, will include an 18-hole golf course similar to that of the first phase.

Porto Santo golf complex which also includes eight tennis courts, circles Pico Ana Ferreira, connecting the tennis courts to the Horse-riding Centre already built here, and this in turn, to the golf courses. In the future, the complex may be expanded to include other sports, making it the largest sports complex in the Autonomous Region of Madeira. This new infrastructure will extend the tourist season of Porto Santo and will be another attraction for visitors and residents.

Porto Santo has several schools, a lyceum, a gymnasia, several churches, a square (praça), a Congress Centre, a museum, shopping centres, bars, restaurants and much more.

Geography

The island's geography includes farmlands in the southern and central parts and further to the south a long shoreline with a few beaches, forests and grasslands to the west, rocky ledges and cliffs with a longer coastline to its north, forests to the northeast, drylands with grasses to the northern part and mountains along the northeastern part with about five to six main mountaintops with a few grasslands. Much of the coastline is to the west, the north and the east. There are islets to the north east and a small peninsula with a mountaintop in the eastern end of the main island. Porto Santo has about 9 km of sandy beaches while Madeira island has virtually none, with tiny exceptions in e.g. Calheta.

• Location of Vila Baleira:
• *Latitude: 33.0667 (33°4') N
• *Longitude: 16.33 (16°20') W
• Altitude:
• *Lowest: Atlantic Ocean
• *Centre: 175 m (577 m)

Parishes

Porto Santo has only one parish:

• Porto Santo

Settlements and geographic areas

Name	Latitude	Longitude	Elevation	Map links
Camacha	33.0833 (32°5') N	16.33 (16°210') W	172 m (567 ft)	[Street map from Mapquest], [Aerial photograph from Microsoft Terraserver]
Campo de Baixo	33.05 (32°3') N	16.35 (16°21') W	176 m (580 ft)	[Street map from Mapquest], [Aerial photograph from Microsoft Terraserver]
Campo de Cima	33.05 (32°3') N	16.35 (16°21') W	176 m (580 ft)	[Street map from Mapquest], [Aerial photograph from Microsoft Terraserver]
Pontinhas	33.05 (32°3') N	16.35 (16°21') W	176 m (580 ft)	[Street map from Mapquest], [Aerial photograph from Microsoft Terraserver]
Portas Novas	33.0667 (33°4') N	16.33 (16°20') W	175 m (577 ft)	[Street map from Mapquest], [Aerial photograph from Microsoft Terraserver]

External links

• Photos of Porto Santo Island
• *[Royalty free]
• *[Photo Base]

 

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