Alcatraz Island is an island located in the middle of San Francisco Bay in California, United States. Alcatraz is located at coordinates 37 ° 49 'N 122 ° 25' west. Alcatraz is a former military fortress and then made a tight-security prison. Now he is a historical site managed by the US National Park Service as the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and is open to tourists. The island is listed as National Historic Sites.
Land area is 0.0763 square kilometers. According to the 2000 census the island is not inhabited.
The first European to discover the island was Juan Manuel de Ayala. The name of the island is derived from the Spanish word (taken from the Arabic word) meaning pelicans. The name of this island is nicknamed "The Rock" (Rock).
In this place there is also the oldest lighthouse still in operation in the US West Coast. Now the place is a colony of sea birds, usually gulls west, Cormorant, gannet and egrets. From this island one can see the beautiful scenery along the coast of San Francisco. The island is also the starting point game Fleeing from Alcatraz triathlon
