Ibiza

Ibiza (iˈβiθa), natively and officially in Eivissa (əjˈvisə; see below), is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands. Its largest settlements are Ibiza Town (Vila d'Eivissa, or simply Vila), Santa Eulària des Riu, and Sant Antoni de Portmany. Its highest point, called Sa Talaiassa (or Sa Talaia), is above sea level. Ibiza is well known for its nightlife and electronic dance music club scene in the summer, which attract large numbers of tourists. The island's government and the Spanish Tourist Office have worked toward promoting more family-oriented tourism. Ibiza is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Ibiza and the nearby island of Formentera to its south are called the Pine Islands, or "Pityuses". The official, Catalan name is Eivissa (əjˈvisə). Its name in Spanish is Ibiza (iˈβiθa). In British English, the name is usually pronounced in an approximation of the Peninsular Spanish variant (aɪˈbiːθə,_ɪˈbiːθə ), whereas in American English the pronunciation is closer to the Latin American Spanish variant (ɪˈbiːzə , iːˈbiːsə , and so forth). Phoenician colonists called the island Ibossim or Iboshim (𐤀𐤉𐤁𐤔𐤌, , "Dedicated to Bes"). It was later known to Romans as Ebusus. The Greeks called the two islands of Ibiza and Formentera the Pityoûssai (Πιτυοῦσσαι, probably meaning "Pine-Covered Islands"). The Catalan name Pitiüses and the Spanish name Pitiusas retain this Greek root. In the 18th and 19th centuries the island was known to the British and especially to the Royal Navy as Ivica, possibly from an older Spanish ortography with . In 654 BC, Phoenician settlers founded a port on Ibiza. With the decline of Phoenicia after the Assyrian invasions, Ibiza came under the control of Carthage, also a former Phoenician colony. The island produced dye, salt, fish sauce (garum) and wool. A shrine with offerings to the goddess Tanit was established in the cave at Es Cuieram, and the rest of the Balearic Islands entered Eivissa's commercial orbit after 400 BC.