Azores Azores The Azores ( or ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (""), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira ("Região Autónoma da Madeira"). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the North Atlantic Ocean about west of continental Portugal, about west of Lisbon, in continental Portugal, about northwest of Morocco, and about southeast of Newfoundland, Canada. Its main industries are agriculture, dairy farming, livestock, fishing, and tourism, which is becoming the major service activity in the region. In addition, the government of the Azores employs a large percentage
Captaincies of the Azores in 1460, in a letter from Henry the Navigator, the prince described Cabral as "Capitão por mim em minhas ilhas de Santa Maria e São Miguel dos Açores" ("Captain for Me in My Islands of Santa Maria and São Miguel in the Azores"). Cabral was the ideal Captain to obtain this title, who "cultivated the island [of Santa Maria] with noble people, treating the island with mcuh love and caring the people with much gentleness; for this reason he was obeyed by all and very dear to the entire island. It is still unclear at what time Gonaçalo Velho Cabral