什麼是亞速羣島

葡萄牙語作A?ores

北大西洋中的羣島，爲葡萄牙領土。面積共2,247平方公里。羣島由九個主要島嶼組成：包括聖米格爾、聖瑪麗亞、法亞爾、皮庫、聖若熱、特塞拉、格拉西奧薩、弗洛里斯和科爾武。首府爲蓬塔德爾加達（位於聖米格爾島上）。各島具有大致相同的特點：海岸陡峭，多岩石和卵石岩屑（岩屑堆或山麓碎石堆）。頻繁的地震和玄武岩熔漿噴發顯示其不穩定的地質特性。羣島西距歐洲大陸約1600公里。一般認爲亞速羣島在1427年由葡萄牙國王的領航員塞尼爾（D. de Senill）發現，所有島上沒有發現人類到此或居住的痕跡。約1432年開始建立居民點，到15世紀末，所有島嶼均有人居住，並與葡萄牙建立了良好的貿易關係。1580～1640年，亞速羣島曾隸屬西班牙，1591年曾是英國與西班牙和葡萄牙兩個半島強國之間海戰的戰場。1766年葡萄牙任命一名管轄整個羣島的總督兼提督；1895年被給予有限的行政自治權。第二次世界大戰時重要的空軍和海軍基地在此建立，1951年美國在拉日什設立北大西洋公約組織的空軍基地。

Azores

Archipelago (pop., 1992 est.: 237,000), northern Atlantic Ocean, constituting an autonomous region of Portugal. Its islands are Flores, Corvo, Terceira, S?o Jorge, Pico, Faial, Graciosa, S?o Miguel, and Santa Maria; the capital is Ponta Delgada (on S?o Miguel). It covers an area of 868 sq mi (2,247 sq km). Subject to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, the islands lie some 1,000 mi (1,600 km) west of mainland Europe. The uninhabited Azores were reputedly discovered c. 1427 by Portuguese pilot Diogo de Sevilha. Settlement began c. 1432; by the end of the 15th century, all the islands were inhabited and trade with Portugal was well established. They were subject to Spain in 1580-1640, and a famous sea battle between the British and Spanish occurred off Flores in 1591. The Portuguese installed a governor and captain general for the whole group in 1766; the islands were given limited autonomy in 1895. Important air and naval bases were set up there during World War II; in 1951 the U.S. established a NATO base on Lajes.