Largest Islands of Portugal

Geography

The Northern Coastal Platform – located along the northeastern portion of the island, and marks a zone of relatively moderate topography, limited by the coast to the north and the northern crater rims of Furnas and Povoação volcanoes to the south.

São Miguel comprises six volcanic zones; all are Quaternary in age except the last, which is partly Pliocene.

History

In 1427, São Miguel became the second of the islands discovered by Gonçalo Velho Cabral to be settled by colonists from continental Portugal. This date is uncertain, as it is believed that the island was discovered between 1426 and 1437 and inscribed in portolans from the middle of the 15th century. Its discovery was later recorded by Father Gaspar Frutuoso in the seminal history of the Azores, Saudades da Terra, as he began: "This island of São Miguel where...we are, is mountainous and covered in ravines, and it was, when we discovered it, covered in trees...due to its humidity, with its water showers and ravines warm with sun..."

Geography

The Madeira archipelago is located 520 km (280 nmi) from the African coast, 805 km (430 nmi) from the closest point in the European coast (the Portuguese town of Sagres, in Algarve) and 1,000 km (540 nmi) from the capital of Portugal, Lisbon (approximately a one-and-a-half-hour flight). Madeira inhabits the extreme south of the Madeira-Tore Rise, a bathymetric structure oriented along a north-northeast to south-southwest axis that extends for 1,000 kilometres (540 nmi). This structure consists of long geomorphological relief that extends from the abyssal plain to 3,500 m (11,500 ft); its highest submerged point reaches a depth of about 150 m (490 ft) (around latitude 36°N).

History

Plutarch in his Parallel Lives (Sertorius, 75 AD) referring to the military commander Quintus Sertorius (d. 72 BC), relates that after his return to Cádiz, he met sailors who spoke of idyllic Atlantic islands: "The islands are said to be two in number separated by a very narrow strait and lie 10,000 furlongs [2,000 km] from Africa. They are called the Isles of the Blessed."

Archaeological evidence suggests that the islands may have been visited by the Vikings sometime between 900 and 1030.

Accounts by Muhammad al-Idrisi state that the Mugharrarin ("the adventurers" – seafarers from Lisbon) came across an island where they found "a huge quantity of sheep, the meat of which was bitter and inedible" before going on to the more inhabited Canary Islands (now a territory of Spain).

Demographics

In 2023, 94.5% of the population of Madeira were born in Portugal; the total Madeiran population was 256,622.

Madeirans migrated to the United States, South Africa, Venezuela, Brazil, Guyana, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Curaçao and Trinidad and Tobago. Madeiran immigrants in North America mostly clustered in New England and mid-Atlantic states, Toronto, Northern California, and Hawaii. The city of New Bedford is especially rich in Madeirans, and it hosts the Museum of Madeira Heritage. The city's annual Feast of the Blessed Sacrament, initiated in 1915 by four immigrants from Madeira, is the world's largest celebration of Luso-American heritage, regularly drawing crowds of tens of thousands to New Bedfor's Madeira Field.

Economy

The gross domestic product (GDP) reached nearly 7.5 billion euros in 2024, accounting for 2.6% of Portugal's economic output. GDP per capita was of 29,012 euros or 73% of the EU27 average. The GDP per employee was 71% of the EU average.

Madeira embraced Bitcoin by implementing policies that exempt Bitcoin investors from paying personal income taxes in the region. Madeira Regional Government President Miguel Albuquerque confirmed the launching of a business hub focused solely on Bitcoin and related innovations.

Geography

The island is 17.5 km south of São Jorge and just 7 km east of Faial, in the Central Group of islands, an area that is colloquially known as O Triângulo (The Triangle). Pico is 46.3 kilometers long, and at its maximum extent about 16 kilometers wide; making it the second largest of the Azores islands. The 151.8 km coastline is slightly indented with inlets and coves. Accessibility to the sea poses no difficulties, except in sections with plunging, unstable cliffs, subject to frequent landslides (as seen in the northeast and southeast). Seabirds find favorable conditions for nesting in these habitats, in particular the species of Tern (Sterna hirundo and Sterna dougallii) and Shearwater (Calonectris borealis).

History

The exact date of the island's discovery is not known. However, in the 1375 Catalan Atlas, Pico is depicted along several other islands of the Azores, where it is labelled as li colunbj. In Cristoforo Soligo's map from 1475, Pico is described both as Dom Diniz (or São Diniz) island and as Insula Columbi.

Although the Azores were inhabited since 1439, settlement on Pico only started in the 1480s when Pico became part of the neighboring island of Faial's control. Pico is thought to be the last of the islands of the Central Group to be occupied.

Economy

Historically, Pico was largely dependent on Faial for its economic, political and social activities, and it still is to this day, although mitigated by the entrepreneurial dynamics of its population and by the centralities created by the autonomous regime. The close relations with the neighboring island are still established in the maritime routes that cross the channel daily. Fishing is one of the main activities of the primary sector, namely the capture of tuna for the canning industry, which mainly employs female labor in the processing of fish. Dairy farms supply raw material to the various cheese factories, whose product is highly appreciated for its artisanal characteristics (soft paste).

Sustainable tourism

In 2012, Pico received the QualityCoast Gold Award for its efforts to become a sustainable tourism destination. Because of this award, Pico was selected for inclusion in the global atlas for sustainable tourism DestiNet.

Geology and Geography

Terceira island is an active volcanic island, that is composed of several older extinct volcanoes. The highest point of Terceira is 1021 m, formed by the summit of the dormant Santa Barbara volcano, known as the Serra de Santa Bárbara.

Cinco Picos Volcanic Complex: the oldest on Terceira (defined by the Serra do Cume), which completed its main sub-aerial activity by about 370–380,000 years ago. Collapse of the upper part of the stratovolcanic edifice formed an enormous 7 by 9 kilometres (4 by 6 miles) caldera about 370,000 years ago.

History

There is some uncertainty in the date and the discoverer of the Azores. Nautical charts before the "official" discovery identified islands in the Atlantic Ocean as early as 1325, when a chart by Angelino Dalorto identified "Bracile" west of Ireland, and later one by Angelino Dulcert which identifies the Canaries, and Madeira, along with mysterious islands denominated as "Capraria" (which some historians suggest were São Miguel and Santa Maria).

Economy

The main economic activity on the island is raising of livestock and the production of dairy-based products. The island has two main sea ports, one at Angra do Heroísmo and the other at Praia da Vitória, and a commercial airport integrated with the flight operations at Base Aérea nº 4 (in the community of Lajes).

Geography

The island is located in the southeast corner of the Azores archipelago, 100 kilometres (62 mi) south of São Miguel, and 600 kilometres (370 mi) from the island of Flores (the westernmost island in the archipelago). The island of Santa Maria is oblong and measures 97.4 square kilometres (37.6 sq mi), extending 12 km (7 mi) from the northwest to southeast. Geologically, it is the oldest island in the archipelago, with formations that are 8.12 million years old. The island emerged during the Miocene (approximately 10-8 million years ago), with volcanic activity extending until the Pliocene (2 millions year ago), alternating between phases of effusive and explosive, sub-aerial and submarine eruptions.

History

The first records of a group of islands in the Atlantic (aside from the legends of Atlantis) came from the voyages of Portuguese sailors during the reigns of King Denis (1279–1325) and his successor King Afonso IV (1325–1357). These were unsubstantiated accounts and unofficial, until 1427 when navigator Diogo de Silves found the island of Santa Maria (at that time referred to on nautical charts as Ilha dos Lobos or Ilha do Ovo) during his journey to Madeira. Myth tells that on the day of the island's discovery, Gonçalo Velho Cabral and his crew were celebrating mass (on the feast day of the Virgin Mary), when one of the lookouts spotted the distant island, declaring "Santa Maria": this name would become linked permanently to the island.

Economy

The island's economy passed through much of the cyclical evolution associated with the Azores. Initially, the economy was based on the production of wheat and woad, until the 16th century, evolving slowly to a subsistence economy based on cereal crops. This was also a period of pottery production, and export of the fine red clay to artisans on São Miguel (for the production of the same).

Generally isolated from the traffic between the New World and Europe, the island depended heavily on agriculture until the 20th century, when the U.S. military established the airport in Ginjal. It became an international link after 1944, taking on a central position in trans-Atlantic air traffic during the mid-20th century.

Tourism

Tourists generally favour the white sand beaches and rock pools in the communities of Anjos (Vila do Porto), Praia Formosa (Almagreira), Maia (Santo Espírito) and São Lourenço (Santa Bárbara). Praia Formosa, in particular, is known on the island for its white sand beach that stretches across the bay. In the remaining locales, the original natural rock pools have been replaced by concrete pools with seawater access.