El Hierro

El Hierro, nicknamed Isla del Meridiano , is the second smallest and farthest south and west of the Canary Islands , in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa, with a population of 10,968 . Its capital is Valverde. At 268.51 square kilometres, it is the second smallest of the eight main islands of the Canaries.

The name El Hierro, although spelled like the Spanish word for 'iron', is not related to that word. The H in the name of the metal is derived from the F of Latin ferrum . The H in the name of the island dates back to the time in Old Spanish orthography when the distinction between the letters I and J was not yet established and a silent h was written before word-initial ie to ensure that the i was read as a semivowel, not as the consonant [ʒ].

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