FERRO

Spanish Hierro, island, Santa Cruz de Tenerife provincia, Canary Islands comunidad autnoma (autonomous community), Spain, the westernmost and smallest of the Canary Islands in the North Atlantic. Ferro, the most westerly place known to ancient European geographers, was chosen about AD 150 by the classical geographer Ptolemy for the prime meridian of longitude, and until the 18th century some navigators continued to reckon from this line. The island, with an area of 107 square miles (278 square km), is mountainous (reaching 5,000 feet ) and is ringed by sheer cliffs except near Valverde, the capital, where wooded slopes meet the sea. Ferro lacks a harbour, and landings are made at a short mole at Estaca, the port of the island. Mineral springs attract a small tourist trade, but the economy primarily depends on subsistence agriculture. Pop. (1981) 6,408.