The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The four largest islands are: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza, and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain with Palma as the capital city. The co-official languages in the Balearic Islands are Catalan and Spanish. The main islands of the autonomous community are Majorca (Mallorca), Menorca (Menorca), Ibiza (Eivissa) and Formentera, all of which are popular tourist destinations. Among the minor islands is Cabrera, which is the location of the Parc Nacional de l’Arxipèlag de Cabrera. The islands can be further grouped, with Majorca, Menorca, and Cabrera as the Gymnesian Islands, and Ibiza and Formentera as the Pine Islands.
The Greek and Roman writers generally derive the name of the people from their skill as slingers, although Strabo considered the name to be of Phoenician origin. He observed that it was the Phoenician equivalent for the Greek word for lightly armoured soldiers.
The island of Minorca was a British dependency for most of the 18th century as a result of the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. This treaty, signed by the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Portugal as well as the Kingdom of Spain to end the conflict caused by the War of the Spanish Succession, gave Gibraltar and Minorca to the Kingdom of Great Britain, Sardinia to Austria (both territories were part of the Crown of Aragon for more than four centuries), and Sicily to the House of Savoy. In addition, Flanders and other European territories of the Spanish Crown were given to Austria. The island fell to French forces, under Armand de Vignerot du Plessis in June 1756 and was occupied by them for the duration of the Seven Years War. The British re-occupied the island after the war but it fell during the American War of Independence to a Franco-Spanish force after a seven-month siege (1781/2). Spain retained it under the Treaty of Paris in 1783. However during the French Revolutionary Wars when Spain became an ally of France they returned.
Minorca was finally returned to Spain by the Treaty of Amiens during the French Revolutionary Wars, following the last British occupation, which lasted from 1798 to 1802. British naval forces however meant the Balaerics were never occupied by the French in the Napoleonic Wars.
