Demographics
As of 2010, a total of 139,000 people live on Lanzarote which is an increase of 9.4% from 2006 (127,000). The seat of the island government (Cabildo Insular) is in the capital, Arrecife, which has a population of 59,000. The majority of the inhabitants (73.9%) are Spanish, with a sizable number of residents from other European nations, mainly British (4.0%), Germans (2.6%) and Irish (2.5%). Other populous groups include immigrants from Colombia, Morocco, Ecuador, Western Africa, China and India, which constitute a large proportion of the remaining 15.6% of the population.
| Ethnic Group | Population | % of Lanzarote's Population |
|---|---|---|
| Spanish | 99,929 | 73.9% |
| Colombian | 5,703 | 4.2% |
| British | 5,420 | 4.0% |
| Moroccan | 3,606 | 2.7% |
| German | 3,450 | 2.6% |
| Irish | 3,378 | 2.5% |
| Ecuadorians | 1,950 | 1.4% |
| Other ethnicities | 11,758 | 8.7% |
The island has an international airport, Arrecife Airport, through which 5,438,178 passengers travelled in 2008. Tourism has been the mainstay of the island's economy for the past forty years, the only other industry being agriculture. The emblem of Lanzarote is a demon because the early settlers interpreted their first experience of a volcanic eruption as the work of the devil.
Lanzarote is part of the province of Las Palmas, and is divided into seven municipalities:
- Arrecife
- Haría
- San Bartolomé
- Teguise (includes Isla de La Graciosa and four smaller islets, including Tahiche)
- Tías
- Tinajo
- Yaiza
Read more about this topic: Lanzarote