Captaincies of the Azores Captaincies of the Azores The Captaincies of the Azores () were the socio-political and administrative territorial divisions used to settle and govern the overseas lands of the Azores by the Kingdom of Portugal. These territories, a segment of the Captaincies of the Portuguese Empire, which usually conformed to the individual islands, allowing the stewardship of the King through the Donatary and Captaincy system. Following the discovery of the first islands in the Atlantic, chiefly Madeira, and slow settlement of those possessions, the Portuguese needed a mechanism for control that did not necessitate dislocation by hereditary princes or monarchs. The Donatário
Flores Island (Azores) for a missile tracking installation on the island, which was inaugurated in October 1966. In the following years, a hospital, a power station, and an airport were established, which brought a financial upswing to the entire island. After the French left the island in 1994, tourism became the island's dominant industry. Flores, along with the island of Corvo, is situated on the North American Continental Plate of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and belongs to the western group of islands in the Azores archipelago. Geomorphologically, the island is composed of two units: The island developed initially from a submarine volcano from the