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 wer