Bermuda

Bermuda or the Bermuda Islands (in English, Bermuda) is a British territory of overseas member of the Caribbean community located in an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean, off the east coast of the United States. The closest point on the American continent to the islands is Cape Hatteras in North Carolina, located 1,030 km to the northwest, while the city of Miami is 1,770 km to the southwest. The capital of Bermuda is Hamilton. It is one of the seventeen Non-Self-Governing Territories under the supervision of the United Nations Committee on Decolonization.

Bermuda was discovered in 1505 and claimed as part of the Spanish Empire by Huelva navigator Juan Bermúdez, after whom they were named. This sailor visited the islands on two occasions, but never set foot on land because he did not want to sail across the dangerous reef that surrounds the archipelago. In 1609 the Virginia Company, which had founded the colony of Virginia and the city of Jamestown on the mainland two years earlier, created a settlement on the islands after a hurricane washed away the crew of the ship Sea Venture to cross the reef and reach land.

Until 1614 Bermuda was administered by the Company as part of the territory of the Colony of Virginia, and from then until 1684 its successor, the Somers Island Company, did the same. That last year the company's license was revoked and the British crown took over the administration of the archipelago. In 1707, with the union of the parliaments of Scotland and England, creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the islands became a British colony. Since 1949, when the island of Newfoundland became part of Canada, Bermuda has been the oldest British Overseas Territory. Likewise, its first capital, the city of Saint George, is the longest inhabited British settlement in America.

Bermuda's economy is based on insurance and reinsurance, as well as tourism, thanks to which the inhabitants of the archipelago have enjoyed one of the highest per capita incomes in the world for more than a century. The islands have a subtropical climate and also form the northern peak of the famous Bermuda Triangle, a large maritime area in which, according to legend, numerous ships and planes have disappeared in unexplained circumstances.

History

Discovery

In the year 1505, the Spanish navigator Juan Bermúdez discovered the Bermuda Islands, which he named after his caravel, Garza. It is mentioned in the Legatio babylonica, published in 1511 by the historian Pedro Mártir de Anglería, and was also included in the Spanish maps of that year. Both the Spanish and the Portuguese used the islands as a place to stock up on fresh meat and water, but the legends of spirits and demons, now thought to have arisen from the shrill songs of birds (most likely the Bermuda petrel), along with the loud noise at night from the wild pigs and the constant state of storms (the first visitors arrived under these conditions) and a dangerous ring of reefs, prevented them from making any permanent settlement on Isla de los Diablos.

Some years later, a Portuguese ship on its way back from Santo Domingo ran aground between two rocks on the reef. The crew tried to salvage what they could and spent the next four months building a new Bermuda cedar hull before returning to their starting point.

English colonization

John Smith wrote one of Bermuda's first stories.

It is believed that, during the following century, the island was frequently visited but not permanently occupied. The first two English colonies in Virginia had failed, and a more determined effort was initiated by King James I of England (James VI of Scotland), who granted the Virginia company a royal charter. In 1609, a flotilla of ships left England under the command of company admiral George Somers and the new governor of Jamestown, Thomas Gates, to relieve the Jamestown colony, established two years earlier. Somers had previous experience sailing with Francis Drake and with Walter Raleigh. The flotilla was separated by a storm, and the flagship, the Sea Venture, was wrecked off Bermuda (as described on the territory's coat of arms), leaving the survivors in possession of a new territory.. (William Shakespeare's play The Tempest is believed to have been inspired by William Strachey's account of this shipwreck.) The island was claimed by the English crown, and the Charter of the Virginia Company was expanded to include it. Saint George was settled in 1612 and became the first capital of Bermuda. It is the oldest continuously inhabited English town in the New World.

In 1615, the colony was transferred to a new company, the Somers Isles Company (Somers Isles continues to be an official name for the colony, named after Admiral Somers, such as Gate's Bay and Fort Gates are named after Thomas Gates), formed by the same shareholders. The close ties to Virginia are commemorated even after the secession of Bermuda by references to the archipelago in many Virginia place names, such as Bermuda City and Bermuda Hundred. The first British coins in America were minted here.

Most of the survivors of the Sea Venture were brought to Jamestown in 1610 aboard two ships built in Bermuda. Among them was John Rolfe, who left a woman and child buried in Bermuda, but in Jamestown he married Pocahontas, daughter of Powhatan. Deliberate settlement in Bermuda began with the arrival of the Plough in 1612.

Colonial company

Due to its limited land area, Bermuda has had a hard time with overpopulation. In the first two centuries the solution relied on constant human emigration to keep the population manageable. It is often claimed that, prior to the American Revolution, more than 10,000 people from Bermudans (more than half the population) emigrated, mainly to the southern colonies of the Thirteen Colonies, where Britain was displacing Spain as an imperial power. European dominant. The steady trickle of emigration continued. Shipping was the only real industry, by the late 18th century at least a third of the islands' labor force was in the sea at any given time.

The small land area and limited resources of this archipelago led to the creation of what may be the oldest conservation laws in the New World. In 1616 and 1620, the acts prohibiting the hunting of certain birds and young turtles were approved. In 1649, the Civil War broke out in England and King Charles I was beheaded in Whitehall, London. The tension also degenerated into a civil war on the islands, which the militias aborted. This created a strong sense of devotion to the crown for most of the colonists and forced those who did not swear allegiance to the Crown, such as Puritans and Independents, into exile in the Bahamas.

In the 17th century, the Somers Isle Company suppressed shipbuilding, as it needed Bermuda as a farm in order to generate income from the land. However, agricultural production met with limited success. Bermuda cedar boxes for tobacco ships to England were reportedly worth more than their contents. The Virginia colony far exceeded Bermuda in the quality and quantity of tobacco produced. Bermuda began to resort to maritime operations relatively early in the 17th century, but the Somers's Island Company used all its authority to suppress the alienation of agriculture. This interference led the islanders to demand the revocation of the company's charter in 1684, at the time of its dissolution.

Maritime economy

Bermuda quickly abandoned agriculture in favor of shipbuilding, replanting agricultural fields with the native juniper species (Juniperus bermudiana, also called Bermuda cedar), the trees that grew abundantly throughout the island. Establishing effective control over the Turks, Bermudians deforested their landscape to initiate the salt trade, which would become the largest in the world, and would be the cornerstone of Bermuda's economy for the next century..

Bermuda's sailors and merchants, while more focused on the salt export trade, also engaged vigorously in whaling, piracy, and general maritime trade. Although the ships exploited traditional trade routes, they were also often used to engage any enemy vessel regardless of size or strength, resulting in many Bermudian ships being destroyed.

The Bermuda sloop quickly gained fame for its speed and maneuverability. The HSM Pickle was one of the fastest ships in the British Royal Navy, and was the one that brought the news of the victory at Trafalgar and the death of Admiral Nelson to England.

Fort Bermuda

Illustration of the Devonshire Reduct in Bermuda in 1614.

After the American Revolution, the British Royal Navy began to improve the ports and built the largest shipyard on the island of Ireland, in the west of the archipelago, remaining its main naval base in the Western Atlantic. During the War of 1812, the British attacks on Washington D.C. and the Chesapeake, which would lead to the writing of the American anthem, were planned and launched from Bermuda. It was here that British soldiers were summoned before being sent to attack Baltimore and Washington. In 1816, James Arnold, son of Benedict Arnold, fortified the shipyard against possible US attacks. Today the "Maritime Museum" it occupies the Old Royal Dockyard, including the Commissioner of the House of Representatives, and exhibits military history memorabilia from the base.

As a result of its proximity to the US southeast coast, Bermuda was regularly used by the Confederate States during the American Civil War to evade Union Navy ships and bring necessary goods south from England. The former Globe Hotel in St. George, which was a center of intrigue for Confederate agents, is preserved as a museum open to the public.

Economic and political development

Hamilton's port in 1926.

In the 20th century, with the development of modern transportation and communication systems, Bermuda became a popular destination for American, Canadian and British tourists arriving by sea. In addition, the Hawley Smoot Act -Law enacted by the United States against its trading partners in 1930- cut off the prosperity of Bermuda's agricultural export trade (mainly lilies and fresh vegetables to the US), stimulating the overseas territory to develop its tourism industry.

After several failed attempts, in 1930 the first plane arrived in Bermuda. It was a Stinson Detroiter flying boat flying from New York, which had to land in the ocean once due to darkness and then again to refuel. Navigation and weather forecasts improved in 1933, when the Royal Air Force established a station at Bermuda and operated float planes from the port, in coordination with the British fleet. In 1936 Lufthansa began experimenting with seaplane flights from Berlin via the Azores on to New York. In the 1930s, Imperial Airways and Pan American World Airways began regular seaplane operations from New York and Baltimore to Darrell's Island, Bermuda. In 1948, scheduled commercial aircraft service began at Kindley Field (now Bermuda International Airport), peaking with the help of tourism in the 1960s and 1970s. span style="font-variant:small-caps;text-transform:lowercase">XX, international business supplanted tourism as the dominant sector of Bermuda's economy.

The S.S. Queen of Bermuda in the port of Hamilton in 1953.

The Royal Navy Dockyard and operating military garrison remain an important component of Bermuda's economy into the 20th century< /span>. In addition to major works, the armed forces need food and other materials from local suppliers. Beginning with World War II, US military installations are also located in Bermuda.

Universal adult suffrage and the development of a two-party political system occurred in the 1960s. Prior to universal suffrage, adopted under the Bermuda Constitution in 1967, voting was based on property (see the 'Politics' section, below, and Bermuda policy). On March 10, 1973, then-Bermuda Governor Richard Sharples was assassinated by local Black Power militants during a period of civil unrest in the 1970s. In the early 20th century, as modern transportation and communication systems developed, Bermuda became a popular destination for Wealthy billionaire American, British and Canadian tourists. In addition, the tariff decreed by the United States in 1930 damaged agricultural export trade –mainly fresh vegetables with the United States– thereby stimulating the development of the tourism industry in the overseas territory, which, after international trade, is the second in economic importance of the island.

During World War II, Bermuda gained importance as a military base due to its strategic position on the Atlantic Ocean. In 1941, the United States signed a lend-lease agreement with the United Kingdom, giving the British surplus US Army destroyers in exchange for leasing rights for 99 years, to establish naval and air bases in Bermuda. The bases consisted of 5.8 square kilometers (2.25 sq mi) of land, much of it reclaimed from the sea. The US Naval Air Station was over Saint David Island, while its Annex was at the western end of the island, at Great Anchorage.

Since September 1, 1995, both bases were closed, as they were British and Canadian bases on the island. Unresolved issues about the 1995 withdrawal of US forces related primarily to environmental factors delayed the formal return of the lowlands to the Bermuda government. The United States formally returned their base lands in 2002.

In 1995 a referendum was held on the independence of Bermuda, in which this option was defeated.

Geography

Topographic map of Bermuda.

Bermuda's geography is full of diversity. It is made up of more than 150 islands, basically spread out in the Sargasso Sea. It is on the path of the Gulf Stream off the coast of "Las Carolinas" and extends over an area of 54 square kilometers.

Islands

Today Bermudas have become a tourist destination. In the picture, St. George.

The archipelago is made up of more than 150 islands, of which only six are the most important. Bermuda, Great Bermuda or Main Island, is the largest, 23 km long; Somerset; Ireland; Saint George's; Saint Davids, and Boaz. The formation of the islands is of volcanic origin and at the same time they present coral formations and are surrounded by submerged coral reefs, which tourists can observe when submerging in the very crystalline waters.

An English colony was established in 1609, when George Somers was shipwrecked with a group of colonists. Most of the islands of the archipelago are uninhabited. Locals and tourists occupy about 20 islands. The other islands are an incalculable natural treasure. The economic activities of this British territory take place, above all, within six islands. The main islands are:

• Bermuda Island
• Saint George
• Saint David
• Somerset
• Ireland
• Boaz

Hamilton is the capital of the Bermuda Islands and also serves as the main port and largest commercial center. Bermuda's geography features mostly volcanic mountains covered with corals. Underwater reefs are close to the islands of Bermuda. The coral lagoon is another interesting feature of the environment. The average height of the islands is around 80 meters above sea level.

Climate

Bermuda has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification: Cfa). The islands are warmed by the nearby Gulf Stream, and the low latitude. The islands can experience moderately cooler temperatures in January, February and March [an average of 17 °C (63 °F)]. There has never been snow, frost or freezing in Bermuda.

The summer heat index in Bermuda can be high, although mid-August temperatures rarely exceed 86 °F (30 °C). The highest temperature recorded was 34 °C (93 °F) in August 1989. The mean annual temperature of the Atlantic Ocean around Bermuda is 22.8 °C (73.0 °F), from 18.6 °C (65.5 °F) in February to 28.2 °C (82.8 °F) in August.

Average Hamilton climate parameters, capital of Bermuda
Month	Ene.	Feb.	Mar.	Open up.	May.	Jun.	Jul.	Ago.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Annual
Temp. max. abs. (°C)	25.4	26.1	26.1	27.2	30	32.2	33.1	33.9	33.2	31.7	28.9	26.7	33.9
Average temperature (°C)	20.4	19.9	20.3	21.6	24.1	27	29.2	29.8	28.8	26.3	23.6	21.4	24.4
Average temperature (°C)	18.2	17.7	18	19.3	22	24.9	26.7	27.2	26.2	23.9	21.2	19	22
Temp. medium (°C)	16.1	15.5	15.7	16.9	19.9	22.8	24.1	24.5	23.5	21.4	18.7	16.5	19.6
Temp. min. abs. (°C)	7.8	6.7	7.2	8.9	12.8	17.8	20	20	18.9	14.4	12.4	10	6.7
Total precipitation (mm)	128.5	115.3	110	87.9	82.8	130.3	114.6	130.8	129.3	161.3	105.4	114.3	1409.7
Days of precipitation (≥ 0.01 inch)	17	15	15	12	10	12	13	14	15	16	13	17	171
Hours of sun	155	145	155	240	248	270	279	279	240	186	180	124	2501
Source: Bermuda Weather Service, weather2travel.comfor data of sunshine hours

Government and politics

The State House, seat of the Bermuda parliament between 1620 and 1815.

Executive power in Bermuda is vested in the monarch and exercised on his behalf by the governor. The Governor is appointed by the King on the proposal of the British Government. The Governor is Rena Lalgie since December 14, 2016. There is also a Lieutenant Governor. Defense and foreign affairs powers remain the responsibility of the UK, which also has a responsibility to ensure good governance. Changes to the Bermuda Constitution must be approved. Bermuda, the oldest British colony, currently has the status of a British Overseas Territory. In 1620, a royal assent granted Bermuda limited autonomy whereby the Parliament of Bermuda, the fifth oldest in the world, was formed, behind only the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the Tynwald of the Isle of Man, the Althing of Iceland and the Sejm of the Republic of Poland. Of these, it is the only one that has met continuously since 1620.

The Constitution of Bermuda entered into force on June 1, 1967, and was amended in 1989 and 2003. The head of government is the Prime Minister. The government cabinet is proposed by the prime minister and officially appointed by the governor. The Legislative Branch consists of a bicameral parliament inspired by the Westminster system. The Senate is the upper house, made up of eleven members appointed by the governor on the proposal of the prime minister and the leader of the opposition. The Chamber of Assembly, or lower house, has thirty-six members elected by the population with the right to vote by secret ballot, to represent geographically defined groups. Elections must be called at intervals of not more than five years. The last vote took place on July 18, 2017. After it, the Progressive Labor Party came to power, with Edward David Burt at its head, being the youngest Bermudian prime minister to take office, at 38 years old. He succeeded Michael Dunkley of the An Alliance for Bermuda (OBA) party as prime minister.

The Assembly and the Supreme Court of Bermuda.

The leadership of the Progressive Labor Party is in favor of UK independence, although polls have indicated that this is not supported by the public. The independence option was defeated in the 1995 referendum, although the Bermuda Industrial Union and the Progressive Labor Party (then in opposition) had called for a boycott of the referendum, which may have had an unquantified impact on the result.

Few diplomats are accredited to Bermuda. The United States maintains the largest diplomatic mission in Bermuda, comprising the United States Consulate and US Customs and Border Protection services at Bermuda International Airport. The current US Consul General is Robert Settje, who took office in August 2012. As the US is by far the largest trading partner (providing more than 71% of total imports, the 85% tourists, and an estimated $163 billion of US capital in the insurance industry), and the fact that 5% of Bermuda's residents are US citizens.., who account for 14% of all foreign-born, the US diplomatic presence is seen as an important element in Bermuda's political landscape.

Territorial organization

Bermuda parishes.

Bermuda is divided into nine parishes and two municipalities:

1. Sandys Parish
2. Southampton Parish
3. Warwick Parish
4. Paget Parish
5. Pembroke Parish
6. Parish of Devonshire
7. Smith Parish
8. Hamilton Parish
9. Parish of Saint George (Bermudas)

Municipalities:

• Hamilton
• Saint George

Economy

Hamilton Street, the capital.

The main sources of income are multinational insurance companies and tourism. The two most important cities in Bermuda, are the capital and important port of Hamilton located on Bermuda Island, and Saint George on Saint George's Island.

The issuance of postage stamps, mainly for collecting, is an important source of income for its economy.

The islands have their Constitution and have been self-governing since 1968.

Service to military bases and ship repairs are mainstays of Bermuda's economy.

One of the drawbacks there is the lack of drinking water sources, which is why rainwater is collected, which is frequent.

In 2009, due to the global crisis, the GDP suffered a deep decline of 8.1% to go from a GDP of 6 billion to 5.7 billion.

According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, US multinationals reported $80 billion of profits in Bermuda in 2012, more than the profits reported in Japan, China, Germany and France combined.

Demographics

In July 2005, Bermuda had a population of 65,365. The population is 54.8% black, 34.1% white, and 6.4% multiracial. The islands have a small but growing community of Asians. A significant portion of the population is also of Portuguese descent (10%), as a result of the immigration of inhabitants from the islands belonging to Portugal, especially the Azores islands, during the last 160 years. Today, immigration is very limited legally.

Statistics

Religion

The statue of the Holy Lord Christ of the Miracles, in Hamilton, most venerated in Bermuda.

Christianity is by far the most important religion in Bermuda. Various Protestant denominations predominate, at 46.2% (including Anglican 15.8%, African Methodist Episcopal 8.6%, Seventh-day Adventist 6.7%, Pentecostal 3.5%, Methodist 2.7%, Presbyterian 2.0%, Church of God 1.6%, Baptist 1.2%, Salvation Army 1.1%, Brethren 1.0%, other Protestants 2.0%). Catholics make up 14.5%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.3%, and other Christians 9.1%. The rest of the population are Muslim 1%, other 3.9%, no religion 17.8%, or 6.2% unspecified (2010 est.).

The Anglican Church of Bermuda, a diocese of the Anglican Communion that is separate from the Church of England, has the oldest non-Catholic parish in the New World, St Peter's Church. Catholics in the Bahamas are served by a single Latino diocese, the Diocese of Hamilton in Bermuda.

Culture

Bermuda Gombey Dance at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington D.C. in 2001.

The culture of Bermuda is heterogeneous due to the diversity of its inhabitants. Although hardly a trace of the natives remains, throughout the XVII century, Hispanics from the Caribbean, Africans, Irish and Scottish attended, being Anglo-Saxon culture is dominant today. Currently, after English as the official language, there are 10% Portuguese speakers, due to the flow of Portuguese from both the Azores and Madeira and Cape Verde. Another notable wave of immigration, this time Hispano-Caribbean, has continued throughout the XX century. Added to this are the Africans, imported as slaves in their day, or as civil servants in more recent times. The recent presence of other types of West Indians has accelerated both social and political changes, contributing to greater ethnic-cultural diversification. After World War II, music from the "West Indies" has acquired a natural letter, especially calypso. While calypso attracts visitors, reggae has been popularized in the local population since the 1970s by the influence of Jamaican immigration.

The literary history of Bermuda was largely confined to the comments of travelers and visitors. Much has been written about the archipelago throughout the 20th century, albeit in scholarly reference books. As a writer of fiction, local novelist Brian Burland has achieved a degree of fame beyond the islands. The so-called History of Maria Prince, a story of slavery told by this Maria Prince, contributed to hastening the end of slavery in the English overseas territories. The proximity to the US has meant that many North American writers have spent creative seasons on the islands, drawing inspiration from local life, as did A.J. Cronin and F. Mason, and Van Wyck, among others.

Dance and music are important in Bermuda. The dance of the Gombey dancers, seen at many events in their colorful regalia, appears to be influenced by Native American Indians and African slaves. Every year, Bermuda hosts an international independent film festival.

The colors of the Bermudan wilderness appear in the vibrant painting on display in local galleries. The exquisitely carved cedar sculptures also attract the foreign buyer. Sculptor Trott Chesley exhibits a nearly twenty-foot figure in the airport baggage claim area. Alfred Birdsey was one of the most famous impressionist landscape painters of Hamilton, Saint George and the sailing ships that sail the bay. Every Good Friday, Bermudians of all ages launch their special kites into the air to symbolize Christ's ascension into Heaven. These kites are also an appreciable local craft. Bermuda kites possess remarkable airworthiness, holding world records for altitude and flight duration.

Bermuda Triangle

Map of the Bermuda triangle.

It all started with the first voyages of Christopher Columbus to America. Although the mystery dates back to the mid-19th century, most of the alleged disappearances have occurred since 1945. He says that since then more than a thousand people have disappeared, in the air or at sea, without a single body being recovered.

A certain local legend says that in 1685 a Frenchman named Lamaison, a great alchemist, found an enormous fortune in gold and jewels while navigating around the Bermuda Triangle. Other legends from the region speak of abandoned ships where the food still smokes on the tables, or of planes that have disappeared without even having issued a distress call. It is said that sometimes live animals have been found adrift in boats or launches, such as dogs or canaries, but never anyone who could tell what happened. Others claim the absence of remains, since in most cases they disappear completely.

Sports

• Bermuda at the Olympic Games
• Bermuda Davis Cup Team

Football

Bermuda Soccer Selection

Their national team belongs to the Bermuda Football Association which is affiliated with Concacaf and FIFA. This team made history after qualifying for the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup. Already in the tournament, they lost 2 group stage matches, but won a historic match against Nicaragua 2-0, closing an acceptable debut for Bermuda in the competition. Within the country, there is the Bermuda Premier League, it was founded in 1963 and the most successful teams are the Zebras with 11 titles, followed by the Somerset Trojans with 10, the North Village Rams with 9 and the Dandy Town Hornets with 8 conquests.

Cricket

The Bermuda Cricket Board is a registered Bermuda charity that has been certified to the highest international standards of good practice in Bermuda by the Bermuda Committee on National Standards, which operates the charity on internationally recognized standards of best practice.

The BCB was established in 1938 and incorporated by the Luxury Act in 1995. The BCB has been an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 1966.

As the National Administrative Body for cricket in Bermuda, the BCB governs and regulates cricket on the island, improving infrastructure and facilities and assisting in the development of the club. The BCB has a Comprehensive Development Program, which covers the improvement of domestic and national cricket with a strong focus on youth development. In addition, the BCB has a Scholarship Program, which allows young local cricketers to continue their education at academic institutions abroad with excellent cricket programs. The BCB formulates the rules and regulations governing cricket in Bermuda, in accordance with the ICC guidelines.

The Bermuda National Cricket Team is active in regional and world events, both the men's and women's teams are powerhouses in the Americas. The Bermuda national cricket team participated in the 2007 Cricket World Cup in the West Indies. Its most famous player is Dwayne Leverock. The Bermuda team holds the world record for conceding the most runs in World Cup history. Also well known is David Hemp who is a former Glamorgan captain in English first class cricket.

Golfing

Bermuda has the world's largest area of golf courses as a percentage of its total mass. In 2007 Bermuda hosted the 25th PGA Grand Slam of Golf. This 36-hole event was held October 16-17, 2007, at the Mid Ocean Club in Tucker's Town. The event returned to Bermuda again in 2008 and 2009. Quinn Talbot was once the one-armed world golf champion.