Cayo Sal (Los Roques)
Island in Venezuela
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cayo Sal[1] (alternatively also called Salki)[2] is the name of an island belonging to Venezuela[3] located in the western Caribbean Sea, which is part of the Los Roques Archipelago National Park,[4][5] and the Federal Dependencies of Venezuela. It also depends on the Autoridad Única de Área de los Roques (Los Roques Single Area Authority).
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Satellite view of Cayo Sal | |
 Interactive map of Cayo Sal | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Los Roques Archipelago, Lesser Antilles |
| Coordinates | 11°44′48″N 66°47′36″W |
| Archipelago | Los Roques Archipelago |
| Adjacent to | Caribbean Sea |
| Area | 220 ha (540 acres) |
| Administration | |
| Division | Federal Dependencies |
| Federal Entity | Federal Dependencies of Venezuela |
Cayo Sal is a long and narrow island of 2.2 square kilometers (220 hectares) that is part of the area of the archipelago designated as the "Zona Primitiva Marina (PM)" (Primitive Marine Zone) where tourism is permitted with certain restrictions, in addition to the so-called "Zona de interés histórico, cultural, arqueológico y paleontológico" (Zone of historical, cultural, archaeological, and paleontological interest) which includes islands considered to have a particular historical value. Tourist activities such as scuba diving are important on this cay.
Its less common name Salki or Salqui comes from a corruption of the English name Salt Key, literally Cayo Sal.
History
Cayo Sal is known for possessing some of the oldest pre-Columbian findings in the archipelago, which include tools and various clay objects, suggesting a human presence prior to Spanish colonization.
It receives its current name from the fact that the island served for the extraction of salt since the 16th century.[6]
The territory was integrated along with the rest of the cays and islands into the federal dependencies starting in 1938, and has been part of the national park since 1972; since then, it belongs to two zones simultaneously, the historical zone and the Primitive Marine zone.
Geography
Location
It is geographically located north of Venezuela, in the western part of the Caribbean Sea or Sea of the Antilles. Within the national park, it can be located south of the Ensenada or Bajos de los Roques. Other nearby cays are Dos Mosquises and Cayo Pelona (both located northwest of Cayo Sal). Given that the airport of Gran Roque is located at the opposite end of the park, it is one of the relatively more remote cays.