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Ibiza
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Ibiza is an island and town located in the Mediterranean Sea about 80 km off the coast of Spain. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands autonomous community (Spain). With Formentera, it is one of the two Pine Islands or Pityuses. Its largest cities are Ibiza Town (Catalan:Vila d'Eivissa or simply Vila), Santa Eulària des Riu and Sant Antoni de Portmany.
Eivissa is the official Catalan name (pronounced locally and in Standard Catalan), but the name in Spanish is Ibiza, usually pronounced using the standard Spanish variation .
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Encyclopedia
Ibiza is an island and town located in the Mediterranean Sea about 80 km off the coast of Spain. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands autonomous community (Spain). With Formentera, it is one of the two Pine Islands or Pityuses. Its largest cities are Ibiza Town (Catalan:Vila d'Eivissa or simply Vila), Santa Eulària des Riu and Sant Antoni de Portmany.
Eivissa is the official Catalan name (pronounced locally and in Standard Catalan), but the name in Spanish is Ibiza, usually pronounced using the standard Spanish variation . In British English, the name is usually pronounced the Spanish way , while in American English the pronunciation is more varied .
The island of Ibiza is well-known for its summer club parties which attract large numbers of tourists, but the island and the Spanish Tourist Office have been working to shed the prevailing "sex-and-alcohol" image in order to promote more family-oriented tourism. Noted clubs include Space, Pacha, Privilege (ex Ku), Amnesia, DC10, Eden, Es Paradis, and the famed Cafe Del Mar. It is also home to the 'West End' party district of Sant Antoni, a popular stop for many tourists.
History
In 654 BC Phoenician settlers founded a port in the Balearic Islands, as Ibossim (from the Phoenician iboshim dedicated to the god of the music and dance Bes). It was later known to Romans as "Ebusus". The Greeks, who came to Ibiza during the time of the Phoenicians, were the first to call the two islands of Ibiza and Formentera the Pityûssai (, "pine-covered islands"; a translation of the Phoenician name). With the decline of Phoenicia after the Assyrian invasions, Ibiza came under the control of Carthage, also a former Phoenician colony. The island produced dye, salt, fish sauce (garum), and wool.
A shrine with offerings to the goddess Tanit was established in the cave at Es Culleram, and the rest of the Balearic Islands entered Eivissa's commercial orbit after 400 BC. Ibiza was a major trading post along the Mediterranean routes. Ibiza began establishing its own trading stations along the nearby Balearic island of Majorca such as Na Guardis, from which large quantities of renowned Balearic slingers were hired as mercenaries who fought for Carthage.
During the Second Punic War, the island was assaulted by the two Scipio brothers in 209 BC but remained loyal to Carthage. With Carthaginian military luck running out on the Iberian mainland, Ibiza was last used by the fleeing Carthaginian General Mago to gather supplies and men before sailing to Minorca and then to Liguria. Ibiza negotiated a favorable treaty with the Romans, which spared Ibiza from further destruction and allowed it to continue its Carthaginian-Punic institutions well into the Empire days, when it became an official Roman municipality. For this reason, Ibiza today offers excellent examples of late Carthaginian-Punic civilization. During the Roman Empire, the island became a quiet imperial outpost, removed from the important trading routes of the time.
After the fall of the Roman empire and a brief period of first Vandal and then Byzantine rule, the island was conquered by the Moors, as well as much of the Iberian peninsula. Under Islamic rule, Ibiza came in close contact with the city of Dénia (the closest port in the nearby Iberian peninsula, located in the Valencian Community) as the two areas were administered jointly by the same taifa. Moreover, the tribes who lived in Ibiza and Denia during the period 1060–1085 were Moorish tribes named Bno-Alaglab & Bano-Mujahed.
The island was reclaimed for Christendom by Aragonese King James I of Aragon in 1235. Since then, the island has had its own self-government in several forms but in 1715 King Philip V of Spain abolished the local government's autonomy. The arrival of democracy in the late 1970s led to the Statute of Autonomy of the Balearic Islands. Today the island is part of the Balearic Autonomous Community, along with Majorca, Minorca and Formentera.
Geography
Ibiza is a part of a group of the western Balearic archipelago called the Pitiusas or "Pine Islands" composed of itself and Formentera. The Balearic island chain includes over fifty islands, many of them uninhabited.
Climate
The climate of Ibiza is Mediterranean and has milder winters but slightly cooler summers than Majorca. The winters are generally mild with temperatures around during the day and at night. The hottest time of the year is July and August with temperatures reaching most afternoons. The lowest recorded temperature in Ibiza is , the highest is .
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
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| Avg high °C | 15.8 | 16.1 | 18.2 | 20.4 | 23.3 | 27.6 | 29.8 | 30.4 | 27.7 | 24.3 | 19.3 | 16.6 |
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| Avg high °F | 60.44 | 60.98 | 64.76 | 68.72 | 73.94 | 81.68 | 85.64 | 86.72 | 81.86 | 75.74 | 66.74 | 61.88 |
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People
Language
While Catalan and Spanish are the official languages of Ibiza, a "dialectal variation [of Catalan]...called Eivissenc or Ibicenco is more readily spoken by both the residents and those of Formentera." Additionally, because of the influence of tourism (see below) and expatriates living in or maintaining residences on the island other, atypical languages, such as English, German and Russian are also spoken. Polylinguality is the norm, not the exception.
Administration and law
Tourism
Nightlife
Ibiza is considered a popular tourist destination, especially due to its legendary and at times riotous nightlife centered around two areas: Ibiza Town, the island's capital on the southern shore and Sant Antoni to the West. Well-known nightclubs are Privilege (the largest club in the world), Eden (the busiest nightclub in Sant Antoni), Es Paradís (noted for its water parties), Amnesia (known for foam parties), Space (an afterparty club), Pacha, and DC10. During the summer, well-known DJs perform at the various clubs on weekly schedules, in between touring to other international destinations. Many of these DJs use Ibiza as an outlet for presenting new songs within the house, trance and techno genres of electronic dance music. The season traditionally begins at the start of June with Space and DC10's opening parties and finishes on the first weekend of October with the Closing Parties. A typical schedule for clubbers going to Ibiza includes waking at noon, early evening naps, late night clubbing, and "disco sunrises". Due to Ibiza's notable tolerance toward misbehavior from young adult tourists, it has acquired the sobriquet "Gomorrah of the Med". Also well-known is Café del Mar, a long-standing bar where many tourists traditionally view the sunset made famous by José Padilla. That and other bars close by have become an increasingly popular venue for club pre-parties after sunset, hosting popular DJ performers.
The island's government is trying to encourage a more cultured and quieter tourism scene, passing rules including the closing of all nightclubs by 6am at the latest, and requiring all new hotels to be 5-star.. The administration is wanting to attract a more international mixture of tourists, rather than British who have a bad reputaion for violent aggresive binge drinking.
World Heritage Site
Though primarily known for its party scene, large portions of the island are registered as U.N. World Heritage Sites, and thus protected from the development and commercialization of the main cities. A notable example includes "God's Finger" in the Benirràs Bay as well as some of the more traditional Ibicenco cultural sites. Because of its rustic beauty, companies and artists alike frequently use the island for photographic and film shoots. A monument ("The Egg") erected in honour of Christopher Columbus can be found in Sant Antoni: Ibiza is one of several places purporting to be his birthplace.
However, any time other than summer, the whole island is empty of tourists and most clubs are not open (only Pacha is open all year round). Tourists who plan to travel to the island prior to June or after September should expect a quieter time with more unsettled weather.
Notable tourist destinations
Image:Ibiza.Nono.jpg|Eivissa, Cala de sa Galera, with the Puig Nunó in the background
Image:mark 042.jpg|The beach at Es Canar
Image:San Antonio.jpg|Sant Antoni de Portmany from afar
Transport
Ibiza is served by Ibiza Airport
Administration
Ibiza is administratively part of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands, whose capital is Palma, on the island of Majorca. Ibiza comprises five of the community's 67 municipalities. Clockwise from the south coast, these are:
These municipalities had a total population of 88,076 inhabitants (as of the 2001 census) and have a land area of 572.56 km² (221.07 sq mi).
In popular culture
A number of novels have been written using Ibiza as the setting, including Joshua Then and Now by Mordecai Richler, Soma Blues by Robert Sheckley, Vacation in Ibiza by Lawrence Schimel, A Short Life on a Sunny Isle: An Alphonse Dantan Mystery by Hannah Blank, They Are Ruining Ibiza by A.C. Greene and The Python Project by Victor Canning.
There also exists a genre of dance music named after Ibiza dubbed Balearic Beat, similarly to the way Goa trance is named after Goa, India. The style tries to reflect the atmosphere of Ibiza. The atmosphere is brought on with the use of synthesized string instruments, the sound of waves, mandolins and guitars, and wispy vocals. A prominent resident of Ibiza is Jens Gad, former co-producer and guitarist featured on several albums of the multi-platinum act Enigma. Gad's home on the island features a state-of-the art recording studio where has recorded his recent solo albums and two albums of his new musical project Achillea, in 2005 and 2007.
The film It's All Gone Pete Tong, an independent comedy/drama about a DJ who goes deaf, was filmed on location in Ibiza.
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