Madeira Caldeirão do Inferno", which should not be attempted by hikers prone to vertigo or without torches and helmets. The "Levada do Caniçal" is a much easier walk, running from Maroços to the "Caniçal Tunnel". It is known as the "mimosa levada", because "mimosa" trees, (the colloquial name for invasive acacia) are found all along the route. Administratively, Madeira (with a population of 267,302 inhabitants in 2011) and covering an area of is organised into eleven municipalities: Funchal is the capital and principal city of the Autonomous Region of Madeira, located along the southern coast of the island of Madeira. It
Madeira the new settlers observed "a heavy black cloud suspended to the southwest." Their investigation revealed it to be the larger island they called Madeira. The first Portuguese settlers began colonizing the islands around 1420 or 1425. 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. These specialised plants, and their associated industrial technology, created one of the major revolutions on the islands and fuelled Portuguese industry. Following the introduction of the first water-driven sugar mill on Madeira, sugar production increased to