Altamura Island

Altamura Island (Isla Altamura or de Altamura) is an island of México, in the Gulf of California. It is located in the bahía de Santa María, on the west coast of the state of Sinaloa, southwest of Saliaca Island, separated by an area of shallow water. It is located 70 km west of Culiacán. Its area is 101.17 km2, and it is approximately 40 km long, while its width ranges from 900 m to 3.7 km. It is one of the largest private islands in the world.

It is a barrier island with open beaches and large sand dunes. In the southern part there are intertidal zones made of silt, clay, sand and gravel; in the remaining part of the island there is coastline, as well as large dunes of sand in the northwestern part.

It is part of the bahía de Santa María complex, and there is a great variety of marine life, migratory birds and even whales.

History
The current name of the island occurs for the first time inside Mexico newspaper El Siglo Diez y Nueve dated November, 11th 1854 and, in particular, inside a geographical account given by an unknown correspondent based in Guyamas: "To conclude this article, I mention the beautiful island of Altamura, located between the mouths of the Culiacan rivers and the Mocrilo stream, an island that does not appear in any of the maps of Mexico that my hands have been able to reach so far. I also noticed the same omission in the nautical charts of this part of the coast of our territory, despite Altamura being the largest island of the Tres Marías [the three islands of Bahìa de Santa Maria] and also of those of Socorro, which are also part of Mexico, even if unhabited. The island of Altamura is rich in fine woods, drinking water and pastures: some cattle farms in the Culiacan district have populated it with their livestock. Guaymas, 27 September 1854"

- El Siglo Diez y Nueve, p. 3

From the account given by the unknown correspondent, it can be inferred that as of September, 27th 1854 the island didn't appear in any of the maps examined. A few hypotheses have recently been suggested about the origin of the island's name, which is formally identical to that of the city of Altamura, Italy. In particular, on an ancient map dated 1579 by Abraham Ortelius, occurs the name Atamirato which might be a pre-existing name given by the Indigenous people of Mexico or it may have derived from Altamira, which was also common as a surname of nobles. This name allegedly became "Altamura" and, in this respect, it's worth noting the presence in the area of Mexico in front of the island of Italian missionaries in the 17th century and 18th century centuries. The work Bibliothecae Dominicanae (1677) by Italian Dominican Ambrogio del Giudice (nicknamed "Altamura") may also have played a role in the current name of the island since the book provided accounts of some religious people who evangelized or lived in Mexico.