AZORES or WESTERN ISLANDS, an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, belonging to Portugal. Area, 92 2sq.m. ; pop.
The islands extend from north-west to south east, between 36° 55' and
55' N., and between 25° and 31° 16' W. They are divided into three widely severed groups, rising from a depth of more than 21m. The south-eastern group consists of St. Michael's (Sao Miguel) and St. Mary (Santa Maria), with Formigas; the central, of Fayal (Faial), Pico, St. George (Sao Jorge), Terceira and Graciosa; the north-western, of Flores and Corvo. The nearest continental land is Cape da Roca in Portugal, which lies Boom. east of St. Michael's. Thus the Azores are fur ther from the mainland than any group of Atlantic islands. In general characteristics all the component islands are very similar, rising steeply from scree-lined shores to heights reaching 7,613f t. (in Pico). Their volcanic nature is obvious, and has been shown by the numerous earthquakes and basaltic eruptions since their discovery. In 1522, the town of Villa Franca, at that time capital of St. Michael's, was buried during a violent convulsion.
The climate is particularly temperate. The range of the thermometer is from 45° F, the lowest known extreme, or 48°, the ordinary lowest extreme of January, to 82°, the ordinary, or 86°, the highest known extreme of July, near the level of the sea. Winds from the west and south-west render the navigation of the coasts very dangerous.
The mammalia of the Azores are limited to the rabbit, weasel, ferret, rat (brown and black), mouse and bat, in addition to domestic animals. The game includes the wood cock, red partridge (introduced in the 16th century), quail and snipe. There are valuable fisheries of tunny, mullet and bonito. The porpoise, dolphin and whale are also common. Whale-fishing is a profitable industry, with its headquarters at Fayal, whence the sperm-oil is exported.
The general character of the flora is decidedly European. Vege tation in most of the islands is remarkably rich, especially in grasses, mosses and ferns, heath, juniper and a variety of shrubs. Of tall-growing trees there was, till the i 9th century, an almost total lack; but the Bordeaux pine, European poplar, African palm tree, Australian eucalyptus, chestnut, tulip-tree, elm, oak and many others, were then successfully introduced. The orange, apricot, banana, lemon, citron, Japanese medlar and pomegranate are the common fruits. A kind of fern (Dicksonia culcita), called by the natives cabellinho, furnishes a silky material for the stuff ing of mattresses and is exported to Brazil and Portugal. The principal seaports are Angra (pop. 1930, 10,642), Ponta Delgada (18,022) and Horta (7,663) .
The trade of the Azores, long a Portuguese monopoly, is now to a great extent shared by the United Kingdom and Germany, and is chiefly carried in British vessels. Textiles are imported from Portugal ; coal from Great Britain ; sugar from Germany, Madeira and the United States; stationery, hardware, chemicals, paints, oils, etc., from the United Kingdom and Ger many. The exports consist chiefly of fruit, wine, natural mineral waters and provisions. The trade in pineapples is especially im portant. Regular services of mails run to Portugal and other countries, and there are cables to Portugal, Ireland (Waterville), England and the continent, to America and to Cape Verde Islands. The largest and most populous of the Azores is St. Michael's, which has an area of 297sq.m., and in 1911 had 116,286 inhabit ants. Graciosa is noteworthy for the beauty of its scenery. Its chief towns are Santa Cruz de Graciosa (2,237) and Guadalupe (2,647) . The chief towns of St. George are Ribeira Seca (4,o91) and Velas (2,058). The inhabitants of the islands are mostly of Portuguese origin, with a well-marked strain of Moorish and Flemish blood. Negroes, mulattoes, English, Scottish and Irish immigrants are present in considerable numbers, especially in Fayal and St. Michael's. The predominant religion is the Roman Catholic, and the Azores constitute part of the ecclesiastical province of Lisbon. For purposes of military administration two line regiments of infantry and two battalions of garrison artillery are stationed in the islands.
does not appear that the Greeks and Romans had knowledge of the Azores, but from the number of their coins discovered in Corvo it has been supposed that the islands must have been visited by the Carthaginians. The Arabian geographers, Edrisi in the r2th century, and Ibn-al-Wardi in the 14th, describe, after the Canaries, nine other islands in the Western Ocean, which are in all probability the Azores, since the number of islands and the estimated position is correct ; and mention is made of the hawks or buzzards, which were sufficiently numerous at a later period to give rise to the present name (Port. Apr, a hawk) . The Azores are first found distinctly marked in a map of 1351. In a Catalan map of 1375 Corvo is found as Corvi Marini, and Flores as Li Conigi; while St. George is already designated San Zorze. In 1432 van der Berg—according to the usual ac count—was driven on the islands, and the news excited consider able interest at the court of Lisbon. The navigator, Gonzalo Velho Cabral—not to be confounded with his greater name sake, Pedro Alvarez Cabral—was sent to prosecute the dis covery. Another version relates that Prince Henry the Navi gator of Portugal had in his possession a map showing the islands, and that he sent out Cabral through confidence in its accuracy. Cabral reached the island, which he named Santa Maria, in 1432, and in 1444 took possession of St. Michael's. The other islands were all discovered by 1457. Colonization had meanwhile been going on prosperously ; and in 1466 Fayal was presented by Alphonso V. to his aunt, Isabella, the duchess of Burgundy. An influx of Flemish settlers followed, and the is lands became known for a time as the Flemish Islands. From 1580 to 1640 they were subject, like the rest of the Portuguese kingdom, to Spain. At that time the Azores were the grand rendezvous for the fleets on their voyage home from the Indies; and hence they became a theatre of that maritime warfare which was carried on by the English under Queen Elizabeth against the Peninsular powers. One such expedition, which took place in 1591, led to the famous sea-fight off Flores, between the English ship "Revenge," commanded by Sir Richard Grenville, and a Spanish fleet of 53 vessels. Under the active administration of the marquis de Pombal (1699-1782), considerable efforts were made for the improvement of the Azores, but the stupid and bigoted government which followed rather tended to destroy these benefits. Towards the beginning of the 19th century, the possession of the islands was contested by the claimants for the crown of Portugal. The adherents of the constitution, who sup ported against Miguel the rights of Maria (II.) da Gloria, ob tained possession of Terceira in 1829, where they succeeded in maintaining themselves, and after various struggles, Queen Maria's authority was established over all the islands. She re sided at Angra from 1830 to 1833.
Fernandez Duro, La Conquista de las Azores en Bibliography.-C. Fernandez Duro, La Conquista de las Azores en 1583 (1886) ; W. F. Walker, The Azores (i886) ; A. S. Brown, Ma deira and the Canary Islands, with the Azores (1901, new ed. 1922) ; J. Mees, Histoire de la decouverte des lies Azores et de l'origine de leur denomination d'iles f amandes (Ghent, 19o1) . For flora and fauna see H. Drouet, Elements de la faune acoreennes 0860, Mollusques marins des Iles Acores (1858), Lettres acoreennes (1862), and Cata logue de la fore des Iles Acores, etc. (1866) . See also British and American consular reports.
