Azores inhabitants. The nine islands that compose the archipelago occupy a surface area of , that includes both the main islands and many islets located in their vicinities. Each of the islands has its own distinct geomorphological characteristics that make them unique: Corvo (the smallest island) is a crater of a major Plinian eruption; Flores (its neighbor on the North American Plate) is a rugged island carved by many valleys and escarpments; Faial characterized for its shield volcano and caldera (Cabeço Gordo); Pico, is the highest point, at , in the Azores and continental Portugal; Graciosa is known for its active
Horta, Azores stopped in Horta on the first leg of his solo circumnavigation, which he chronicled in his 1899 book "Sailing Alone Around the World." In his semi-autobiographical story "The Innocents Abroad", Mark Twain was complimentary about the physical appearance of Horta: However, Twain painted a less complimentary picture of the inhabitants of Horta and Faial at the time: In works by Vitorino Nemésio ("O Corsário das Ilhas"), Raul Brandão ("As ilhas Desconhecidas"), the island is characterized as a focus of the story, while Jules Verne mentioned Horta in descriptions to his fiction tales. Horta, Azores Horta () is a single municipality