Everything about The Azores totally explained
The
Azores ( or [ɐˈsoɾʃ]) is a
Portuguese archipelago in the
Atlantic Ocean, about 1,500 km (950
mi) from
Lisbon and about 3,900 km (2,400 mi) from the east coast of
North America. The two westernmost Azorean islands (
Flores and
Corvo) actually lie on the North American plate and are only 1,925 km (1,200 mi) from
St. John's in the
Canadian province of
Newfoundland and Labrador. The Azores' most significant industries are tourism, cattle raising for milk and meat, and fishing.
The nine major Azorean Islands and the eight small
Formigas extend for more than, and lie in a north west-south east 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 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 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's commonly said that the archipelago is named after the
goshawk (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 "" (the plural of blue) because of the colour of the islands when seen from afar. Most, however, insist that the name is derived from birds, pointing to a local subspecies of the
buzzard, as the animal the first explorers erroneously identified as goshawks.
History
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 isn't 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 fleet to clear the Azores of a combined multinational force of adventurers, mercenaries, volunteers and soldiers who were attempting to establish the Azores as a staging post for a rival
pretender to the Portuguese throne. Following the success of his fleet at the
Battle of Ponta Delgada, the captured enemy were hung from yardarms, as they were considered pirates by Philip II (this was added to the "
Black Legend" by his enemies). 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 professional military, which were used in the
Restoration War in the mainland, but by local people attacking a fortified
Castilian garrison .
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 of
Mary II of Portugal was established.
Beginning in 1868,
Portugal issued its stamps overprinted with "" 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.. 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 north east 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 Atlantic 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 - probably
Maritime Prepositioning Ships - in the harbour of
Praia da Vitória, three kilometres (2 mi) south east 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, 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. Even though the PS dominates the administrative scene, the PSD is usually more popular in city and town council elections.
Municipalities
The Azores are divided into nineteen municipalities ; each municipality is further divided into parishes . The Azores have a total of 156 parishes.
Angra
Terceira
Graciosa
São Jorge
Pico
Faial
Flores
Corvo
Santa Maria
São Miguel
Cities
There are fives cities in the Azores: Ponta Delgada and Ribeira Grande on São Miguel Island; Angra do Heroísmo and Praia da Vitória on the island of Terceira, and Horta on the island of Faial. Three of these Ponta Delgada, Angra and Horta are considered capital cities in the regional government, homes to the President (Ponta Delgada), the Judiciary (Angra) and the Regional Assembly (Horta).
Geography
The archipelago is spread out in the area of the parallel that passes between through Lisbon (39° 43' / 39° 55' N) and 37° N, giving it a tepid oceanic subtropical climate, with mild annual oscillation. The average annual rainfall increases from east to west and ranges from 700 to 1600 annual millimetres (27.6–63 in) on average, reaching in Pico mountain (the highest Portuguese mountain at ). The Azores high is named after the islands. Formigas (the Portuguese word for "ants") islands also called as Dollabarat Reefs, has very nice and rich maritime fauna, being like a swimming pool on the middle of the ocean, on which also grows exotic species as the black coral and swims jamantas, sharks, sea turtles and thousands of other different creatures.
The archipelago lie in the Palearctic ecozone, forming a unique biome the macaronesian subtropical laurissilva, with many endemic species of plants. The uniqueness of the islands gives them a very distinctive aspect.
The nine islands have a total area of . Their individual areas vary between São Miguel's and Corvo's . 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 of São Miguel, Santa Maria and Formigas Islets
The Central Group of Terceira, Graciosa, São Jorge, Pico and Faial
The Western Group of Flores and Corvo.
Geology
The islands are located atop an active triple junction between three large tectonic plates: the North American Plate, the Eurasian Plate and the African Plate. Volcanism associated with the formation of the islands arises from the fact that the Azores Triple Junction involves rifting, a process whereby the crust is spreading along three ridge legs radiating out from the triple junction. The volcanism is also related to the Azores hotspot. The islands began forming during the Tertiary period. Pico, a volcano that stands high on the island of the same name, has the highest altitude in the Azores.
The last volcano to erupt was the Capelinhos Volcano 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.
The Gruta das Torres, Algar do Carvão, Gruta do Natal, Gruta das Cinco Ribeiras are some of the many caves of the Azores.
Demographics
On 31 December 2002, the Azores' population was 238,767 at a density of .
Ethnic groups
Portuguese, descendants of 15th century immigrants from Algarve (Southern Portugal) and from the Minho (Northern Portugal), with a minor Dutch admixture (particularly from Flanders).
Since the 17th century, many of them emigrated, mainly to Brazil, the USA and Canada.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Azores'.
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