Madeira Island – Portugal

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Madeira Island is a wonderful tourist destination of Europe. It is located in the Atlantic Ocean in Portugal. Madeira Island is situated almost 310 miles from the African coast and 620 miles from the European continent, and just 1h 30mn flight from mainland Portugal and about 3h from all the main countries in Europe. The island is part of the European Union ultraperifric area. It is known globally as the Islands of everlasting spring, Madeira, “Ilha Jardim“{Garden Island} or Pearl of the Atlantic has a mild climate throughout the entire year. Madeira compromises not only an all year round summer climate and superb fauna and flora but also Madeira is also almost crime free and one of the harmless holiday destinations in the world.
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Madeira Islands description

The Madeira Islands, 540 miles southwest of Lisbon, Portugal, are a Portuguese archipelago positioned about 360 miles directly west of Morocco, Africa in the north Atlantic Ocean.

They are an autonomous region of Portugal, with Madeira Island and Porto Santo Island being the only inhabited islands.

[Henry the Navigator] The Madeira Islands, known originally to the Romans as the Purple Islands, were discovered by Portuguese sailors, Prince Henry the Navigator, João Goncalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira, in the early 15th Century.

The Portuguese crown claimed possession of the islands, and settlement began around 1420, with the exportation of wheat following shortly thereafter.

As the grain industry began to decline, Henry called for the planting of sugarcane, and it wasn't long before the crop became a major component of the island's economy. Labor demands increased, and Genoese and Portuguese traders grew interested in the islands.