| Gomera, the smallest Island of the Canarian Archipelago, after Hierro Island, shares the same volcanic origin as the others but the volcanic activity still happening on other islands is here million years old. But its landscape isn’t flat because erosion has carved numerous barrancos (very deep canyons) and steep slopes with terrace fields. Mule trails link little farms. There is only 8,000 permanent residents and a dozen villages on La Gomera. The first inhabitants, the Guanches native to Northwestern Africa, were victims of the Spanish colonization after the conquest of the Island at the beginning of the XVth century. In 1494, when the Island was incoporated into Spanish crown possessions, their distinct language and culture were repressed. However, some might have been the witness of another historical évent: its from La Gomera that Christopher Columbus embarked to discover America in 1492.
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