El Hierro, nicknamed Isla del Meridiano (the "Meridian Island"), is the second-smallest and farthest-south and -west of the Canary Islands (an Autonomous Community of Spain), in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa, with a population of 10,968 (2019). Its capital is Valverde. At 268.51 square kilometres (103.67 sq mi), it is the second-smallest of the eight main islands of the Canaries.