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The 'Azores' (,
IPA [] or []) are a
Portuguese archipelago in the
Atlantic Ocean, about 1,500 km (930 mi.) from
Lisbon and about 3,900 km (2,418 mi.) from the east coast of
North America. The westernmost island (
Flores) actually lies on the North American plate and is only 1,925 km (1,194 mi.) from
St. John's in the
Canadian province of
Newfoundland and Labrador. The Azores' most significant industry is tourism.
The nine major Azorean Islands and the eight small
Formigas extend for more than 600 km, and lie in a northwest-southeast direction. The vast extension of the islands defines an immense
exclusive economic zone of 1.1 million km². The westernmost point of this area is 3,380 km from the North American continent. All of the islands have volcanic origins, though Santa Maria also has some
reef contribution. The mountain of Pico on
Pico Island, at 2,351 m in altitude, is the highest in all of Portugal. The Azores are actually the tops of some of the tallest mountains on the planet, as measured from their base at the bottom of the ocean. The archipelago forms the 'Autonomous Region of Azores', one of the two
autonomous regions of Portugal.
Though it is commonly said that the archipelago is named after the
goshawk (''Açor'' in Portuguese), because it was supposed to be a common bird at the time of the discovery, the bird actually never existed on the islands. Some historians indicate the archaic Portuguese word "azures" (the plural of blue) because of the color of the islands when seen from afar (due to the profusion of
hydrangea bushes on each island). Most, however, insist that the name is derived from birds, pointing to a local subspecies of the
buzzard (''Buteo buteo''), as the animal the first explorers erroneously identified as goshawks.
History
Ancient map of the Azores Islands.
The islands were known in the fourteenth century and can be seen incompletely, for example, in the
Atlas Catalan. In
1427, one of the captains sailing for
Henry the Navigator rediscovered the Azores, possibly
Gonçalo Velho, but this is not certain. The
colonization of the then-unoccupied islands started in
1439 with people mainly from the continental provinces of
Algarve and
Alentejo. In
1583,
Philip II of Spain as king of Portugal, sent his combined Iberian fleet to clear the French traders from the Azores, decisively hanging his
prisoners-of-war from the yardarms and contributing to the "
Black Legend". The Azores were the second-to-last part of the Portuguese empire to resist Philip's reign over Portugal (
Macau being the last), Azores was returned to Portuguese control with the end of the
Iberian Union, not by the military efforts, as these were already in
Restoration War efforts in the mainland, but by the people attacking a well-fortified Castillian garrision (guarnición).
The
1820 civil war in Portugal had strong repercussions in the Azores. In
1829, in
Vila da Praia, the
liberals won over the
absolutists, making
Terceira Island the main headquarters of the new Portuguese regime and also where the Council of Regency (''Conselho de Regência'') of
Mary II of Portugal was established.
Beginning in
1868,
Portugal issued its stamps overprinted with "AÇORES" for use in the islands. Between
1892 and
1906, it also issued separate stamps for the three administrative districts of the time.
From
1836 to
1976, the archipelago was divided into three 'districts', quite equivalent (except in area) to those in the
Portuguese mainland. The division was arbitrary, and didn’t follow the natural island groups, rather reflecting the location of each district capital on the three main cities (neither of each on the western group).
★ 'Angra' consisted of Terceira, São Jorge, and Graciosa, with the capital at
Angra do Heroísmo on Terceira.
★ 'Horta' consisted of Pico, Faial, Flores, and Corvo, with the capital at
Horta on Faial.
★ 'Ponta Delgada' consisted of São Miguel and Santa Maria, with the capital at
Ponta Delgada on São Miguel.
During the
Second World War, in
1943, Portuguese dictator
António de Oliveira Salazar leased bases in the Azores to the British. This represented a change in policy. Previously the Portuguese government only allowed German U-boats and navy ships to refuel there.
[1]. This was a key turning point in the
Battle of the Atlantic, allowing the Allies to provide aerial coverage in the middle of the Atlantic. This helped them to hunt
U-boats and protect convoys.
In 1944, American forces constructed a small and short-lived air base on the island of Santa Maria. In 1945, a new base was founded on the island of Terceira and is currently known as
Lajes Field. It was founded in an area called Lajes, a broad, flat sea terrace that had been a farm. Lajes Field is a plateau rising out of the sea on the northeast corner of the island. This air force base is a joint American and Portuguese venture. Lajes Field continues to support US and Portuguese military operations. During the
Cold War, the US Navy
P-3 Orion anti-submarine squadrons patrolled the North Alantic for Soviet submarines and surface spy vessels. Since its inception, Lajes Field has been used for refuelling aircraft bound for Europe, and more recently, the Middle East. The US Army operates a small fleet of military ships in the harbor of
Praia da Vitória, three kilometers southeast of Lajes Field. The airfield also has a small commercial terminal handling scheduled and chartered passenger flights from other islands in the archipelago, Europe, and North America.
In
1976, the Azores became the Autonomous Region of the Azores (''Região Autónoma dos Açores''), one of the
Autonomous regions of Portugal, and the Azorean districts were suppressed.
Politics
Since becoming a Portuguese Autonomous Region, the executive section of the local authority has been located in Ponta Delgada, the legislative in Horta and the judicial in Angra do Heroísmo. The President of the Regional Government is
Carlos César.
Azorean politics are dominated by the two largest Portuguese political parties—
PSD and
PS, the latter holding a majority in the Regional Legislative Assembly. The
CDS/PP is also represented in the local parliament, in coalition with the PSD. Even though the PS dominates the administrative scene, the PSD is usually more popular in city and town council elections.
Municipalities
Pico viewed from Faial
Panoramic view near Sao Mateus,
Terceira, June 2004
The Azores are divided into nineteen municipalities (''concelhos''); each municipality is further divided into parishes (''freguesias''). The Azores have a total of 156 parishes.
There are also five cities:
Ponta Delgada and
Ribeira Grande on São Miguel Island;
Angra do Heroísmo and
Praia da Vitória on Terceira, and
Horta on Faial.
'
Angra'
★
Terceira
★
★
Angra do Heroísmo and
Vila da Praia da Vitória
★
Graciosa
★
★
Santa Cruz da Graciosa
★
São Jorge
★
★
Calheta and
Velas
'
Horta'
★
Pico
★
★
Lajes do Pico,
Madalena and
São Roque do Pico
★
Faial
★
★
Horta
★
Flores
★
★
Lajes das Flores and
Santa Cruz das Flores
★
Corvo
★
★
Corvo
'
Ponta Delgada'
★
Santa Maria
★
★
Vila do Porto
★
São Miguel
★
★
Lagoa,
Nordeste,
Ponta Delgada,
Povoação,
Ribeira Grande, and
Vila Franca do Campo.
Geography
The
archipelago is spread out in the area of the
parallel that passes through Lisbon (39º 43' / 39º 55' N), giving it a moderate climate, with mild annual oscillation. The average annual rainfall increases from east to west and ranges from 700 to 1600
mm. The
Azores high is named after the islands.
The archipelago lie in the
Palearctic ecozone, forming a unique
biome among the world's
Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, with many
endemic species of plants. The uniqueness of the islands gives them a very distinctive "look," somewhere between Ireland and Hawaii.
The nine islands have a total area of 2,355
km². Their individual areas vary between 759 km² (
São Miguel) and 17 km² (
Corvo). Three islands (São Miguel, Pico and Terceira) are bigger in size than
Malta (composed of three different islands), São Miguel Island alone being twice as big.
The nine islands are divided into three groups:
★ The Eastern Group (''Grupo Oriental'') of
São Miguel,
Santa Maria and
Formigas Islets
★ The Central Group (''Grupo Central'') of
Terceira,
Graciosa,
São Jorge,
Pico and
Faial
★ The Western Group (''Grupo Ocidental'') of
Flores and
Corvo.
The islands were formed during the
Tertiary period, in the Alpine phase. Their volcanic cones and craters reveal the volcanic origin of most islands.
Pico, a volcano that stands 2,351 meters high on the island of the same name, has the highest altitude in the Azores. The last volcano to erupt was the Capelinhos Volcano (''Vulcão dos Capelinhos'') in
1957, in western part of Faial island, increasing the size of that island. Santa Maria Island is the oldest Azorean island presenting several limestone and red clay extensions.
On
31 December 2002, the Azores' population was 238,767 at a density of 106 persons/
km².
Demographics
See also
★
Canary Islands
★
Cape Verde
★
Madeira
★
Macaronesia
★
Postage stamps and postal history of the Azores
References
1. The Role of Portugal - co-opting Nazi Gold, Jonathan Petropoulos, ''Dimensions'', , Vol 11, No 1, 1997
External links
★
Wikitravel
★
Overview of the Azores
★
Azores Tourism Board
★
Azores Travel Guide
★
Azores photography
★
Azores pictures
★
History from an American Military source
★
Photos from Azores
★
Azores Paper Money
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