GOMERA

island, Santa Cruz de Tenerife provincia, Canary Islands comunidad autnoma ("autonomous community"), Spain, one of the Canary Islands in the North Atlantic. Circular in shape, it has an area of 146 square miles (378 square km). Its coasts, especially on the west, are rugged and precipitous, and its interior is mountainous. The flattish dome of Garajonay Peak (4,879 feet ) in the centre of the island is the highest point. The lower areas are semiarid, but, because of the plentiful supply of freshwater from springs, the valley floors are irrigated, and bananas and date palms are grown. In the south, grapes, figs, cereals, and tomatoes are cultivated. The economy depends mainly on agriculture and fishing, and there is some boatbuilding. The only roads are short and follow the lines of the larger valleys. San Sebastin de la Gomera, on the east coast, the chief port and capital, has a sheltered roadstead and is backed by the steep cliffs of a wide ravine. It was the last stopping place of Christopher Columbus on his first transatlantic voyage in 1492, and the house where he stayed and the church he attended are tourist attractions. Gomera is famous for the whistling language (an art acquired from the extinct Guanches people) used by natives of the island to communicate from hilltop to hilltop. Pop. (1981) 18,237; (1991) 15,963.