São Jorge Island São Jorge Island São Jorge () is an island situated in the central group of the Azores archipelago and part of the autonomous region of Portugal. Separated from its nearest neighbors (Pico and Faial islands) by the Pico-São Jorge Channel, the central group is often referred colloquially as part of the "Triangulo" ("Triangle") group or just "The Triangle". São Jorge is a relatively long thin island with tall cliffs, whose 9500 inhabitants are concentrated on various geological debris fields ("fajãs") along the north and south coasts; from east to west, the island is long and, north to south, wide: its
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.