Tenerife (previously known and spelled as "Teneriffe" in English, before mass tourism adopted the Spanish spelling), a Spanish island, is the largest of the seven Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. The island's population is 852,945 (2006 census).
Santa Cruz de Tenerife is the second biggest city in the archipelago, the capital of the island and the head of the cabildo insular (island government); it is also officially co-capital of the autonomous community of the Canary Islands together with Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, with whom it shares governmental institutions such as Presidency, Parliament and ministries. The island is home to La Laguna University founded in 1792.
