Minorca / Menorca

Area: 711 sq.km/275 sq.mi

Population: 62,000

Minorca is a relatively quiet holiday island, which in addition to good beaches and excellent facilities for water sports has much of historical and artistic interest to offer, including in particular its megalithic monuments - though some of these can be reached only on rough and unsignposted paths. In recent years tourism has increased considerably in importance, but the example of tourist development on Majorca, some aspects of which are distressing, has led to second thoughts on Minorca, and some large scale development projects have not been carried out. A pleasant feature of the new Minorcan holiday resorts is the relative absence of high rise hotels. Agriculture continues to be the islanders' main source of income.

Topography

Northwestern Minorca is a region of gentle upland country rising to a height of 357m/1,171ft in Monte Toro and falling down to a coast slashed by fjord like inlets. The southwest of the island is an extensive lowland area with a cliff fringed coast which lacks such inlets.