Minorca (Menorca both in Catalan and Spanish and increasingly in English usage) is one of the Balearic Islands (Illes Balears Catalan official name, Islas Baleares in Spanish), located in the Mediterranean Sea, and belonging to Spain.
The island was conquered by Alfonso III of Aragon on January 17, 1287, Minorca's national day. It became for some 70 years a British dependency (and naval base) in the 18th century.
Spanish forces defeated British forces and captured the island on February 5, 1782.
Famous megalithic stone monuments: navetes and talaiots.
See also: sobrassada (typical sausage with paprika), gin (strong liquor, a vestige of the British period), Maó cheese (original cheese of the island).
The major towns are Ciutadella and Maó.
The island is administratively divided into these municipalities:
- Alaior
- Es Castell (Spanish Villacarlos)
- Ciutadella (Spanish Ciudadela), previously the capital of Minorca
- Ferreries
- Maó, the capital of Minorca and the city from which mayonnaise gets its name (English Mahon, Spanish Mahón), became the capital because of its deep-water harbour
- Es Mercadal
- Es Migjorn Gran or Es Mitjorn Gran (Spanish Sant Cristóbal but now little used) hometown of Joan Riudavets
- Sant Lluís
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