Minorca

Minorca (Span. Menorca), one of the Balearic Isles, some twenty-five miles distant from Majorca, the largest of the group, is 31 miles long and 13 miles wide, covering in all a territory of about 300 square miles, and counting 37,280 inhabitants, subject to the Spanish government. The coast of Minorca, broken into numerous bays and inlets, is fringed with islets and shoals, and its surface, less mountainous than that of Majorca, is undulating, rising to its highest point in Mount Toro, 4793 feet above the sea-level. Its chief productions are marble, slate, plaster, the common cereals and legumes, oranges, silk, lemons; oil, wine, olives, and aromatic herbs. The chief towns are Port Mahon, the capital, and Ciudadela, the former capital, with a population of about 4000. There are many remains of Celtic civilization on the island. The people of Minorca (Menorqulnes) are very indolent, the women very stylish and polite. The religious history of the Menorquines is so intimately connected with that of their rulers that we must refer to the article SPAIN SEE SPAIN .