Madeira, officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira, is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal the other being the Azores. It is an archipelago situated in the north Atlantic Ocean, in a region known as Macaronesia, just under 400 kilometres to the north of the Canary Islands and 700 kilometres west of Morocco. Madeira is geographically located in the African Tectonic Plate, even though the archipielago is culturally, economically and politically European. The capital of Madeira is Funchal, which is located on the main island`s south coast. The island of Madeira is at the top of a massive shield volcano that rises about 6 km from the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, on the Tore underwater mountain range. It is the largest island of the group with a coastline of 150 km. It has a mountain ridge that extends along the centre of the island, reaching 1,862 metres at its highest point - Pico Ruivo. Madeira island is home to several endemic plant and animal species: in the south indigenous subtropical rainforests, in the north the valleys contain native trees of fine growth, named `laurisilva` designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. In these forests live species endemic of fauna: Madeiran wall lizard, Trocaz pigeon, Madeira firecrest. Madeira island, Portugal, Europe.
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