Berbera Republic

Berbera is a constituent republic of Atlantic Commonwealth.

Berbera Republic
Island of La Gomera
Constituent Republic of Vekllei
Part of the Atlantic Commonwealth
Accession	2020, as part of the Canary Delegation
Area	369.76 km²
Capital	Sebastiana
Languages	English, Portuguese, Canarii Gomera
Population	35,461

The Berbera Republic is a constituent republic of Vekllei in the Atlantic Ocean, immediately west of Tenerife in the Canarii archipelago. The island is small and steep, with a central massif rising to nearly 1,500 metres. Its slopes are cut by deep barrancos that fall to the sea on all sides. Flat ground is scarce, and what there is has been farmed for thousands of years.

The Gomero people who originally settled the island are related to the Guanches of Tenerife but distinct from them. They developed Silbo Gomero, a whistled language that can carry a conversation across a valley that would take an hour to walk around. It is still taught in Berbera’s schools.

Portuguese colonisation arrived in the late 15th Century in the same fashion that unfolded elsewhere in the Canaries. The Gomeros already traded with Moroccan merchants and had some prior exposure to Christianity. Columbus called at Sebastiana on all four of his trans-Atlantic voyages to take on freshwater, timber and provisions, and the town has made rather more of this than the visits probably warrant. Canarii Gomera remains the daily language, with Silbo used where it is useful, and English taught in schools and used at work. Portuguese survives mainly among older households and in official paperwork.

The interior of the island is occupied by Garajonay National Park, a cloud forest of laurel, heath and tree fern, and one of the last remnants of the Macaronesian laurisilva that once covered much of southern Europe. It sits under cloud for most of the year and is cool even in summer. Around its edges are terraced smallholdings growing tropical fruit and avocado, and palm honey is produced by tapping the sap of Canary palms rather than keeping bees.

Berbera’s economy is pastoral and slow-moving even by Canary standards. A single rail line spirals down from the interior to Sebastiana, the island’s only significant port, and ferries run from there to the rest of the archipelago and to Tenerife’s capital at Añaza. There is an extensive network of walking trails between villages and through the national park, mostly following old Gomero paths, and walking is the main reason most visitors come.

Climate

Highly variable by altitude. The coast is warm and dry; the central forest is cool and perpetually misty. The northern slopes receive considerably more rainfall than the southern.

Public Holidays

• New Year’s Day 1 Jan
• Epiphany 6 Jan
• Good Friday
• Easter
• Commonwealth Day 1 May
• Canary Day 8 Jun
• Assumption Day 15 Aug
• Columbus Day 12 Oct
• All Saints Day 1 Nov
• Feast of Imm. Con. 8 Dec
• Christmas Day 25 Dec