2010 Population: 15,005 est. Martha's Vineyard, the largest resort island in New England, was formed by glacial action 10,000 years ago and lies 7 miles off the coast of Cape Cod. The Island is roughly shaped like a triangle with its base the straight south shore. It is 9 miles wide and 23 miles long at its furthest points and has a total land area of approximately 100 square miles. The Vineyard has 124.6 miles of tidal shoreline. There are 6 towns on Martha's Vineyard; three up-Island towns, Aquinnah (Gay Head), Chilmark and West Tisbury, and three down-Island towns, Vineyard Haven, Oak Bluffs and Edgartown. The terms "up-Island" and "down-Island" are nautical terms referring to longitude on a map. |