Azores Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
The Azores (or Açores in Portuguese) are an archipelago of Portuguese islands situated in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, about 1,500 km from Lisbon and about 3,900 km from the east coast of North America.
The nine Azorean Islands extend for more than 600 km, and are guided in the northwest - Southeastern direction. The vast extension of the islands defines an immense exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of 1,1 million square kilometers. The most western point of this area is 2100 miles from the North American continent.
Even if Portugal is a unitary nation, the Azorean Islands are granted with a autonomous region. Sometimes visitors confuse the islands to be a Portuguese dependency or a country, which can sometimes be seen as offensive by the locals.
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2 Politics 3 Municipalities 4 Geography 5 Demographics 6 See also |
In 1427, one of the captains sailing for Henry the Navigator discovered the Azores, possibly Gonçalo Velho, but this is not certain.
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.
Angra consisted of Terceira, São Jorge, and Graciosa, with the capital at Angra do Heroismo 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.
From 1938 to 1978, the archipelago was divided into three districts, quite equivalent (except in area) to those in the Portuguese mainland. The division was quite 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).
In 1978 the Azores became an Autonomous Region and the Azorean districts (Angra, Horta, Ponta Delgada) were suppressed.
The Azores is a Portuguese Autonomous Region since 1976, the executive section of the autonomy is located in Ponta Delgada, the legislative in Horta and the judicial in Angra do heroísmo. The President of the Azorean Autonomous Region is Carlos Cesar.
The Azores are divided in 19 municipalities (concelhos), each municipality is further divided into parishes (freguesias). The Azores has a total of 156 parishes.
There are also 5 cities: Ponta Delgada and Ribeira Grande in São Miguel Island; Angra do Heroísmo and Praia da Vitória in Terceira, and Horta in Faial.
Santa Maria
History
Politics
Municipalities
Terceira
Graciosa
São Jorge
Pico
Faial
Flores
Corvo
Geography
| Azorean islands by size | ||
|---|---|---|
| island | size (km²) | |
| São Miguel Island | 759 | |
| Pico Island | 446 | |
| Terceira Island | 403 | |
| São Jorge Island | 246 | |
| Faial Island | 173 | |
| Flores Island | 143 | |
| Santa Maria Island | 97 | |
| Graciosa Island | 62 | |
| Corvo Island | 17 | |
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 Azores had a population of 238,767 in 31 December 2002 and a population density of 106 persons/km².
| Azorean islands by population | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| island | population (2002) | main city/town | Muncicipalities |
| São Miguel Island | 130,154 | Ponta Delgada | 6 |
| Terceira Island | 54,996 | Angra do Heroísmo | 2 |
| Pico Island | 14,579 | Madalena | 3 |
| Faial Island | 14,934 | Horta | 1 |
| São Jorge Island | 9,522 | Velas | 2 |
| Santa Maria Island | 5,490 | Vila do Porto | 1 |
| Graciosa Island | 4,708 | Santa Cruz da Graciosa | 1 |
| Flores Island | 3,949 | Santa Cruz das Flores | 2 |
| Corvo Island | 435 | Vila do Corvo | 1 |