Mallorca, also spelled Majorca in English, is the largest of Spain's Balearic Islands, and the seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.
Its capital, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Balearic Islands have been an autonomous region of Spain since 1983. Two smaller islands lie just off the coast of Mallorca: Cabrera (southeast of Palma) and Dragonera (west of Palma). The island's anthem is "La Balanguera".
Along with other Balearic Islands, Menorca, Ibiza, and Formentera, Mallorca is a highly popular holiday destination, particularly for tourists from the Netherlands, Ireland, Germany, and the United Kingdom. The international airport, Palma de Mallorca Airport, is one of the busiest in Spain; it was used by 28 million passengers in 2017, with use increasing every year between 2012 and 2017.
The name originates from Classical Latin insula maior, meaning "larger island". In Medieval Latin, this evolved into Maiorca, referring to "the larger one" in contrast with Menorca, "the smaller one". The term Maiorca was later modified by central Catalan scribes through a process of hypercorrection, resulting in the form Mallorca, which eventually became the standard spelling.
The Balearic Islands were first colonised by humans during the 3rd millennium BC, around 2500–2300 BC from the Iberian Peninsula or southern France, by people associated with the Bell Beaker culture. The arrival of humans resulted in the rapid extinction of the three species of terrestrial mammals native to Mallorca, the dwarf goat-antelope Myotragus balearicus, the giant dormouse Hypnomys morpheus, and the shrew Nesiotites hidalgo, all three of which had been continuously present on Mallorca for over 5 million years. The island's prehistoric settlements are called talaiots or talayots. The people of the islands raised Bronze Age megaliths as part of their Talaiotic culture. A non-exhaustive list of settlements is the following:
Capocorb Vell (Llucmajor municipality)
Necròpoli de Son Real (east of Can Picafort, Santa Margalida municipality)
Novetiforme Alemany (Magaluffa, Calvià, Miconio)
Poblat Talaiòtic de S'Illot (S'Illot, Sant Llorenç des Cardassar municipality)
Poblat Talaiòtic de Son Fornés (Montuïri municipality)
Sa Canova de Morell (road to Colònia de Sant Pere, Artà municipality)
Ses Païsses (Artà municipality)
Ses Talaies de Can Jordi (Santanyí municipality)
S'Hospitalet Vell (road to Cales de Mallorca, Manacor municipality)
Phoenicians, Romans, and Late Antiquity
The Phoenicians, a seafaring people from the Levant, arrived around the eighth century BC and established numerous colonies. The island eventually came under the control of Carthage in North Africa, which had become the principal Phoenician city. After the Second Punic War, Carthage lost all of its overseas possessions and the Romans took over.
The island was occupied by the Romans in 123 BC under Quintus Caecilius Metellus Balearicus. It flourished under Roman rule, during which time the towns of Pollentia (Alcúdia), and Palmaria (Palma) were founded. In addition, the northern town of Bocchoris, dating back to pre-Roman times, was a federated city to Rome. The local economy was largely driven by olive cultivation, viticulture, and salt mining. Mallorcan soldiers were valued within the Roman legions for their skill with the sling (Balearic slingers).
In 427, Gunderic and the Vandals captured the island. Geiseric, son of Godigisel, governed Mallorca and used it as his base to loot and plunder settlements around the Mediterranean until Roman rule was restored in 465.