The military rule over the island which began from 1708 dissolved in 1859 and Puerto de Cabras (now Puerto del Rosario) became entirely the new capital.
The Canary Islands obtained the right to self-govern in 1912.
In 1927, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote became part of the province of Gran Canaria.
By the 1940s the island had an airport (just west of Puerto del Rosario on the road to Tindaya, still visible today).
Tourism arrived in the mid-1960s with the building of the present airport at El Mattoral and the first tourist hotels.
The seat of the island government (cabildo insular) is in Puerto del Rosario. A total of 74,983 people (2003) live on the island.
Since the island is close to Africa, many illegal immigrants try to enter the European Union through it, by a dangerous boat trip from Morocco
