Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about 1,035 km (643 mi) to the west-northwest.
Bermuda was first documented by a European in 1503 by Spanish explorer Juan de Bermúdez. In 1609, the English Virginia Company, which had established Jamestown in Virginia two years earlier, permanently settled Bermuda in the aftermath of a hurricane, when the crew and passengers of Sea Venture steered the ship onto the surrounding reef to prevent it from sinking, then landed ashore. Bermuda's first capital, St. George's, was established in 1612.
Bermuda is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, it is situated around 1,770 km (1,100 mi) northeast of Miami, Florida, and 1,350 km (840 mi) south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, west of Portugal, northwest of Brazil, 1,759 km (1,093 mi) north of Havana, Cuba and north-northeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico. The nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about 1,030 km (640 mi) west-northwest, followed by Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia, Canada 1,236 km northward. Although commonly referred to in the singular, the territory consists of approximately 138 islands, with a total area of 57 km2 (22 sq mi).
Bermuda consists of several islands with an area of 53.2 km2 (20.5 sq mi) with 447 km (278 mi) of paved roads — 225 km (140 mi) of which are public roads and 222 km (138 mi) are private paved roads. A former railway track has been converted into a walking trail. There are also two marine ports, and an airport, the L.F. Wade International Airport, located at the former U.S. Naval Air Station. A causeway links Hamilton Parish, Bermuda to St. George's and the airport.
While the defence of Bermuda remains the responsibility of the government of the United Kingdom, rather than of the local Bermudian Government, the island still maintains a militia for the purpose of defence.
L.F. Wade International Airport, formerly named Bermuda International Airport, is the sole airport serving the British overseas territory of Bermuda in the north Atlantic Ocean. It is located in the parish of St. George's and is 6 nautical miles northeast of Bermuda's capital, Hamilton. In 2016, the airport handled 402,925 passengers, up 5.6% from 2006. It has one passenger terminal, one cargo terminal, eight aircraft stands and can support all aircraft sizes up to and including the Airbus A380. Currently, nine passenger or cargo airlines operate seasonal or year-round scheduled services from the Azores, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The airport covers 536 acres of land and contains one runway.
St. George's, located on the island and within the parish of the same names, settled in 1612, is the first permanent English settlement on the islands of Bermuda. It is often described as the third permanent British settlement in the Americas, after Jamestown, Virginia (1607), and Cupids, Newfoundland (1610), and the oldest continuously-inhabited British town in the New World, since the other two settlements were seasonal for a number of years.
Kindley Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base in Bermuda from 1948–1970, having been operated from 1943 to 1948 by the United States Army Air Forces as Kindley Field.
St. George's Parish is one of the nine parishes of Bermuda. It is named after the founder of the Bermuda colony, Admiral Sir George Somers.
Castle Harbour is a large natural harbour in Bermuda. It is located between the northeastern end of the main island and St. David's Island. Originally called Southampton Port, it was renamed as a result of its heavy fortification in the early decades of the Seventeenth century.
Nonsuch Island is part of the chain of islands which make up Bermuda. It is in St George's Parish, in the northeast of Bermuda. It is 5.7 ha in area and is at the east entrance to Castle Harbour, close to the south-easternmost point of Cooper's Island. Among the island's charted features is a bay called Nonsuch Bay.
Annie's Bay is a picturesque bay in the northeast of Bermuda. It occupies much of the east coast of Cooper's Island, in St. George's Parish.
The Royal Air Force (RAF) operated from two locations in the Imperial fortress colony of Bermuda during the Second World War. Bermuda's location had made it an important naval station since US independence, and, with the advent of the aeroplane, had made it as important to trans-Atlantic aviation in the decades before the Jet Age. The limited, hilly land mass had prevented the construction of an airfield, but, with most large airliners in the 1930s being flying boats, this was not initially a limitation.
The Somers Isles Company was formed in 1615 to operate the English colony of the Somers Isles, also known as Bermuda, as a commercial venture. It held a royal charter for Bermuda until 1684, when it was dissolved, and the Crown assumed responsibility for the administration of Bermuda as a royal colony.
Naval Air Station Bermuda, was located on St. David's Island in the British Colony of Bermuda from 1970 to 1995, on the former site of Kindley Air Force Base. It is currently the site of Bermuda International Airport.
The Airport Security Police is the police force of the Bermuda International Airport.
The following is an alphabetical list of topics related to the British Overseas Territory of the Bermuda Islands.
The Bermuda Base Command was a command of the United States Army, established to defend the British Colony of Bermuda, located 640 miles off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. It was created in April 1941 when United States Army troops were sent to the island.
Bermuda Department of Corrections, formerly Her Majesty's Prison Service, Bermuda, is the agency charged with managing the prisons within the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. It is a part of the Ministry of National Security and is headquartered in Hamilton. In 2002, the Government of Bermuda renamed the HM Prisons to Correctional Facilities. At the same time, HM Prison Service was renamed The Department of Corrections. It is the only prison/corrections force within the British Overseas Territories and United Kingdom that uses the "Corrections" title rather than the more usual "HM Prison Service" as is customary.
