[24] In 1418, two captains, João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira, while exploring the African coast in the service of Prince Henry the Navigator, were driven off course by a storm to an island which they named Porto Santo (English: "holy harbour") in gratitude for divine deliverance from a shipwreck.

Grain production began to fall and the ensuing crisis forced Henry the Navigator to order other commercial crops to be planted so that the islands could be profitable.

[33][34] Barbary corsairs from North Africa, who enslaved Europeans from ships and coastal communities throughout the Mediterranean region, captured 1,200 people in Porto Santo in 1617.

[38] Sugar plantations were replaced by vineyards, originating in the so-called ‘Wine Culture’, which acquired international fame and provided the rise of a new social class, the Bourgeoisie.

[citation needed] During the Great War on 3 December 1916, a German U-boat, SM U-38, captained by Max Valentiner, entered Funchal harbour on Madeira.

Determined to prevent an attempt to restore Charles to the throne, the Council of Allied Powers agreed he could go into exile on Madeira because it was isolated in the Atlantic and easily guarded.

[54] Madeira inhabits the extreme south of the Tore-Madeira Ridge, a bathymetric structure oriented along a north-northeast to south-southwest axis that extends for 1,000 kilometres (540 nmi).

[57][58] Madeira's mountaintops offer panoramic vistas of rugged terrain and the Atlantic Ocean, attracting hikers and nature enthusiasts seeking stunning views and challenging trails.

[59] Madeira island is at the top of a massive shield volcano that rises about 6 km (20,000 ft) from the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, on the Tore underwater mountain range.

The primitive volcanic foci responsible for the central mountainous area, consisted of the peaks: Ruivo (1,862 m), Torres (1,851 m), Arieiro (1,818 m), Cidrão (1,802 m), Cedro (1,759 m), Casado (1,725 m), Grande (1,657 m), Ferreiro (1,582 m).

At the end of this eruptive phase, reefs encircled the island, its marine vestiges evident in a calcareous layer in the area of Lameiros, in São Vicente.

[66] Based on differences in sun exposure, humidity, and annual mean temperature, clear variations distinguish north- and south-facing regions, as well as some islands.

In the south, little is left of the indigenous subtropical rainforest that once covered the island[citation needed] (the original settlers set fires to clear the land for farming) and named it (madeira means "wood" in Portuguese).

[citation needed] Madeira is an Outermost Region (OMR) of the European Union, meaning that due to its geographical situation, it is entitled to derogation from some EU policies.

The Madeira Military Zone is the Portuguese Army's command for ground forces stationed in the islands, centering on the 3rd Garrison Regiment based at Funchal.

[88][89][90][91] To support search and rescue, the Portuguese Air Force maintains a staging base on Porto Santo Island incorporating detachments of C-295 aircraft and Merlin helicopters.

[92] Administratively, Madeira is divided into fifty four parishes and eleven municipalities:[93] Madeirans migrated to the United States, Venezuela, Brazil, Guyana, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, South Africa and Trinidad and Tobago.

In the late 1830s physician and Presbyterian minister Reverend Robert Reid Kalley, from Scotland made a stop at Funchal, Madeira on his way to a mission in China, with his wife, so that she could recover from an illness.

By 1846, about 1,000 Protestant Madeirenses, who were discriminated against and the subjects of mob violence because of their religious conversions, chose to immigrate to Trinidad and elsewhere in the West Indies in answer a call for sugar plantation workers.

Gonsalves was then charged with escorting the exiles from Trinidad to settle in Sangamon and Morgan counties in Illinois on land purchased with funds raised by the American Protestant Society.

According to figures from the 1990s, around 70% of the Portuguese diaspora in that country was made up of Madeirans and their descendants, initially dedicated to activities such as agriculture, but later, due to the lack of government support, the emigrants concentrated on commerce[110] in the large Venezuelan cities.

“Nationals from Venezuela (19.7%), the United Kingdom (11.8%), Germany (9.4%) and Brazil (9.2%) continue to represent the main foreign communities in the region[111]”, according to the DREM (Madeira Statistics Department).

Madeira Regional Government President Miguel Albuquerque confirmed the inauguration of a business hub focused solely on Bitcoin and related innovations.

Speaking in a dialogue with Prince Filip Karađorđević of Serbia at Bitcoin Amsterdam 2023, he framed the move as a significant step toward technological advancements and international partnerships.

[114] The Madeira International Business Center (MIBC) free trade zone has led to additional infrastructure, production shops and essential services for small and medium-sized industrial enterprises.

Available data demonstrates that this programme aided the local labor market, through the creation of qualified jobs and for professionals who have returned to Madeira; increased productivity; expanded business tourism from the visits of investors and their clients and suppliers, and other sectors such as real estate.

[127] In the first half of 2022, 33% of the electricity consumed on the Portuguese archipelago of Madeira was sourced from renewable energy, a milestone achieved through a collaborative initiative co-funded by the European Union (EU).

[132] Two weeks after they disembarked from the SS Ravenscrag in late August 1879, the Hawaiian Gazette reported that "Madeira Islanders recently arrived here, have been delighting the people with nightly street concerts.

These are so integral a part of traditional eating habits that a special iron stand is available with a T-shaped end, each branch of the "T" having a slot in the middle to hold a brochette (espeto in Portuguese); a small plate is then placed underneath to collect the juices.

The dish is made of pork which marinates for three days in white wine, vinegar, salt, and pepper and is then cooked with small potatoes, sliced carrots, and turnip.