The New Student's Reference Work/Azores

Azores (a-zōrz ' ), a group of Portuguese islands in the mid-Atlantic, 800 miles west of Portugal. Carthaginian coins have been found on the islands, showing that the hardy sailors of Carthage must have been there. Edrisi, an Arab geographer, knew them before 1200, and an Italian map of 1351 represents them unmistakably. The islands were taken possession of by the Portuguese in 1431–1453 There are many hawks here, and the name Azores is from a Portuguese word, meaning hawks Their area is 919 square miles, or considerably smaller than Rhode Island. The total population is 260,000. The capital is Angra (population, 11,067). They are of volcanic origin, and are still liable to eruptions and earthquakes, having had twenty-one earthquake shocks since 1444. Oranges are the chief export.