Balearic Islands. The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The four largest islands are Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, and Formentera. Many minor islands and islets are close to the larger islands, including Cabrera, Dragonera, and S'Espalmador. The islands have a Mediterranean climate, and the four major islands are all popular tourist destinations. Ibiza, in particular, is known as an international party destination, attracting many of the world's most popular DJs to its nightclubs. The islands' culture and cuisine are similar to those of the rest of Spain but have their own distinctive features. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain, with Palma de Mallorca as the capital. The 2007 Statute of Autonomy declares the Balearic Islands as one nationality of Spain. The co-official languages in the Balearic Islands are Catalan and Spanish. The official name of the Balearic Islands in Catalan is Illes Balears, while in Spanish, they are known as the Islas Baleares. The term Balearic derives from Greek. In Latin, it is Baleares. Of the various theories on the origins of the two ancient Greek and Latin names for the islands, Gymnasiae and Baleares, classical sources provide two. According to the Lycophron's Alexandra verses, the islands were called / Gymnesiae because its inhabitants were often nude, probably because of the year-round benevolent climate. The Greek and Roman writers generally derive the name of the people from their skill as slingers, although Strabo regards the name as of Phoenician origin. He observed it was the Phoenician equivalent for lightly armoured soldiers the Greeks would have called / gymnetas. The root bal does point to a Phoenician origin; perhaps the islands were sacred to the god Baal and the resemblance to the Greek root is accidental. Indeed, it was usual Greek practice to assimilate local names into their own language. But the common Greek name of the islands is not / Baleareis, but / Gymnesiai. The former was the name used by the natives, as well as by the Carthaginians and Romans, while the latter probably derives from the light equipment of the Balearic troops / gymnetae. The Balearic Islands are on a raised platform called the Balearic Promontory, and were formed by uplift. They are cut by a network of northwest to southeast faults. The main islands of the autonomous community are Majorca, Menorca/Minorca, Ibiza, and Formentera, all popular tourist destinations. Amongst the minor islands is Cabrera, the location of the Cabrera Archipelago Maritime-Terrestrial National Park. The islands can be further grouped, with Majorca, Menorca, and Cabrera as the Gymnesian Islands, and Ibiza and Formentera as the Pityusic Islands, also referred to as the Pityuses. Many minor islands or islets are close to the biggest islands, such as Es Conills, Es Vedre, Sa Conillera, Dragonera, S'Espalmador, S'Espardell, Ses Bledes, Santa Euloria, Plana, Foradada, Tagomago, Na Redona, Colom, L'Aire, etc. The Balearic Front is a sea density regime north of the Balearic Islands on the shelf slope of the Balearic Islands, which is responsible for some of the surface-flow characteristics of the Balearic Sea. Located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, the Balearic Islands unsurprisingly have typical Mediterranean climates.
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