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The Azores (Portuguese: Açores, pron. IPA or [) are an archipelago of Portuguese islands 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 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.

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, it 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. 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

In 1427, one of the captains sailing for Henry the Navigator discovered 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 the following centuries settlers from other European countries arrived, most notably from Northern France and Flanders. 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 Restauration war efforts in the mainland, but by the people attacking a well-fortified Castillian guarnition. There is also evidence that a significant number of seafarers from India, working for Portuguese merchant ships also settled in the Azores.

The 1820 civil war, in Portugal, had strong repercussion 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.

In 1976 the Azores became an Autonomous Region (Região Autónoma dos Açores) and the Azorean districts were suppressed.

In 2003 the Azores saw international attention when US President George W. Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and then Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar held a summit there in the days before the commencement of the Iraq War.*

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

The Azores are divided into 19 municipalities (concelhos); each municipality is further divided into parishes (freguesias). The Azores have a total of 156 parishes.

There are also 5 cities: Ponta Delgada and Ribeira Grande on São Miguel Island; Angra do Heroísmo and Praia da Vitória on Terceira, and Horta on Faial.

Santa Maria

São Miguel Terceira Graciosa São Jorge

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Azores".

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