Beata Island

Beata
	Beata's shore
	Beata Beata Island (Dominican Republic)
Geography
Coordinates	17°34′42″N 71°30′42″W
Area	27 km2 (10 sq mi)
Administration
	Dominican Republic
Province	Pedernales Province
Demographics
Population	10 (2010)
Pop. density	0/km2 (0/sq mi)

Beata Island (Spanish: Isla Beata) is a small island on the Caribbean Sea, located 7 km (4 mi) southwest from Cape Beata. Some 12 km (7 mi) SW of it lies the smaller Alto Velo Island. It is part of the Dominican Republic and is roughly triangle-shaped and fairly flat, with an approximate area of 27 km² (10 sq mi).

History

Beata Island was discovered by Europeans during the second voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1494. Originally populated by Taíno natives, the island became a colonial asset of the greater Spanish Empire. The island was the site of various military engagements between the Spanish and roving pirates.

Geography

The landscape is somewhat varied, with mangrove swamps on parts of the North shore, sandy coves and beaches on the West coast. Most of the interior of the island is covered by various subtypes of xeric semi-deciduous limestone forests. Geologically, the island is basically made out of limestone, the erosion of which causes very jagged surfaces on exposed rocks (called diente de perro or dogtooth), and several sinkholes and cenotes. It has a large population of Rhinoceros Iguanas. Beata Island is currently unhabitated, save for short stays by fishermen from the mainland and a permanent Dominican military base with rotating personnel .

gollark: I did.

gollark: Assuming moderators can `/cf` other people's stuff, maybe Hydro was just happily going about banning me from his stuff (not requiring moderator powers), but accidentally stood in urn street and did that.

gollark: The coincidence of timing is possibly odd, given that I don't think I recently annoyed crazed too.

gollark: Anyway, since crazed appears to have *not* banned me from his other claims, perhaps hydro accidentally used magic mod powers to ban me from urn street or something.

gollark: Thanks to PotatOS Auto-Update, PotatOS users should receive the updated node.lua within about five minutes.

References

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