Minorca

Minorca, island of the Balearic Islands provincia (province) and comunidad autónoma (autonomous community), Spain. It is the second largest of the Balearic Islands and lies in the western Mediterranean Sea. Most of the island’s area of 258 square miles (668 square km) is dry, monotonous tableland with rugged hills rising in the north centre to Toro hill (1,175 feet [358 metres]). Its northern coast has many capes and is deeply indented with inlets such as the bays of La Albufera, Addaya, and Fornells. The fine natural harbour of Mahón, the island’s chief town, is the best port of the Balearics and was much prized for its strategic value in the wars of the 18th century. The south coast is more regular and has long stretches of cliffs.

Minorca’s first inhabitants were probably cave dwellers. Prehistoric remains, dating from about the middle of the 2nd millennium bce and representing a culture that continued with little change until Roman times, include talayots and taulas, both structures of unknown purpose. The former, a type of tower, was roofed, generally with the aid of a central pillar composed of circular superimposed slabs, and faced with clay to produce a monolithic structure. The taulas, so-called “tables,” may well have been used for ceremonial purposes but certainly formed a normal element of the habitations associated with the talayots. Both talayot and taula are usually contained within an enclosure, frequently of D-shaped plan, with the entrance in the straight side; within the area stands a taula, a rectangular slab of dressed stone set horizontally on a vertical shaft. The stone naus, or navetas (Catalan: “ships”), of Minorca, so termed from their resemblance to an upturned boat, were graves.

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Many of the plateau limestone soils are suitable only for light grazing, but some of the higher districts are terraced and yield rich harvests, as do the few alluvial valleys, which run down to the south coast. The land irrigated by artesian wells is especially productive, and its windmills are a characteristic feature of the Minorcan landscape. The principal crops are cereals, potatoes, melons, pomegranates, figs, and almonds. Cattle, horses, sheep, and goats are kept, and cheese is exported to the mainland. The farming system is that of peasant proprietorship, and the domestic economy is supplemented by fishing, lobsters being plentiful off the north coast. The manufacture of leather shoes employs about 10 percent of the population in a number of small factories throughout the island. Minorca has many fine beaches, and its tourist business, formerly much inferior to that of Majorca and Ibiza, is expanding. Air and maritime services link the island with Barcelona and Majorca, and there are air services from London.