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Bermuda

The Bermuda Islands is commonly known as Bermuda. The archipelago is also nicknamed as The Somers Isles. It is the oldest and most populous British overseas territory. The island country is located in the North Atlantic Ocean. The archipelago is situated at the northeast of Miami, Florida and at the south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The capital Hamilton city is located at 32 17 N, 64 47 W. The island nation has beaches with pink sand. The defense affairs are handled by the United Kingdom. The entire schooling system is distributed among the three categories of schools: aided school, maintained school, and private school. The country does not introduce any four-year college or university degree yet.


HISTORY:- Peter Martyr d'Anghiera in his Legatio Babylonica mentioned the name of Bermuda in 1511. The archipelago was discovered by the Spanish explorer Juan de Bermúdez . Bermúdez and Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo tried to land on the island to collect breeding hogs in 1514 and 1515. In 1609, British colonists took shelter in the island for 10 months. The troop was led by Sir George Somers. Their reports aroused a huge interest in the English colonists about Bermuda. In 1612, King James broadened the Charter of the Virginia Company to make the island a part of it. Over 60 colonists turned up in the island. In 1615, the island became a colony of Britain. In 1620, a representative government was introduced to the island to recognize full autonomy. Until 17th century, Bermuda remained an outpost of United Kingdom. In 1790, Hamilton became the seat of the government. Slavery was abolished in 1807 in Bermuda. All slaves were freed in 1834. In 1968, a new constitution was adopted. The island was granted a Prime minister with partial autonomy as the British control retained on foreign relations, defense, and internal security.


GEOGRAPHY:- Bermuda is located at 32 20 N, 64 45 W in the North America. The nation comprises almost 138 small islands. The total land area of Bermuda is 53.3 sq km. The coastline is 103 km long along with the North Atlantic Ocean. The lowest point is Atlantic Ocean (0 m) and the highest point is Town Hill (76 m). The archipelago is mostly formed of low hills, disjoined by fecund lands.

 

CLIMATE:- Bermuda has mainly subtropical, mild, and humid climate, warmed by the Gulf Stream. Strong winds are very common in the winter. Winters are mild and temperate. For warm Gulf Streams, the temperature of winter never goes down the freezing line.

 

GOVERNMENT:- Bermuda is an overseas territory of United Kingdom, with full autonomy. It has a parliament. The constitution was adopted on 8th June 1968, and amended in 1989 and 2003. The legal system is completely based on the English law. The government is divided into three major branches. They are as follows:

Executive branch is consisted of chief of state (Queen), head of government (Premier), and cabinet. The queen is represented by the Governor. Cabinet is appointed by the Governor with the nomination of the premier.

Legislative branch is consisted of the bicameral Parliament, which comprises of the Senate (11 seats) and the House of Assembly (36 seats).

Judicial branch is consisted of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, Magistrate Courts.

Among the leading political parties, Progressive Labor Party (PLP), United Bermuda Party (UBP), National Liberal Party (NLP) are the largest. Suffrage is universal above 18.

Monarch Queen Elizabeth II

Governor Sir Richard Gozney

Premier Ewart Brown

 

ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS:- Bermuda is divided into 9 parishes and 2 municipalities.

Parishes:-

Devonshire

Hamilton

Paget

Pembroke

St George's

Sandys

Smith's

Southampton

Warwick

Municipalities:

Hamilton (city)

St. George's (town).

There are two other unincorporated municipalities:

Flatts Village

Somerset Village. 

 

CULTURE:- Bermuda’s culture is a mixed culture of Afro-Caribbean and English culture with the reminiscent of the Native American, Spanish-Caribbean, African, Irish, Anglo-Saxon cultures. Dance and music are two very important phenomena of Bermuda’s culture. Famous actors Earl Cameron, Diana Dill, Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones are anyhow related to the land. Alfred Birdsey is globally acclaimed painter of Bermuda. Sailing, cricket, golf, football, and rugby are very popular in the island.

 

ECONOMY:- Bermuda has the third highest per capita income in the world. It has higher per-capita income than US by 50%. It mainly provides financial services to the international business.  Tourism also plays an important role in the economy.

GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $4.5 billion; per capita $36,000.

Real growth rate: 4.6%.

Inflation: 2.8% (Nov. 2005).

Unemployment: 2.1% (2004 est.). Arable land: 20%.

Agriculture: bananas, vegetables, citrus, flowers; dairy products, honey.

Labor force: 38,360 (2004); agriculture and fishing 3%, laborers 17%, clerical 19%, professional and technical 21%, administrative and managerial 15%, sales 7%, services 19% (2004 est.).

Industries: international business, tourism, light manufacturing. Natural resources: limestone, pleasant climate fostering tourism.

Exports: $1.469 billion (2004 est.): reexports of pharmaceuticals.

Exports - partners: Spain 35.6%, UK 15.9%, Brazil 9.2%, Sweden 7.5% (2006)

Imports: $982 million (2004 est.): clothing, fuels, machinery and transport equipment, construction materials, chemicals, food and live animals.

Imports - partners: US 71.8%, Venezuela 6.9%, Canada 6.6% (2006)

Major trading partners: France, UK, Spain, Kazakhstan, Japan, South Korea, U.S. (2004).

Budget:  

Revenues: $738 million

Expenditures: $665 million (FY04/05)

Debt - external: $160 million (FY99/00)

Monetary unit: Bermuda dollar

 

LANGUAGE:- English is the official language. Portuguese is also widely spoken.

 

CITIES:- Capital city Hamilton is the largest city. St. George is another large city.

 

POPULATION:- The estimated population of the small archipelago is 66,536 with a growth rate of 0.5%.

Density per sq mi: 1,255

Literacy rate: 98% (1970 est.)

 

RACE:-

Black 54.8%

White 34.1%

Mixed 6.4%

Other races 4.3%

Unspecified 0.4% (2000 census)

 

RELIGION:-

Anglican 23%

Roman Catholic 15%

African Methodist Episcopal 11%

Other Protestant 18%

Other 12%

Unaffiliated 6%

Unspecified 1%

None 14% (2000 census)

 

HEALTH:-

Birth rate: 11.15 births/ 1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate: 7.98 deaths/ 1,000 population (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate: total: 7.87 deaths/ 1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 78.3 years

Total fertility rate: 1.88 children born/ woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: 392 (2005)

 

TRANSPORTATION:-

Railways: 0 km.

Highways: total: 450 km; paved: 450 km; unpaved: 0 km (2002) note: 241 km are privately owned.

Ports and harbors: Hamilton, Saint George's, Dockyard.

Airports: 1: Bermuda International Airport (2002).

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