The Guanches were the indigenous inhabitants of the Canary Islands, located in the Atlantic Ocean some 100 kilometres (60 mi) to the west of modern Morocco and the North African coast. The islanders spoke the Guanche language, which is believed to have been related to the Berber languages of mainland North Africa; the language became extinct in the 17th century, several generations after the completion of the conquest of the Canary Islands by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain.