Province of the Azores sub-prefects. The Province of the Azores was abolished on 28 June 1833 by Decree 64, which divided the archipelago into two separate provinces: the Província Oriental dos Açores (Eastern Province of the Azores), that included the islands of São Miguel and Santa Maria, with its capital in Ponta Delgada; and the Província Ocidental dos Açores (Western Province of the Azores), with its capital in Angra and administrating the remaining islands of the archipelago. Prefect: Sub-Prefect of Ponta Delgada: Sub-Prefect of Horta: Province of the Azores The Province of the Azores was an administrative unit of Portugal encompassing the archipelago of
Captaincy-General of the Azores José de Carvalho e Melo, the Marquess of Pombal, then prime minister. A Captaincy-General operated from the Palace of the Captains-General, under the direction of the titular Captain-General, who operated as the Governor of the Azores, with additional jurisdiction on every island of the Azorean archipelago. The Captaincy-General was succeeded by the Province of the Azores, an ephemeral administrative structure that was collapse in the immediate years. The settlement of the Azores coalesced in the second half of the 15th century, in a late medieval context, that translated into the establishment of a governing structure based on the signeur system.