Бермудские острова ( / b ər ˈ m j uː d ə / ; исторически известные как Бермуды или острова Сомерса ) — британская заморская территория в северной части Атлантического океана . Ближайшая земля за пределами территории находится в американском штате Северная Каролина , примерно в 1035 км (643 мили) к западу-северо-западу.
Бермудские острова — это архипелаг , состоящий из 181 острова , хотя самые значительные острова соединены мостами и, по-видимому, образуют единый массив суши. Площадь острова составляет 54 квадратных километра (21 квадратная миля). На Бермудских островах тропический климат с теплой зимой и жарким летом. Его климат также демонстрирует океанические черты , похожие на климат других прибрежных районов Северного полушария , с теплым влажным воздухом с океана, обеспечивающим относительно высокую влажность и стабилизацию температур. Бермудские острова подвержены суровой погоде из- за повторяющихся тропических циклонов ; однако они получают некоторую защиту от кораллового рифа и своего положения к северу от Главного региона развития , что ограничивает направление и силу приближающихся штормов.
Бермудские острова названы в честь испанского исследователя Хуана де Бермудеса , который открыл архипелаг в 1505 году. Острова были постоянно заселены с 1612 года, когда в Сент-Джорджесе было основано английское поселение . Будучи частью Британской Америки , Бермудские острова управлялись в соответствии с королевской хартией компанией Somers Isles Company до 1684 года, когда они стали коронной колонией . Первые порабощенные африканцы были доставлены на Бермуды в 1616 году. Компания Somers Isles Company обеспечивала постоянный поток свободных, но законтрактованных слуг до 1684 года, и большинство табачных ферм, принадлежавших зарубежным авантюристам, были проданы арендаторам или другим жильцам после того, как выращиваемый на Бермудах табак стал неуклонно снижать прибыльность после 1620-х годов, превратившись в семейные фермы, которые переключились с выращивания табака на экспорт на производство продуктов питания (первоначально для местного потребления). [6] Следовательно, плантационная экономика не развивалась, и работорговля в значительной степени прекратилась к концу 17-го века. [7] Вместо этого экономика стала ориентированной на море, а колония служила базой для торговцев, каперов и Королевского флота , дав свое название Бермудской буровой установке и Бермудскому шлюпу . Она стала имперской крепостью , самой важной британской военно-морской и военной базой в западном полушарии с огромными средствами, щедро вложенными в ее Королевскую военно-морскую верфь и военную оборону до 1950-х годов. Туризм вносил значительный вклад в экономику Бермудских островов с 19-го века, а после Второй мировой войны территория стала видным офшорным финансовым центром и налоговым убежищем .
Разделенные на девять приходов , Бермудские острова являются самоуправляемой парламентской демократией с двухпалатным парламентом , расположенным в столице Гамильтоне . Палата собрания датируется 1620 годом, что делает ее одним из старейших законодательных органов в мире. Премьер-министр является главой правительства и официально назначается губернатором , которого назначает британское правительство в качестве представителя короля . Соединенное Королевство отвечает за иностранные дела и оборону. Референдум о независимости был проведен в 1995 году, и подавляющее большинство проголосовало против независимости. По состоянию на 2019 год население Бермудских островов составляло около 64 000 человек, что делает их второй по численности населения из британских заморских территорий. Черные бермудцы , разнообразное население, в основном, представляющее собой смесь африканского, европейского и индейского происхождения, [8] [9] составляют около 50% населения, в то время как белые бермудцы , в основном британского, ирландского и португальского происхождения, составляют 30% населения. Есть более мелкие группы из других рас или идентифицирующие себя как смешанную расу, и около 30% населения не являются бермудцами по рождению. Последняя оставшаяся колония в бывшей Британской Северной Америке (после Конфедерации Канады 1867 года и колонии Ньюфаундленд, ставшей Доминионом Ньюфаундленд в 1907 году), Бермудские острова имеют особый диалект английского языка и исторически имели прочные связи с другими англоязычными странами в Америке, включая Соединенные Штаты, Канаду и Содружество Карибского бассейна . Они являются ассоциированным членом Карибского сообщества .
Бермудские острова названы в честь испанского мореплавателя Хуана де Бермудеса , который открыл острова в 1505 году [1], когда плыл в Испанию из провизионного рейса на Эспаньолу на судне «Ла Гарса» .
Бермудские острова были открыты в начале 1500-х годов испанским исследователем Хуаном де Бермудесом . [10] [11] [ нужна страница ] На Бермудских островах не было коренного населения, когда они были открыты, и во время первоначального британского заселения столетие спустя. [12] Они упоминаются в Legatio Babylonica , опубликованном в 1511 году историком Педро Мартиром де Англерией , и были включены в испанские карты того года. [13] И испанские, и португальские корабли использовали острова в качестве места пополнения запасов свежего мяса и воды. Теперь считается, что потерпевшие кораблекрушение португальские моряки были ответственны за надпись 1543 года на Португальской скале , ранее называвшейся Испанской скалой. [14] Возникли легенды о духах и дьяволах, которые, как теперь считается, произошли от криков хриплых птиц (скорее всего, бермудского тайменя , или кахоу ) [15] и громких ночных шумов диких свиней. [16] Из-за частых штормов и опасных рифов архипелаг стал известен как «Остров Дьяволов». [17] Ни Испания, ни Португалия не пытались заселить его.
В течение следующего столетия остров часто посещали, но не заселяли. Англичане начали сосредотачиваться на Новом Свете, изначально поселившись в Вирджинии , начав британскую колонизацию в Северной Америке, основав колонию в Джеймстауне, штат Вирджиния, в 1607 году. Два года спустя флотилия из семи кораблей покинула Англию с несколькими сотнями поселенцев, продовольствием и припасами, чтобы спасти колонию Джеймстауна. [18] Однако флотилия была разбита штормом, и флагманский корабль, Sea Venture , налетел на риф Бермудских островов, чтобы не затонуть, в результате чего все его пассажиры и команда выжили. [19] [10] Поселенцы не желали двигаться дальше, теперь услышав об истинных условиях в Джеймстауне от моряков, и предприняли несколько попыток восстать и остаться на Бермудских островах. Они утверждали, что имеют право остаться и создать собственное правительство. Новое поселение стало тюремно-трудовым лагерем и построило два корабля, Deliverance и Patience . [20]
В 1612 году англичане начали заселение архипелага, официально названного Виргинеола, [21] с прибытием корабля « Плау» . В том же году был основан Нью-Лондон (переименованный в Сент-Джорджес-Таун), который был назначен первой столицей колонии. [22] [13] Это старейший непрерывно населенный английский город в Новом Свете . [22]
В 1615 году колония, которая была переименована в Сомерс-Айлс в память о сэре Джордже Сомерсе , была передана компании Сомерс-Айлс . [23] [24] Поскольку бермудцы заселяли колонию Каролина и способствовали созданию других английских колоний в Америке , несколько других мест были названы в честь архипелага. В этот период были задержаны и проданы на острова первые рабы . Это была смесь коренных африканцев , которых переправили в Америку через африканскую работорговлю , и коренных американцев , которые были порабощены из Тринадцати колоний . [10]
Ограниченная площадь суши и ресурсы архипелага привели к созданию, возможно, самых ранних законов об охране природы Нового Света . В 1616 и 1620 годах были приняты акты, запрещающие охоту на некоторых птиц и молодых черепах . [25]
В 1649 году шла гражданская война в Англии , и король Карл I был обезглавлен в Уайтхолле , Лондон. Конфликт перекинулся на Бермуды, где большинство колонистов развили сильное чувство преданности короне. Роялисты свергли губернатора Somers Isles Company и избрали Джона Тримингема своим лидером (см. Губернатор Бермудских островов ). Гражданская война на Бермудах была прекращена ополченцами, а несогласные были вынуждены поселиться на Багамах под руководством Уильяма Сэйла . [26]
Мятежные роялистские колонии Бермудские острова, Вирджиния, Барбадос и Антигуа были субъектами Акта парламента Охвостья Англии . [27] Роялистские колонии также подвергались угрозе вторжения. Правительство Бермудских островов в конечном итоге достигло соглашения с парламентом Англии, которое сохранило статус-кво на Бермудских островах.
В XVII веке Somers Isles Company подавила судостроение, так как ей нужны были бермудцы для фермерства, чтобы получать доход от земли. Однако колония Вирджиния намного превзошла Бермуды по качеству и количеству производимого табака . Бермудцы начали обращаться к морской торговле сравнительно рано в XVII веке, но Somers Isles Company использовала всю свою власть, чтобы подавить отказ от сельского хозяйства. Это вмешательство привело к тому, что островитяне потребовали и получили отзыв устава компании в 1684 году, и компания была распущена. [10]
Бермудцы быстро отказались от сельского хозяйства в пользу судостроения, пересаживая сельскохозяйственные угодья местными можжевеловыми деревьями ( Juniperus bermudiana , называемыми бермудским кедром). Установив эффективный контроль над островами Теркс , бермудцы вырубили леса на их территории, чтобы начать торговлю солью. Она стала крупнейшей в мире и оставалась краеугольным камнем экономики Бермудских островов в течение следующего столетия. Бермудцы также активно занимались китобойным промыслом , каперством и торговой торговлей.
Некоторые островитяне, особенно в Сент-Дэвидсе , до сих пор ведут свое происхождение от коренных американцев, а многие другие не знают о наличии у них такого происхождения. Сотни коренных американцев были отправлены на Бермуды. Самыми известными примерами были алгонкинские народы, такие как (пекоты, вампаноаги, поданки, нипмуки, наррагансетты,...), которые были изгнаны из колоний Новой Англии и проданы в рабство в семнадцатом веке, особенно после войны с пекотами и войны короля Филиппа , но некоторые, как полагают, были привезены из таких далеких мест, как Мексика .
Двойственное отношение Бермудских островов к американскому восстанию изменилось в сентябре 1774 года, когда Континентальный конгресс постановил запретить торговлю с Великобританией, Ирландией и Вест-Индией после 10 сентября 1775 года. Такое эмбарго означало бы крах их межколониальной торговли, голод и гражданские беспорядки. Не имея политических каналов с Великобританией, семья Такеров встретилась в мае 1775 года с восемью другими прихожанами и решила отправить делегатов на Континентальный конгресс в июле, стремясь к освобождению от запрета. Генри Такер отметил пункт в запрете, который разрешал обмен американских товаров на военные поставки. Этот пункт был подтвержден Бенджамином Франклином , когда Такер встретился с Комитетом безопасности Пенсильвании . Независимо от этого, другие подтвердили это деловое соглашение с Пейтоном Рэндольфом , Комитетом безопасности Чарлстауна и Джорджем Вашингтоном . [28]
Три американских судна, действовавших из Чарлстауна, Филадельфии и Ньюпорта, отплыли на Бермуды, и 14 августа 1775 года 100 бочек пороха были взяты из бермудского порохового склада, пока губернатор Джордж Джеймс Брюэр спал, и погружены на эти судна. В результате 2 октября Континентальный конгресс освободил Бермуды от запрета на торговлю, и Бермуды приобрели репутацию нелояльных. Позже в том же году британский парламент принял Запретительный акт, запрещающий торговлю с американскими мятежными колониями, и отправил HMS Scorpion следить за островом. Форты острова были лишены пушек. Тем не менее, военная торговля контрабандой продолжалась благодаря хорошо налаженным семейным связям. Имея 120 судов к 1775 году, Бермуды продолжали торговать с Сент-Эстатиусом до 1781 года и поставляли соль в североамериканские порты. [28] : 389–415
В июне 1776 года HMS Nautilus захватил остров, а в сентябре за ним последовал HMS Galatea . Однако два британских капитана, казалось, были больше нацелены на захват призовых денег, что вызвало острую нехватку продовольствия на острове до отплытия Nautilus в октябре. После вступления Франции в войну в 1778 году Генри Клинтон переукрепил остров под командованием майора Уильяма Сазерленда . В результате 91 французский и американский корабль были захвачены зимой 1778–1779 годов, что снова поставило население на грань голода. Бермудская торговля была серьезно затруднена совместными усилиями Королевского флота, британского гарнизона и лояльных каперов , так что в 1779 году на острове начался голод. [28] : 416–427
После смерти Джорджа Брюэра в 1780 году губернаторство перешло к его сыну Джорджу-младшему, активному лоялисту. Под его руководством контрабанда была остановлена, а бермудское колониальное правительство было заполнено единомышленниками-лоялистами. Даже Генри Такер отказался от торговли с Соединенными Штатами из-за присутствия множества каперов. [28] : 428–433
Bermuda Gazette , первая газета Бермудских островов, начала издаваться в 1784 году. [29] [30] [31] Редактор Джозеф Стокдейл получил финансовую выгоду, чтобы переехать на Бермуды со своей семьей и основать газету. Он также предоставлял другие услуги печати и управлял первой местной почтовой службой Бермудских островов. Bermuda Gazette продавалась по подписке и доставлялась подписчикам, а сотрудник Стокдейла также доставлял почту за плату. [32]
.png/1280px-Devonshire_Redoubt_(Bermuda).png)
После Американской революции Королевский флот начал улучшать гавани на Бермудских островах. В 1811 году началась работа над большой Королевской военно-морской верфью на острове Ирландия , которая должна была стать главной военно-морской базой островов, охраняющей судоходные пути западной Атлантики. Для охраны верфи британская армия построила Бермудский гарнизон и основательно укрепила архипелаг.
Во время войны 1812 года между Великобританией и Соединенными Штатами британские атаки на Вашингтон, округ Колумбия , и Чесапик были спланированы и начаты с Бермудских островов, куда недавно был переведен из Галифакса, Новая Шотландия, штаб-квартира Североамериканской станции Королевского флота . [33]
В 1816 году Джеймс Арнольд, сын Бенедикта Арнольда , укрепил Королевскую военно-морскую верфь Бермудских островов от возможных нападений США. [34] Сегодня Национальный музей Бермудских островов , включающий в себя Морской музей Бермудских островов, занимает здание Королевской военно-морской верфи.
Из-за своей близости к юго-восточному побережью США Бермудские острова часто использовались во время Гражданской войны в США в качестве перевалочного пункта для блокадников Конфедеративных Штатов на их рейсах в южные штаты и Англию и обратно, чтобы уклониться от военных кораблей Союза, патрулирующих блокаду. [13] [10] Затем блокадники могли перевозить основные военные товары из Англии и доставлять ценный хлопок обратно в Англию. Старый отель Globe в Сент-Джорджесе, который был центром интриг для агентов Конфедерации, сохранился как общественный музей.
Во время англо-бурской войны (1899–1902) 5000 военнопленных буров были размещены на пяти островах Бермудских островов. Они были размещены в соответствии с их взглядами на войну. «Bitterenders» ( африкаанс : Bittereinders ), которые отказались присягнуть на верность британской короне, были интернированы на острове Даррелла и тщательно охранялись. Другие острова, такие как остров Моргана, содержали 884 мужчин, включая 27 офицеров; остров Такера содержал 809 заключенных буров, остров Берта — 607, а остров Порта — 35. Остров Хинсона содержал несовершеннолетних заключенных. Лагерное кладбище находится на Лонг-Айленде. [35]
Газета New York Times сообщила о попытке мятежа военнопленных-буров по пути на Бермуды и о том, что на острове Даррелла было введено военное положение. [36]
Самым известным беглецом был военнопленный бур капитан Фриц Жубер Дюкен , который отбывал пожизненное заключение за «заговор против британского правительства и по (обвинению) шпионажу». [37] Ночью 25 июня 1902 года Дюкен выскользнул из своей палатки, пробрался через забор из колючей проволоки, проплыл 1,5 мили (2,4 км) мимо патрульных катеров и ярких прожекторов, через штормовые воды, используя далекий маяк Гиббс-Хилл для навигации, пока не прибыл на берег главного острова. [38] Он поселился в США и позже стал шпионом Германии в обеих мировых войнах. В 1942 году полковник Дюкен был арестован ФБР за руководство шпионской сетью Дюкен , которая по сей день остается крупнейшим делом о шпионаже, раскрытым в истории Соединенных Штатов. [39]
В начале 20 века Бермудские острова стали популярным местом для американских, канадских и британских туристов, прибывающих по морю. Закон США Смута-Хоули о тарифах 1930 года, который ввел протекционистские торговые пошлины на товары, импортируемые в США, привел к упадку некогда процветающей сельскохозяйственной экспортной торговли Бермудских островов в Америку и способствовал развитию туризма как альтернативного источника дохода. Остров был одним из центров контрабанды нелегального алкоголя в эпоху сухого закона в Соединенных Штатах (1920–1933). [13] [10]
Железнодорожная линия была построена на Бермудских островах в 1920-х годах, открытая в 1931 году как Бермудская железная дорога , которая была заброшена в 1948 году. [40] В настоящее время полосой отвода является Бермудская железнодорожная тропа. [41]
В 1930 году, после нескольких неудачных попыток, гидросамолет Stinson Detroiter вылетел на Бермуды из Нью-Йорка : это был первый самолет, когда-либо достигший островов. В 1936 году Deutsche Luft Hansa начала экспериментировать с полетами на гидросамолете из Берлина через Азорские острова с последующими рейсами в Нью-Йорк. [42]
В 1937 году Imperial Airways и Pan American Airways начали осуществлять регулярные рейсы на летающих лодках из Нью-Йорка и Балтимора на остров Даррелл, Бермудские острова . Во время Второй мировой войны отель Hamilton Princess стал цензурным центром. Весь почтовый, радио- и телеграфный трафик, направлявшийся в Европу, США и на Дальний Восток, перехватывался и анализировался 1200 цензорами Британской имперской цензуры, части Британской координации безопасности (BSC), прежде чем направлялся по месту назначения. [43] [44] Благодаря тесному сотрудничеству BSC с ФБР цензоры были ответственны за обнаружение и арест ряда шпионов Оси, работающих в США, включая кольцо Джо К. [45]
В 1948 году началось регулярное коммерческое авиасообщение с использованием наземных самолетов, приземляющихся в аэропорту Киндли-Филд (ныне Международный аэропорт имени Л. Ф. Уэйда ), что помогло туризму достичь пика в 1960-х и 1970-х годах. Однако к концу 1970-х годов международный бизнес вытеснил туризм в качестве доминирующего сектора экономики Бермудских островов.
Королевская военно-морская верфь и ее военный гарнизон оставались важными для экономики Бермудских островов до середины 20-го века. В дополнение к значительным строительным работам, вооруженным силам требовалось получать продовольствие и другие материалы от местных поставщиков. Начиная со Второй мировой войны , на Бермудских островах также располагались военные объекты США, включая военно-морскую авиабазу и базу подводных лодок . Американское военное присутствие продолжалось до 1995 года. [46]
Всеобщее избирательное право для взрослых и развитие двухпартийной политической системы произошли в 1960-х годах. [10] Всеобщее избирательное право было принято как часть Конституции Бермудских островов в 1967 году; ранее голосование зависело от определенного уровня владения собственностью.
10 марта 1973 года губернатор Бермудских островов Ричард Шарплс был убит местными боевиками движения «Черная сила» во время гражданских беспорядков. [10] Были предприняты некоторые шаги в сторону возможной независимости островов, однако они были решительно отвергнуты на референдуме в 1995 году . [10]
На летних Олимпийских играх 2020 года Бермудские острова стали самой маленькой зарубежной территорией, завоевавшей золотую медаль, поскольку Флора Даффи выиграла первую в истории Бермуд олимпийскую золотую медаль в женском триатлоне . [47]
Бермудские острова — это группа низко формирующихся вулканов в Атлантическом океане , на западе Саргассова моря , примерно в 578 морских милях (1070 км; 665 миль) к востоку-юго-востоку от мыса Гаттерас [48] на Внешних отмелях Северной Каролины , США, который является ближайшим участком суши. [1] [49] Его следующий ближайший сосед — остров Кейп-Сейбл , Новая Шотландия , Канада , который находится в 1236 км (768 миль) к северу от Бермудских островов. Он также расположен в 1759 км (1093 мили) к северо-северо-востоку от Гаваны , Куба , в 1538 км (956 миль) к северу от Британских Виргинских островов и в 1537,17 км (955,15 миль) к северу от Сан-Хуана , Пуэрто-Рико .
Территория состоит из 181 острова , общей площадью 53,3 км 2 (20,6 кв. миль). [50] Самый большой остров — Мейн-Айленд (также называемый Бермудскими островами ). Восемь более крупных и населенных островов соединены мостами. [50] Самая высокая вершина территории — Таун-Хилл на Мейн-Айленде высотой 79 м (259 футов). [1] [51] Береговая линия территории составляет 103 км (64 мили). [1]
Бермудские острова дали свое название Бермудскому треугольнику — региону моря, в котором, согласно легенде, при необъяснимых или загадочных обстоятельствах исчезло множество самолетов и лодок. [52]
Розовые песчаные пляжи Бермудских островов и чистые, лазурно- голубые воды океана пользуются популярностью у туристов. [53] Многие отели Бермудских островов расположены вдоль южного берега острова. В дополнение к пляжам, здесь есть ряд достопримечательностей. Исторический Сент-Джорджес является объектом Всемирного наследия . Дайверы могут исследовать многочисленные затонувшие корабли и коралловые рифы на относительно небольшой глубине (обычно 30–40 футов или 9–12 м) с практически неограниченной видимостью. Многие близлежащие рифы легко доступны с берега для любителей подводного плавания с маской и трубкой , особенно в заливе Черч-Бей .
Самой популярной туристической достопримечательностью Бермудских островов является Королевская военно-морская верфь , в состав которой входит Национальный музей Бермудских островов. [54] Другие достопримечательности включают Аквариум, музей и зоопарк Бермудских островов , [55] Институт подводных исследований Бермудских островов, Ботанический сад и Музей шедевров бермудского искусства , маяки и Кристальные пещеры со сталактитами и подземными бассейнами с соленой водой.
Нерезидентам запрещено водить автомобили на острове. [56] Доступны общественный транспорт и такси, а также посетители могут арендовать скутеры для использования в качестве личного транспорта. [50]
Бермудские острова состоят из более чем 150 известняковых островов, но особенно из пяти главных островов, расположенных вдоль южного края Бермудской платформы, одной из трех топографических возвышенностей, обнаруженных на Бермудском пьедестале . Этот Бермудский пьедестал находится на вершине Бермудского поднятия, срединно-бассейнового выступа, окруженного абиссальными равнинами . Бермудский пьедестал является одним из четырех топографических возвышенностей, выровненных примерно с северо-востока на юго-запад. Остальные, все затопленные, - это подводная гора Боудич на северо-востоке и банка Челленджер и банка Аргус на юго-западе. [57] Первоначальное поднятие этого поднятия произошло в среднем и позднем эоцене и завершилось к позднему олигоцену , когда оно опустилось ниже уровня моря. Вулканические породы, связанные с этим подъемом, представляют собой толеитовые лавы и интрузивные пластины лампрофиров , которые образуют вулканический фундамент, в среднем на 50 м (160 футов) ниже карбонатной поверхности острова . [58]
Известняки Бермудских островов состоят из биокалькаренитов с небольшими конгломератами . Часть Бермудских островов над уровнем моря состоит из пород, отложенных эоловыми процессами , с карстовым рельефом . Эти эолианиты на самом деле являются типовой местностью и образовались во время межледниковий (т. е. верхние уровни известняковой шапки, образованные в основном водорослями, выделяющими кальций, были разбиты на песок волновым воздействием во время межледниковья, когда подводная гора была затоплена, а во время оледенения, когда вершина подводной горы находилась над уровнем моря, этот песок был выдуван в дюны и сплавлен в известняковый песчаник), и пронизаны красными палеосолями , также называемыми геосолями или терра россас, указывающими на сахарскую атмосферную пыль и образующимися во время ледниковых стадий . Стратиграфическая колонка начинается с формации Уолсингем , перекрытой геосолью Касл-Харбор, формациями Нижний и Верхний Таун-Хилл, разделенными геосолью Харбор-Роуд, геосолью Орд-Роуд, формацией Белмонт, геосолью Шор-Хиллз, формацией Роки-Бэй и формацией Саутгемптон. [58]
Более старые эолианитовые хребты (более старые Бермуды) более округлые и сглаженные по сравнению с внешней береговой линией (более молодые Бермуды). Таким образом, морфология после осаждения включает химическую эрозию , а прибрежные водоемы демонстрируют, что большая часть Бермудских островов частично затоплена плейстоценовым карстом . Формация Уолсингем является ярким примером, составляющим пещерный район вокруг Касл-Харбор. Формация Аппер-Таун-Хилл образует ядро Главного острова, а такие выдающиеся холмы, как Таун-Хилл, Кнаптон-Хилл и Маяк Св. Дэвида , в то время как самые высокие холмы, Маяк Гиббс-Хилл, связаны с формацией Саутгемптон. [58]
На Бермудских островах есть два основных водоносных горизонта : водоносный горизонт Лэнгтон, расположенный в формациях Саутгемптон, Роки-Бей и Белмонт, и водоносный горизонт Брайтон, расположенный в формации Таун-Хилл. На Бермудских островах встречаются четыре пресноводные линзы , причем Центральная линза является крупнейшей на Мейн-Айленде, ее площадь составляет 7,2 км 2 (1800 акров), а толщина — более 10 м (33 фута). [58]
На Бермудских островах климат тропического дождевого леса ( классификация климата Кеппен : Af ), очень близко граничащий с влажным субтропическим климатом ( классификация климата Кеппен : Cfa ). Это также океанический климат , распространенный на многих океанических островах и на западных побережьях континентов в Северном полушарии (что приводит к более умеренному климату на западном побережье Европы, чем на восточном побережье Северной Америки), характеризующийся высокой относительной влажностью, которая смягчает температуру, обеспечивая в целом мягкие зимы и лето.
Бермудские острова согреваются близлежащим течением Гольфстрим . На островах могут наблюдаться умеренно более низкие температуры в январе, феврале и марте [в среднем 18 °C (64 °F)]. [59] На Бермудских островах никогда не было зафиксировано снега, мороза или заморозков. [60] Зона морозостойкости — 11b/12a . Другими словами, самая низкая ожидаемая годовая минимальная температура составляет около 50 °F (10 °C).) Это очень много для такой широты и на ползоны выше, чем на Флорида-Кис .
Летний индекс тепла на Бермудских островах может быть высоким, хотя температуры в середине августа редко превышают 30 °C (86 °F). Самая высокая зарегистрированная температура была 34 °C (93 °F) в августе 1989 года. [61] Среднегодовая температура Атлантического океана вокруг Бермудских островов составляет 22,8 °C (73,0 °F), от 18,6 °C (65,5 °F) в феврале до 28,2 °C (82,8 °F) в августе. [62]
Бермудские острова находятся в пределах Главного региона развития и часто находятся прямо на пути ураганов [1], возвращающихся в западных ветрах, хотя они обычно начинают ослабевать по мере приближения к Бермудским островам, чьи небольшие размеры означают, что прямые выходы на сушу силы урагана редки. Ураган Эмили был первым, кто сделал это за три десятилетия, когда он обрушился на Бермуды без предупреждения в 1987 году. Последними ураганами, нанесшими значительный ущерб Бермудским островам, были ураган 2-й категории Гонсало 18 октября 2014 года и ураган 3-й категории Николь 14 октября 2016 года, оба из которых обрушились на остров напрямую. Ураган категории 2 Полетт напрямую обрушился на остров в 2020 году. До этого ураган Фабиан 5 сентября 2003 года был последним крупным ураганом, который напрямую обрушился на Бермуды, со скоростью ветра более 120 миль в час (190 км/ч), категория 3. Последним тропическим циклоном, который напрямую обрушился на остров, был ураган Эрнесто как ослабевающий шторм категории 1 17 августа 2024 года.
При отсутствии рек или пресноводных озер единственным источником пресной воды являются дождевые осадки, которые собираются на крышах и водосборах (или извлекаются из подземных линз ) и хранятся в резервуарах. [1] Каждое жилище обычно имеет по крайней мере один из таких резервуаров, являющихся частью его фундамента. Закон требует, чтобы каждое домохозяйство собирало дождевую воду, которая спускается по трубам с крыши каждого дома. Среднемесячное количество осадков больше всего в октябре, более 6 дюймов (150 мм), и меньше всего в апреле и мае.
Доступ к биоемкости на Бермудских островах намного ниже, чем в среднем по миру. В 2016 году на территории Бермудских островов на одного человека приходилось 0,14 глобальных гектара [63] , что намного ниже среднего мирового показателя в 1,6 глобальных гектара на человека. [64] В 2016 году Бермудские острова использовали 7,5 глобальных гектаров биоемкости на человека — их экологический след потребления. Это означает, что они используют гораздо больше биоемкости, чем содержится на Бермудских островах. В результате на Бермудских островах наблюдается дефицит биоемкости. [63]
_in_Bermuda.jpg/1280px-White-eyed_vireo_(Vireo_griseus_bermudianus)_in_Bermuda.jpg)
When discovered, Bermuda was uninhabited by humans and mostly dominated by forests of Bermuda cedar, with mangrove marshes along its shores.[70] Forest cover is around 20% of the total land area, equivalent to 1,000 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, which was unchanged from 1990.[71][72]
Only 165 of the island's current 1,000 vascular plant species are considered native; fifteen of those, including the eponymous cedar, are endemic.[73] The tropical climate of Bermuda allowed settlers to introduce many species of trees and plants to the island. Today, many types of palm trees, fruit trees, and bananas grow on Bermuda, though the cultivated coconut palms are considered non-native and may be removed.[clarification needed] The country contains the Bermuda subtropical conifer forests terrestrial ecoregion.[74]
The only indigenous mammals of Bermuda are five species of bat, all of which are also found in the eastern United States: the silver-haired bat Lasionycteris noctivagans, eastern red bat Lasiurus borealis, hoary bat Lasiurus cinereus, Seminole bat Lasiurus seminolus, and tricolored bat Perimyotis subflavus.[75] Other commonly known fauna of Bermuda include its national bird, the Bermuda petrel or cahow, which was rediscovered in 1951 after having been thought extinct since the 1620s.[76] The cahow is important as an example of a Lazarus species, hence the government has a programme to protect it, including restoration of its habitat areas. Another well-known species includes the white-tailed tropicbird, locally known as the longtail. These birds come inland to breed around February to March and are Bermudians' first sign of incoming spring.[77]
The Bermuda rock lizard (or Bermuda rock skink) was long thought to have been the only indigenous non-bird land vertebrate of Bermuda, discounting the marine turtles that lay their eggs on its beaches. However, scientists have recently discovered through genetic DNA studies that a species of turtle, the diamondback terrapin, previously thought to have been introduced to the archipelago, actually pre-dated the arrival of humans.[78]
Bermuda's 2016 Census put its population at 63,779 and, with an area of 53.2 km2 (20.5 sq mi), it has a calculated population density of 1,201 people/km2 (3,110 people/sq mi).[2] As of July 2018, the population is estimated to be 71,176.[1]
The racial makeup of Bermuda was 52% Black, 31% White, 9% multiracial, 4% Asian, and 4% other races, these numbers being based on self-identification recorded by the 2016 census. The majority of those who answered "Black" may have any mixture of black, white or other ancestry. Native-born Bermudians made up 70% of the population, compared to 30% non-natives.[2]
The island experienced large-scale immigration over the 20th century, especially after World War II. About 64% of the population identified themselves with Bermudian ancestry in 2010, which was an increase from the 51% who did so in the 2000 census. Those identifying with British ancestry dropped by 1% to 11% (although those born in the United Kingdom remain the largest non-native group at 3,942 people). The number of people born in Canada declined by 13%. Those who reported West Indian ancestry were 13%. The number of people born in the West Indies actually increased by 538. A significant segment of the population is of Portuguese ancestry (25%), the result of immigration over the past 160 years,[79] of whom 79% have residency status. In June 2018, Premier Edward David Burt announced that 4 November 2019 "will be declared a public holiday to mark the 170th anniversary of the arrival of the first Portuguese immigrants in Bermuda" due to the significant impact that Portuguese immigration has had on the territory.[80] Those first immigrants arrived from Madeira aboard the vessel the Golden Rule on 4 November 1849.[81]
There are also several thousand expatriate workers, principally from the United Kingdom, Canada, the West Indies, South Africa, and the United States, who reside in Bermuda. They are primarily engaged in specialised professions such as accounting, finance, and insurance. Others are employed in various trades, such as hotels, restaurants, construction, and landscaping services. Despite the high cost of living, the high salaries offer expatriates several benefits by moving to Bermuda and working for a period of time.[82] Of the total workforce of 38,947 people in 2005, government employment figures stated that 11,223 (29%) were non-Bermudians.[83]
The predominant language in Bermuda is Bermudian English.[1]
British English spellings and conventions are used in print media and formal written communications.[84] Portuguese is also spoken by migrants from the Azores, Madeira, and the Cape Verde Islands and their descendants.[1][85]
Religious affiliations in Bermuda (2010)[86]
Christianity is the largest religion on Bermuda.[1] Various Protestant denominations are dominant at 46.2% (including Anglican 15.8%; African Methodist Episcopal 8.6%; Seventh-day Adventist 6.7%; Pentecostal 3.5%; Methodist 2.7%; Presbyterian 2.0%; Church of God 1.6%; Baptist 1.2%; Salvation Army 1.1%; Brethren 1.0%; other Protestant 2.0%).[1] Roman Catholics form 14.5%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.3%, and other Christians 9.1%.[1] The balance of the population are Muslim 1%, other 3.9%, none 17.8%, or unspecified 6.2% (2010 est.).[1]
The Anglican Church of Bermuda, an Anglican Communion diocese separate from the Church of England, operates the oldest non-Catholic parish in the New World, St. Peter's Church. Catholics are served by a single Latin diocese, the Diocese of Hamilton in Bermuda.
Bermuda is an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom, and the Government of the United Kingdom is the sovereign government.[1] Executive authority in Bermuda is vested in the British monarch (currently Charles III) and is exercised on his behalf by the governor of Bermuda.[1] The governor is appointed by the king on the advice of the British Government. Since December 2020, the governor is Rena Lalgie; she was sworn in on 14 December 2020.[87] There is also a deputy governor (currently Tom Oppenheimer).[87][88]
Defence and foreign affairs are the responsibility of the United Kingdom, which also retains responsibility to ensure good government and must approve any changes to the Constitution of Bermuda. Bermuda is Britain's oldest overseas territory. Although the UK Parliament retains ultimate legislative authority over the territory, in 1620, a Royal Proclamation granted Bermuda limited self-governance, delegating to the House of Assembly of the Parliament of Bermuda the internal legislation of the colony. The Parliament of Bermuda is the fifth oldest legislature in the world, behind the Sejm of Poland, the Parliament of England, the Tynwald of the Isle of Man, and the Althing of Iceland.[89]
The Constitution of Bermuda came into force in 1968 and has been amended several times since then.[1] The head of government is the premier of Bermuda; a cabinet is nominated by the premier and appointed officially by the governor.[1] The legislative branch consists of a bicameral parliament modelled on the Westminster system.[1] The Senate is the upper house, consisting of 11 members appointed by the governor on the advice of the premier and the leader of the opposition. The House of Assembly, or lower house, has 36 members, elected by the eligible voting populace in secret ballot to represent geographically defined constituencies.[1]
Elections for the Parliament of Bermuda must be called at no more than five-year intervals. The most recent took place on 1 October 2020. Following this election, the Progressive Labour Party held onto power, with Edward David Burt sworn in as Premier for the second time.[90][91][92]
There are few accredited diplomats in Bermuda. The United States maintains the largest diplomatic mission in Bermuda, comprising both the United States Consulate and the US Customs and Border Protection Services at the L.F. Wade International Airport.[93] The United States is Bermuda's largest trading partner (providing over 71% of total imports, 85% of tourist visitors, and an estimated $163 billion of US capital in the Bermuda insurance/re-insurance industry). According to the 2016 Bermuda census 5.6% of Bermuda residents were born in the US, representing over 18% of all foreign-born people.[94]
Historically, English (later British) colonials shared the same citizenship as those born within that part of the sovereign territory of the Kingdom of England (including the Principality of Wales) that lay within the Island of Britain (although Magna Carta had effectively created English citizenship,[95] citizens were still termed 'subjects of the King of England' or 'English subjects'. With the 1707 union of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland, this was replaced with 'British Subject', which encompassed citizens throughout the sovereign territory of the British Government, including its colonies, though not the British protectorates). With no representation at the sovereign or national level of government, British colonials were therefore not consulted, or required to give their consent, to a series of Acts passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom between 1968 and 1982, which were to limit their rights and ultimately change their citizenship.[96]
When several colonies had been elevated before the Second World War to Dominion status, collectively forming the old British Commonwealth (as distinct from the United Kingdom and its dependent colonies), their citizens remained British Subjects, and in theory, any British Subject born anywhere in the World had the same basic right to enter, reside, and work in the United Kingdom as a British Subject born in the United Kingdom whose parents were also both British Subjects born in the United Kingdom (although many governmental policies and practices acted to thwart the free exercise of these rights by various groups of colonials, including Greek Cypriots).[97]
When the Dominions and an increasing number of colonies began choosing complete independence from the United Kingdom after the Second World War, the Commonwealth was transformed into a community of independent nations, or Commonwealth Realms, each recognising the British monarch as its own head of state (creating separate monarchies with the same person occupying all of the separate Thrones; the exception being republican India).[98][99][100][101]
'British Subject' was replaced by the British Nationality Act 1948 with 'Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies' for the residents of the United Kingdom and its colonies, as well as for the Crown Dependencies. However, as it was desired to retain free movement for all Commonwealth Citizens throughout the Commonwealth, 'British Subject' was retained as a blanket nationality shared by Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies (the 'British realm') as well as the citizens of the various other Commonwealth realms.[102][103][104] The inflow of people of colour to the United Kingdom in the 1940s and 1950s from both the remaining colonies and newly independent Commonwealth nations was responded to with a backlash that led to the passing of the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962, which restricted the rights of Commonwealth nationals to enter, reside and work in the United Kingdom.[105] This Act also allowed certain colonials (primarily ethnic-Indians in African colonies) to retain Citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies if their colonies became independent, which was intended as a measure to ensure these people did not become stateless if they were denied the citizenship of their newly independent nation.[106]
Many ethnic-Indians from former African colonies (notably Kenya) subsequently relocated to the United Kingdom, in response to which the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968 was rapidly passed, stripping all British Subjects (including Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies) who were not born in the United Kingdom, and who did not have a Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies parent or grandparent born in the United Kingdom or some other qualification (such as existing residence status), of the rights to freely enter, reside and work in the United Kingdom.[107][108][109][110][111]
Although the 1968 Act was intended primarily to bar immigration of specific British passport holders from Commonwealth countries in Africa, it amended the wording of the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 in such a way as to apply to all Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies who were not specifically excepted, including most colonials.
This was followed by the Immigration Act 1971, which effectively divided Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies into two types, although their citizenship remained the same: Patrials, who were those from (or with a specified qualifying connection to) the United Kingdom itself, who retained the rights of free entry, abode, and work in the United Kingdom; and those born in the colonies (or in foreign countries to British Colonial parents), from whom those rights were denied.[112][113]
The British Nationality Act 1981, which entered into force on 1 January 1983,[114] abolished British Subject status, and stripped colonials of their full British Citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies, replacing it with British Dependent Territories Citizenship, which entailed no right of abode or to work anywhere. This left Bermudians and most other erstwhile British colonials as British nationals without the rights of British citizenship.[115][102]
The exceptions were the Gibraltarians (permitted to retain British Citizenship in order to also retain Citizenship of the European Union) and the Falkland Islanders, who were permitted to retain the same new British Citizenship that became the default citizenship for those from the United Kingdom and the Crown Dependencies.
The stripping of citizens' birthrights from Bermudians by the British Government in 1968 and 1971, and the change of their citizenship in 1983, violated the rights granted them by Royal Charters at the founding of the colony. Bermuda (fully The Somers Isles or Islands of Bermuda) had been settled by the London Company (which had been in occupation of the archipelago since the 1609 wreck of the Sea Venture) in 1612, when it received its Third Royal Charter from King James I, amending the boundaries of the First Colony of Virginia far enough across the Atlantic to include Bermuda. The citizenship rights guaranteed to settlers by King James I in the original Royal Charter of 10 April 1606, thereby applied to Bermudians:[116][117][118][119]
Alsoe wee doe, for us, our heires and successors, declare by theise presentes that all and everie the parsons being our subjects which shall dwell and inhabit within everie or anie of the saide severall Colonies and plantacions and everie of theire children which shall happen to be borne within the limitts and precincts of the said severall Colonies and plantacions shall have and enjoy all liberties, franchises and immunites within anie of our other dominions to all intents and purposes as if they had been abiding and borne within this our realme of Englande or anie other of our saide dominions.[120]
These rights were confirmed in the Royal Charter granted to the London Company's spin-off, the Company of the City of London for the Plantacion of The Somers Isles, in 1615 on Bermuda being separated from Virginia:
And wee doe for vs our heires and successors declare by these Pnts, that all and euery persons being our subjects which shall goe and inhabite within the said Somer Ilandes and every of their children and posterity which shall happen to bee borne within the limits thereof shall haue and enjoy all libertyes franchesies and immunities of free denizens and natural subjectes within any of our dominions to all intents and purposes, as if they had beene abiding and borne within this our Kingdome of England or in any other of our Dominions[121]
Bermuda is not the only territory whose citizenship rights were laid down in a Royal Charter. In regards to St. Helena, Lord Beaumont of Whitley in the House of Lords debate on the British Overseas Territories Bill on 10 July 2001, stated:[122]
Citizenship was granted irrevocably by Charles I. It was taken away by Parliament because of growing opposition to immigration at the time.
Some Conservative Party backbenchers stated that it was the unpublished intention of the Conservative British Government to return to a single citizenship for the United Kingdom and all of the remaining territories once Hong Kong had been handed over to China. Whether this was so will never be known as by 1997 the Labour Party was in Government. The Labour Party had declared prior to the election that the colonies had been ill-treated by the British Nationality Act 1981, and it had made a pledge to return to a single citizenship for the United Kingdom and the remaining territories part of its election manifesto. Other matters took precedence, however, and this commitment was not acted upon during Labour's first term in Government. The House of Lords, in which many former colonial Governors sat (including former Governor of Bermuda Lord Waddington), lost patience and tabled and passed its own bill, then handed it down to the House of Commons to confirm in 2001. As a result, the British Dependent Territories were renamed the British Overseas Territories in 2002 (the term 'dependent territory' had caused much ire in the former colonies, especially well-heeled and self-reliant Bermuda, as it implied not only that British Dependent Territories Citizens were 'other than British', but that their relationship to Britain and to 'real British people' was both inferior and parasitic).[123][124][125]
At the same time, although Labour had promised a return to a single citizenship for the United Kingdom, Crown dependencies, and all remaining territories, British Dependent Territories Citizenship, renamed British Overseas Territories Citizenship, remained the default citizenship for the territories, other than the Falkland Islands and Gibraltar (for which British Citizenship is still the default citizenship). The bars to residence and work in the United Kingdom that had been raised against holders of British Dependent Territories Citizenship by The British Nationality Act 1981 were, however, removed, and British Citizenship was made attainable by simply obtaining a second British passport with the citizenship recorded as British Citizen (requiring a change to passport legislation as prior to 2002, it had been illegal to possess two British Passports).[126]
In March 2021, the government implemented a new visa policy towards foreigners, through which residency can be obtained by way of investing at least $2.5 million in "real estate, Bermuda government bonds, a contribution to the island's debt relief fund or the Bermuda Trust Fund, and charity", among other options. According to the Labour Minister, Jason Hayward, this step had to be taken to relieve some of the country's debt resulting from the Covid pandemic.[127]
Bermuda is divided into nine parishes and two incorporated municipalities.[1]
Bermuda's nine parishes are:
Bermuda's two incorporated municipalities are:
Bermuda's two informal villages are:
Jones Village in Warwick, Cashew City (St. George's), Claytown (Hamilton), Middle Town (Pembroke), and Tucker's Town (St. George's) are neighbourhoods (the original settlement at Tucker's Town was replaced with a golf course in the 1920s and the few houses in the area today are mostly on the water's edge of Castle Harbour or the adjacent peninsula); Dandy Town and North Village are sports clubs, and Harbour View Village is a small public housing development.
As a British Overseas Territory, Bermuda does not have a seat in the United Nations; it is represented by Britain in matters of foreign affairs.[1] To promote its economic interests abroad, Bermuda maintains representative offices in London[128] and Washington, D.C.[129] Only the United States and Portugal have full-time diplomatic representation in Bermuda (the U.S. maintains a Consulate-General, and Portugal maintains a Consulate), while 17 countries maintain honorary consuls in Bermuda.[130]
Bermuda's proximity to the US had made it attractive as the site for summit conferences between British prime ministers and US presidents. The first summit was held in December 1953, at the insistence of Prime Minister Winston Churchill, to discuss relations with the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Participants included Churchill, US president Dwight D. Eisenhower and French premier Joseph Laniel.[131]
In 1957 a second summit conference was held. The British prime minister, Harold Macmillan, arrived earlier than President Eisenhower, to demonstrate they were meeting on British territory, as tensions were still high regarding the previous year's conflict over the Suez Canal. Macmillan returned in 1961 for the third summit with President John F. Kennedy. The meeting was called to discuss Cold War tensions arising from construction of the Berlin Wall.[132]
The most recent summit conference in Bermuda between the two powers occurred in 1990, when British prime minister Margaret Thatcher met US president George H. W. Bush.[132]
Direct meetings between the president of the United States and the premier of Bermuda have been rare. The most recent meeting was on 23 June 2008, between Premier Ewart Brown and President George W. Bush. Prior to this, the leaders of Bermuda and the United States had not met at the White House since a 1996 meeting between Premier David Saul and President Bill Clinton.[133]
Bermuda has also joined several other jurisdictions in efforts to protect the Sargasso Sea.[134]
In 2013 and 2017 Bermuda chaired the United Kingdom Overseas Territories Association.[135][136]
On 11 June 2009, four Uyghurs who had been held in the United States Guantánamo Bay detention camp, in Cuba, were transferred to Bermuda.[137][138][139][140] The four men were among 22 Uyghurs who claimed to be refugees who were captured in 2001 in Pakistan after fleeing the American aerial bombardment of Afghanistan. They were accused of training to assist the Taliban's military. They were cleared as safe for release from Guantánamo in 2005 or 2006, but US domestic law prohibited deporting them back to China, their country of citizenship, because the US government determined that China was likely to violate their human rights.
In September 2008, the men were cleared of all suspicion and Judge Ricardo Urbina in Washington ordered their release. Congressional opposition to their admittance to the United States was very strong[137] and the US failed to find a home for them until Bermuda and Palau agreed to accept the 22 men in June 2009.
The secret bilateral discussions that led to prisoner transfers between the US and the devolved Bermuda government sparked diplomatic ire from the United Kingdom, which was not consulted on the move despite Bermuda being a British territory. The British Foreign Office issued the following statement:
We've underlined to the Bermuda Government that they should have consulted with the United Kingdom as to whether this falls within their competence or is a security issue, for which the Bermuda Government do not have delegated responsibility. We have made clear to the Bermuda Government the need for a security assessment, which we are now helping them to carry out, and we will decide on further steps as appropriate.[141]
In August 2018, the four Uyghurs were granted limited citizenship in Bermuda. The men now have the same rights as Bermudians except the right to vote.[142]
The British Government originally grouped Bermuda with North America (given its proximity, and Bermuda having been established as an extension of the Colony of Virginia, and with Carolina Colony, the nearest landfall, having been settled from Bermuda). After the acknowledgement by the British Government of the independence of thirteen continental colonies (including Virginia and the Carolinas) in 1783, Bermuda was generally grouped regionally by the British Government with The Maritimes and Newfoundland and Labrador (and more widely, as part of British North America), substantially nearer to Bermuda than is the Caribbean.
From 1783 through 1801, the British Empire, including British North America, was administered by the Home Office and by the Home Secretary, then from 1801 to 1854 by the War Office (which became the War and Colonial Office) and Secretary of State for War and Colonies (as the Secretary of State for War was renamed). From 1824, the British Empire was divided by the War and Colonial Office into four administrative departments, including North America, the West Indies, Mediterranean and Africa, and Eastern Colonies, of which North America included:[143]
The Colonial Office and War Office, and the Secretary of State for the Colonies and the Secretary of State for War, were separated in 1854.[144][145] The War Office, from then until the 1867 confederation of the Dominion of Canada, split the military administration of the British colonial and foreign stations into nine districts:
North America and North Atlantic included the following 'stations' (or garrisons):[146]
North America and North Atlantic
The Colonial Office, by 1862, oversaw eight Colonies in British North America,[147] including:
North American Colonies, 1862
By 1867, administration of the South Atlantic Ocean archipelago of the Falkland Islands, which had been colonised in 1833, had been added to the remit of the North American Department of the Colonial Office.[148]
North American Department of the Colonial Office, 1867
Following the 1867 confederation of most of the British North American colonies to form the Dominion of Canada, Bermuda and Newfoundland remained as the only British colonies in North America (although the Falkland Islands also continued to be administered by the North American Department of the Colonial Office).[149] Although the British Government was no longer responsible for Canada, its relationship with Canada and subsequent dominions would continue to be overseen by the Secretary of State for the Colonies (who headed the Colonial Office) until the creation of the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs (a position initially held in common with the Secretary of State for the Colonies) in 1925. The reduction of the territory administered by the British Government would result in re-organisation of the Colonial Office. In 1901, the departments of the Colonial Office included: North American and Australasian; West Indian; Eastern; South African; and West African (two departments).
Of these, the "North American and Australasian Department" included:[150]
North American and Australasian Department, 1901
In 1907, the Colony of Newfoundland became the Dominion of Newfoundland, leaving the Imperial fortress of Bermuda as the sole remaining British North American colony.
Bermuda, with a land mass totalling less than 21 square miles and a population of 17,535, could hardly constitute an Imperial administrative region on its own. By 1908, the Colonial Office included two departments (one overseeing dominion and protectorate business, the other colonial): Dominions Department (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Cape of Good Hope, Natal, Newfoundland, Transvaal, Orange River Colony, Australian States, Fiji, Western Pacific, Basutoland, Bechuanaland Protectorate, Swaziland, Rhodesia); Crown Colonies Department. The Crown Colonies Department was made up of four territorial divisions: Eastern Division; West Indian Division; East African and Mediterranean Division; and the West African Division.
Of these, the West Indian Division now included all of the remaining British colonies in the Western Hemisphere, from Bermuda to the Falkland Islands:
Jamaica, Turks Islands, British Honduras, British Guiana, Bahamas, Bermuda, Trinidad, Barbados, Windward Islands, Leeward Islands, Falkland Islands, and St. Helena.[151]
Following Canadian confederation in 1867, the British political, naval and military hierarchy in Bermuda became increasingly separated from that of the Canadian Government (the Royal Navy headquarters for the North America and West Indies Station had spent summers at Halifax, Nova Scotia, and winters at Bermuda, but settled at Bermuda year round with the Royal Naval Dockyard, Halifax finally being transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy in 1907, and the Bermuda Garrison had been placed under the military Commander-in-Chief America in New York during the American War of Independence, and had been part of the Nova Scotia Command thereafter, but became the separate Bermuda Command from the 1860s with the Major-General or Lieutenant-General appointed as Commander-in-Chief of Bermuda also filling the civil role of Governor of Bermuda), and Bermuda was increasingly perceived by the British Government as in, or at least grouped for convenience with, the British West Indies (although the established Church of England in Bermuda, which from 1825 to 1839 had been attached to the See of Nova Scotia) remained part of the Diocese of Newfoundland and Bermuda until 1879, when the Synod of the Church of England in Bermuda was formed and a Diocese of Bermuda became separate from the Diocese of Newfoundland, but continued to be grouped under the Bishop of Newfoundland and Bermuda until 1919, when Newfoundland and Bermuda each received its own bishop.[152][153] Newfoundland attained Dominion status in 1907, leaving the nearest other territories to Bermuda that were still within the British Realm (a term which replaced Dominion in 1952 as the dominions and many colonies moved towards full political independence) as the British colonies in the British West Indies.[154][155]
Other denominations also at one time included Bermuda with Nova Scotia or Canada. Following the separation of the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic worship was outlawed in England (subsequently Britain) and its colonies, including Bermuda, until the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791, and operated thereafter under restrictions until the Twentieth Century. Once Roman Catholic worship was established, Bermuda formed part of the Archdiocese of Halifax, Nova Scotia until 1953, when it was separated to become the Apostolic Prefecture of Bermuda Islands.[156] The congregation of the first African Methodist Episcopal Church in Bermuda (St. John African Methodist Episcopal Church, erected in 1885 in Hamilton Parish) had previously been part of the British Methodist Episcopal Church of Canada.[157][156]
An appreciable number of British West Indians immigrated to Bermuda during the course of the 20th Century, with some filling qualified roles and integrating into the community, but many others working as labourers and often derided as criminals or "jump ups" competing for jobs and pushing down the cost of labour.[158][159][160][161][162][163] In recent decades, West Indians also came to be associated in Bermuda with law enforcement. The difficulty faced by the Bermuda Police Service in obtaining recruits locally had long led to recruitment of constables from the British Isles, which resulted in criticism of the racial make up of the force not reflecting that of the wider community. Consequently, in 1966 the Bermuda Police Force (as it was then titled) began also recruiting constables from British West Indian police forces, starting with seven constables from Barbados.[164] Although the practice of recruiting from the British West Indies would continue, it was not deemed entirely successful. As the "Bermuda Report for the year 1971" recorded:
More recently police have been recruited from the Caribbean with a view to correcting the racial imbalance in the force. This has not been particularly successful, Bermudians regarding West Indians as much, if not more, expatriate as recruits from the United Kingdom, which has been and remains the main source of recruitment.
[165]
Despite the traditional antipathy many Bermudians had for West Indians, and despite Bermuda not being in the Caribbean region, Bermuda became an associate member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in July 2003.[166][167][168]
CARICOM is a socio-economic bloc of nations in or near the Caribbean Sea established in 1973. Other outlying member states include the Co-operative Republic of Guyana and the Republic of Suriname in South America, and Belize in Central America. The Turks and Caicos Islands, an associate member of CARICOM, and the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, a full member of CARICOM, are in the Atlantic, but close to the Caribbean. Other nearby nations or territories, such as the United States, are not members (although the US Commonwealth of Puerto Rico has observer status, and the United States Virgin Islands announced in 2007 that they would seek ties with CARICOM). Bermuda has minimal trade with the Caribbean region, and little in common with it economically, being roughly 1,600 kilometres (1,000 mi) from the Caribbean Sea; it joined CARICOM primarily to strengthen cultural links with the region.[citation needed]
Among some scholars,[who?] "the Caribbean" can be a socio-historical category, commonly referring to a cultural zone characterised by the legacy of slavery (a characteristic Bermuda shared with the Caribbean and the US) and the plantation system (which did not exist in Bermuda). It embraces the islands and parts of the neighbouring continent, and may be extended to include the Caribbean Diaspora overseas.[169]
The PLP, which was the party in government when the decision was made to join CARICOM, has been dominated for decades by West Indians and their descendants. The prominent roles of West Indians among Bermuda's black politicians and labour activists predated party politics in Bermuda, as exemplified by E. F. Gordon.[170][171] The late PLP leader, Dame Lois Browne-Evans (whose parents and grandparents emigrated to Bermuda from Nevis and St. Kitts in 1914), and her Trinidadian-born husband, John Evans (who co-founded the West Indian Association of Bermuda in 1976),[172] were prominent members of this group. A generation later, PLP politicians included Premiers Dr. Ewart Brown (raised in Jamaica, with two Jamaican grandparents)[173] and Edward David Burt (whose mother is Jamaican),[174] Deputy Premier Walter Roban (son of Matthew Roban, from St. Vincent and the Grenadines),[175][176][177] and Senator Rolfe Commissiong (son of Trinidadian musician Rudolph Patrick Commissiong).[178][179][180] They have emphasised Bermuda's cultural connections with the West Indies. Many Bermudians, both black and white, who lack family connections to the West Indies have objected to this emphasis.[172][181][182][183]
The decision to join CARICOM stirred up a huge amount of debate and speculation among the Bermudian community and politicians.[184][185] Opinion polls conducted by two Bermudian newspapers, The Royal Gazette and The Bermuda Sun, showed that clear majorities of Bermudians were opposed to joining CARICOM.[186]
The UBP, which had been in government from 1968 to 1998, argued that joining CARICOM was detrimental to Bermuda's interests, in that:[187]
Law enforcement in Bermuda is provided chiefly by the Bermuda Police Service and is also supported with the Customs Department and Immigration Department. During certain times the Royal Bermuda Regiment can be called in to assist law enforcement personnel.
A former Imperial fortress colony once known as "the Gibraltar of the West" and "Fortress Bermuda", defence of Bermuda, as part of the British sovereign state, is the responsibility of the British Government.
For the first two centuries of settlement, the most potent armed force operating from Bermuda was its merchant shipping fleet, which turned to privateering at every opportunity. The Bermuda government maintained a local (infantry) militia and fortified coastal artillery batteries manned by volunteer artillerymen. Bermuda tended toward the Royalist side during the English Civil War, being the first of six colonies to recognise Charles II as King on the execution of his father, Charles I, in 1649, and was one of those targeted by the Rump Parliament in An Act for prohibiting Trade with the Barbadoes, Virginia, Bermuda and Antego, which was passed on 30 October 1650. With control of the "army" (the militia and coastal artillery), the colony's Royalists deposed the Governor, Captain Thomas Turner, elected John Trimingham to replace him, and exiled many of its Parliamentary leaning Independents to settle the Bahamas under William Sayle as the Eleutheran Adventurers. Bermuda's barrier reef, coastal artillery batteries and militia provided a defence too powerful for the fleet sent in 1651 by Parliament under the command of Admiral Sir George Ayscue to capture the Royalist colonies. The Parliamentary Navy was consequently forced to blockade Bermuda for several months 'til the Bermudians negotiated a peace.
After the American Revolutionary War, Bermuda was established as the Western Atlantic headquarters of the North America Station (later called the North America and West Indies Station, and later still the America and West Indies Station as it absorbed other stations) of the Royal Navy. Once the Royal Navy established a base and dockyard defended by regular soldiers, however, the militias were disbanded following the War of 1812. At the end of the 19th century, the colony raised volunteer units to form a reserve for the military garrison.
Due to its isolated location in the North Atlantic Ocean, Bermuda was vital to the Allies' war effort during both world wars of the 20th century, serving as a marshalling point for trans-Atlantic convoys, as well as a naval air base. By the Second World War, both the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm and the Royal Air Force were operating Seaplane bases on Bermuda.
In May 1940, the US requested base rights in Bermuda from the United Kingdom, but British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was initially unwilling to accede to the American request without getting something in return.[188] In September 1940, as part of the Destroyers for Bases Agreement, the UK granted the US base rights in Bermuda. Bermuda and Newfoundland were not originally included in the agreement, but both were added to it, with no war material received by the UK in exchange. One of the terms of the agreement was that the airfield the US Army built would be used jointly by the US and the UK (which it was for the duration of the war, with RAF Transport Command relocating there from Darrell's Island in 1943). The US Army established the Bermuda Base Command in 1941 to co-ordinate its air, anti-aircraft, and coast artillery assets during the war. The US Navy operated a submarine base on Ordnance Island from 1942 through 1945.[46]
Construction began in 1941 of two airbases consisting of 5.8 km2 (2.2 sq mi) of land, largely reclaimed from the sea. For many years, Bermuda's bases were used by US Air Force transport and refuelling aircraft and by US Navy aircraft patrolling the Atlantic for enemy submarines, first German and, later, Soviet. The principal installation, Kindley Air Force Base on the eastern coast, was transferred to the US Navy in 1970 and redesignated Naval Air Station Bermuda. As a naval air station, the base continued to host both transient and deployed USN and USAF aircraft, as well as transitioning or deployed Royal Air Force and Canadian Forces aircraft.
The original NAS Bermuda on the west side of the island, a seaplane base until the mid-1960s, was designated as the Naval Air Station Bermuda Annex. It provided optional anchorage and dockage facilities for transiting US Navy, US Coast Guard and NATO vessels, depending on size. An additional US Navy compound known as Naval Facility Bermuda (NAVFAC Bermuda), a submarine-detecting SOSUS station, was located to the west of the Annex near a Canadian Forces communications facility in the Tudor Hill area; it was converted from a US Army coast artillery bunker in 1954 and operated until 1995. Although leased for 99 years, US forces withdrew in 1995, as part of the wave of base closures following the end of the Cold War.
Canada, which had operated a war-time naval base, HMCS Somers Isles, on the old Royal Navy base at Convict Bay, St George's, also established a radio-listening post at Daniel's Head in the West End of the islands during this time.
In the 1950s, after the end of World War II, the Royal Naval dockyard and the military garrison were closed. A small Royal Navy supply base, HMS Malabar, continued to operate within the dockyard area, supporting transiting Royal Navy ships and submarines until it, too, was closed in 1995, along with the American and Canadian bases.
Bermudians served in the British armed forces during both World War I and World War II. After the latter, Major-General Glyn Charles Anglim Gilbert, Bermuda's highest-ranking soldier, was instrumental in developing the Royal Bermuda Regiment. A number of other Bermudians and their descendants had preceded him into senior ranks, including Bahamian-born Admiral Lord Gambier, and Bermudian-born Royal Marines Brigadier A. John Harvey. When promoted to brigadier at age 38, following his wounding at the Allied invasion of Sicily, Harvey became the youngest-ever Royal Marine Brigadier. The Cenotaph in front of the Cabinet Building (in Hamilton) was erected in tribute to Bermuda's Great War dead (the tribute was later extended to Bermuda's Second World War dead) and is the site of the annual Remembrance Day commemoration.
Today, the only military unit remaining in Bermuda, other than naval and army cadet corps, is the Royal Bermuda Regiment, an amalgam of the voluntary units originally formed toward the end of the 19th century. Although the Regiment's predecessors were voluntary units, until 2018 the modern body was formed primarily by conscription: balloted males were required to serve for three years, two months part-time, once they turn 18. Conscription was abolished 1 July 2018.[189][190]
In early 2020 the Royal Bermuda Regiment formed the Bermuda Coast Guard. Its 24-hour on-duty service includes search and rescue, counter-narcotics operations, border control, and protection of Bermuda's maritime interests. The Bermuda Coast Guard will interact with the rest of the Royal Bermuda Regiment and the Bermuda Police Service.[191]
Banking and other financial services now form the largest sector of the economy at about 85% of GDP, with tourism being the second largest industry at 5%.[1][22] Industrial and agriculture activities occur; however, these are on a very limited scale and Bermuda is heavily reliant on imports.[1] Living standards are high and as of 2019 Bermuda has the 6th-highest GDP per capita in the world.[1]
Early Easter Lily bulb exports to New York—then vital financially for Bermuda—became badly diseased from the late 19th century to the mid-1920s. Lawrence Ogilvie, the Bermuda Department of Agriculture plant pathologist saved the industry by identifying the problem as a virus (not aphid damage as previously thought) and instituting controls in the fields and packing houses. Exports showed a marked improvement: from 23 cases of lily bulbs in 1918, to 6,043 cases in 1927 from the 204 lily fields then in existence.[192] Still in his 20s at the time, Ogilvie was professionally honoured by an article in Nature magazine.[193] The lily export trade continued to flourish until the 1940s when the Japanese captured much of the market.[citation needed]
In 1970, the country switched its currency from the Bermudian pound to the Bermudian dollar, which is pegged and or capital at par with the US dollar. US notes and coins are used interchangeably with Bermudian notes and coins within the islands for most practical purposes; however, banks levy an exchange rate fee for the purchase of US dollars with Bermudian dollars for those going out the islands for external purposes.[194] The Bermuda Monetary Authority is the issuing authority for all banknotes and coins and regulates financial institutions.
Bermuda is an offshore financial centre, which results from its minimal standards of business regulation/laws and direct taxation on personal or corporate income. It has one of the highest consumption taxes in the world and taxes all imports in lieu of an income tax system. Bermuda's consumption tax is equivalent to local income tax to local residents and funds government and infrastructure expenditures. The local tax system depends upon import duties, payroll taxes and consumption taxes. Foreign private individuals cannot easily open bank accounts or subscribe to mobile phone or internet services.[195][failed verification]
Having no corporate income tax, Bermuda is a popular tax avoidance location. Google, for example, is known to have shifted over $10 billion in revenue to its Bermuda subsidiary utilising the Double Irish and Dutch Sandwich tax avoidance strategies, reducing its 2011 tax liability by $2 billion.[196] The Bermuda Black Hole is another tax avoidance method in which untaxed profits end up in Bermuda.
Large numbers of leading international insurance companies operate in Bermuda.[197] Those internationally owned and operated businesses that are physically based in Bermuda (around four hundred) are represented by the Association of Bermuda International Companies (ABIC). In total, over 15,000 exempted or international companies are currently registered with the Registrar of Companies in Bermuda, most of which hold no office space or employees.
The Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX) specialises in listing and trading of capital market instruments such as equities, debt issues, funds (including hedge fund structures) and depository receipt programmes. The BSX is a full member of the World Federation of Exchanges and is located in an OECD member nation. It also has Approved Stock Exchange status under Australia's Foreign Investment Fund (FIF) taxation rules and Designated Investment Exchange status by the UK's Financial Services Authority.[198][199]
Four banks operate in Bermuda,[200] having consolidated total assets of $24.3 billion (March 2014).[201]
Tourism is Bermuda's second-largest industry, with the island attracting over half a million visitors annually, of whom more than 80% are from the United States.[1] Other significant sources of visitors are from Canada and the United Kingdom. However, the sector is vulnerable to external shocks, such as the 2008 recession.[1]
The affordability of housing became a prominent issue during Bermuda's business peak in 2005 but has softened with the decline of Bermuda's real estate prices. The World Factbook lists the average cost of a house in June 2003 as $976,000,[202] while real estate agencies have claimed that this figure had risen to between $1.6 million[203] and $1.845 million by 2007,[204] though such high figures have been disputed.[205]
The Bermuda Education Act 1996 requires that only three categories of schools can operate in the Bermuda Education system:[206]
Prior to 1950, the Bermuda school system was racially segregated.[207] When the desegregation of schools was enacted in 1965, two of the formerly maintained "white" schools and both single-sex schools opted to become private schools. The rest became part of the public school system and were either aided or maintained.
There are 38 schools in the Bermuda Public School System, including 10 preschools, 18 primary schools, 5 middle schools, 2 senior schools (The Berkeley Institute and Cedarbridge Academy), 1 school for students with physical and cognitive challenges, and 1 for students with behavioural problems.[208] There is one aided primary school, two aided middle schools, and one aided senior school. Since 2010, Portuguese has been taught as an optional foreign language in the Bermudian school system.[209][210]
For higher education, the Bermuda College offers various associate degrees and other certificate programmes.[211] Bermuda does not have any Bachelor-level colleges or universities. Bermuda's graduates usually attend Bachelor-level universities in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.[212]
In May 2009, the Bermudian Government's application was approved to become a contributory member of the University of the West Indies (UWI). Bermuda's membership enabled Bermudian students to enter the university at an agreed-upon subsidised rate by 2010. UWI also agreed that its Open Campus (online degree courses) would become open to Bermudian students in the future, with Bermuda becoming the 13th country to have access to the Open Campus.[213] In 2010, it was announced that Bermuda would be an "associate contributing country" due to local Bermudian laws.[214]
Bermuda's culture is a mixture of the various sources of its population: Native American, Spanish-Caribbean, English, Irish, and Scots cultures were evident in the 17th century, and became part of the dominant British culture. English is the primary and official language. Due to 160 years of immigration from Portuguese Atlantic islands (primarily the Azores, though also from Madeira and the Cape Verde Islands), a portion of the population also speaks Portuguese. There are strong British influences, together with Afro-Caribbean ones.
The first notable, and historically important, book credited to a Bermudian was The History of Mary Prince, a slave narrative by Mary Prince. The book was published in 1831 at the height of Great Britain's abolitionist movement.[215] Ernest Graham Ingham, an expatriate author, published his books at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The novelist Brian Burland (1931– 2010) achieved a degree of success and acclaim internationally. More recently, Angela Barry has won critical recognition for her published fiction.[216][217]
West Indian musicians introduced calypso music when Bermuda's tourist industry was expanded with the increase of visitors brought by post-Second World War aviation. Local icons the Talbot Brothers performed calypso music for many decades both in Bermuda and the United States, and appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show. While calypso appealed more to tourists than to the local residents, reggae has been embraced by many Bermudians since the 1970s with the influx of Jamaican immigrants.
Noted Bermudian musicians include operatic tenor Gary Burgess; jazz pianist Lance Hayward; singer-songwriter and poet, Heather Nova, and her brother Mishka, reggae musician; classical musician and conductor Kenneth Amis; and more recently, dancehall artist Collie Buddz.
The dances of the Gombey dancers, seen at many events, are strongly influenced by African, Caribbean and British cultural traditions.
Alfred Birdsey was one of the more famous and talented watercolourists, known for his impressionistic landscapes of Hamilton, St George's, and the surrounding sailboats, homes, and bays of Bermuda. Hand-carved cedar sculptures are another speciality. In 2010, his sculpture We Arrive was unveiled in Barr's Bay Park, overlooking Hamilton Harbour, to commemorate the freeing of slaves in 1835 from the American brig Enterprise.[218]
Local resident Tom Butterfield founded the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art in 1986, initially featuring works about Bermuda by artists from other countries. He began with pieces by American artists, such as Winslow Homer, Charles Demuth, and Georgia O'Keeffe, who had lived and worked on Bermuda. In 2008, the museum opened its new building, constructed within the Botanical Gardens.[219]
Bermuda hosts an annual international film festival, which shows many independent films. One of the founders is film producer and director Arthur Rankin Jr., co-founder of the Rankin/Bass production company.[220]
Many sports popular today were formalised by British public schools and universities in the 19th century. These schools produced the civil servants and military and naval officers required to build and maintain the British Empire, and team sports were considered a vital tool for training their students to think and act as part of a team. Former public schoolboys continued to pursue these activities, and founded organisations such as the Football Association (FA).
Bermuda's role as the primary Royal Navy base in the Western Hemisphere ensured that the naval and military officers quickly introduced the newly formalised sports to Bermuda, including cricket, football, rugby football, and even tennis and rowing.
Bermuda's national cricket team participated in the Cricket World Cup 2007 in the West Indies but were knocked out of the World Cup. The Bermuda national football team managed to qualify to the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup, the country's first ever major football competition. In 2007, Bermuda hosted the 25th PGA Grand Slam of Golf. This 36-hole event was held on 16–17 October 2007, at the Mid Ocean Club in Tucker's Town. This season-ending tournament is limited to four golfers: the winners of the Masters, U.S. Open, The Open Championship and PGA Championship. The event returned to Bermuda in 2008 and 2009. One-armed Bermudian golfer Quinn Talbot was both the United States National Amputee Golf Champion for five successive years and the British World One-Arm Golf Champion.[221]
The Government announced in 2006 that it would provide substantial financial support to Bermuda's cricket and football teams. Football did not become popular with Bermudians until after the Second World War. Bermuda's most prominent footballers are Clyde Best, Shaun Goater, Kyle Lightbourne, Reggie Lambe, Sam Nusum and Nahki Wells. In 2006, the Bermuda Hogges were formed as the nation's first professional football team to raise the standard of play for the Bermuda national football team. The team played in the United Soccer Leagues Second Division but folded in 2013.[222]
Sailing, fishing and equestrian sports are popular with both residents and visitors alike. The prestigious Newport–Bermuda Yacht Race is a more than 100-year-old tradition, with boats racing between Newport, Rhode Island, and Bermuda. In 2007, the 16th biennial Marion-Bermuda yacht race occurred. A sport unique to Bermuda is racing the Bermuda Fitted Dinghy. International One Design racing also originated in Bermuda.[223]
At the 2004 Summer Olympics, Bermuda competed in sailing, athletics, swimming, diving, triathlon and equestrian events. In those Olympics, Bermuda's Katura Horton-Perinchief made history by becoming the first black female diver to compete in the Olympic Games. Bermuda has had two Olympic medallists, Clarence Hill - who won a bronze medal in boxing - and Flora Duffy, who won a gold medal in triathlon. It is tradition for Bermuda to march in the Opening Ceremony in Bermuda shorts, regardless of the summer or winter Olympic celebration. Bermuda also competes in the biennial Island Games, which it hosted in 2013.[224]
In 1998, Bermuda established its own Basketball Association.[225]
The Bermuda Hospitals Board operates the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, located in Paget Parish, and the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute, located in Devonshire Parish.[226] Boston's Lahey Medical Center has an established visiting specialists program on the island which provides Bermudians and expats with access to specialists regularly on the island.[227] There were about 6,000 hospital admissions, 30,000 emergency department attendances and 6,300 outpatient procedures in 2017.[228]
Unlike the other territories that still remain under British rule, Bermuda does not have national healthcare. Employers must provide a healthcare plan and pay for up to 50% of the cost for each employee.[229] Healthcare is a mandatory requirement and is expensive, even with the help provided by employers.[230] There are only a few approved healthcare providers that offer insurance to Bermudians.[229] As of 2016[update], these were the Bermudian government's Health Insurance Department, three other approved licensed health insurance companies, and three approved health insurance schemes (provided by the Bermudian government for its employees and by two banks).[231]
There are no paramedics on the island. The Bermuda Hospitals Board said in 2018 that they were not vital in Bermuda because of its small size.[232] Nurse practitioners on the island, of which there are not many, can be granted authority to write prescriptions "under the authority of a medical practitioner".[233]
The Minister for Health during the COVID-19 pandemic was Kim Wilson, who led the territory's approach with "an abundance of caution".[234][235]
This article incorporates public domain material from The World Factbook. CIA.Today, the term 'Coloured' as a racial distinction referring to the Black population is no longer used, but in the period covered by this index it was the usual term and has been retained......We suspect that the clergy generally made a decision whether they would describe a person as 'White', and the 'Coloured' designation was used for everyone not described as 'White'. Users of this index should not confine themselves to 'White' or 'Coloured' registers (where they are separated) but should look at both. They should also not take too seriously the indication 'Col.' or 'Wh.' that appears often under Comments; these were occasionally written into the margins of the register by the clergyman or parish clerk.
the non-white population....we analyzed genetic variation among members of this community....Our results reveal that the majority of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and Y-chromosome haplotypes are of African and West Eurasian origin. However, unlike other English-speaking New World colonies, most African mtDNA haplotypes appear to derive from central and southeast Africa, reflecting the extent of maritime activities in the region........RESULTS: mtDNA diversity...The majority of mtDNA lineages observed in Bermudians (68%) originated in Africa....West Eurasian haplogroups comprised 31% of the Bermudian mtDNA haplotypes..... Y-chromosome diversity...one-third of the Bermudian male participants, had three NRY haplogroups of African ancestry...West Eurasian haplogroups accounted for the majority of the male participants and the vast majority of their Y-chromosomes....More than two-thirds of the mtDNAs (68%) are of African origin, and approximately one-third of them (31%) are of European origin. By contrast, Native American lineages constitute less than 1% of Bermudian mtDNAs, somewhat less was expected based on oral histories and archival data....The NRY haplogroup data likewise reveal clear contributions from the same two major source areas. However, the trend is reversed, with European lineages accounting for 66% of St. David's Islander Y-chromosomes and African lineages accounting for 32% of them. Native American haplogroups comprised only 2% of Bermudian Y-chromosomes, less than anticipated based on oral history and archival data.
,_at_Battalion_Training_at_Tucker's_Town,_Bermuda,_1905.jpg/1280px-.jpgOfficers_of_3rd_Battalion,_The_Royal_Fusiliers_(City_of_London_Regiment),_at_Battalion_Training_at_Tucker's_Town,_Bermuda,_1905.jpg)
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)A description of everything on or about these places of which the visitor or resident may desire information, including their history, inhabitants, climate, agriculture, geology, government, and resources
a Fairmont managed hotel - luxury hotel in Hamilton
Extending toward the ocean's surface are four northeast-to-southwest trending volcanic peaks, including the emergent Bermuda Pedestal and the submerged Challenger, Argus, and Bowditch seamounts (figure 1). The islands of Bermuda are located along the southeast margin of the largest peak, the Bermuda Pedestal.
Approximately 40 employees, including the Consul General, Deputy Principal Officer, Consul, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Port Director and officers are assigned to the Consulate General.
issues of race and racial exclusion were undoubtedly the biggest factor in legislation and policy developments regarding citizenship law and the right of abode in the UK during the second half of the twentieth century.
The British authorities sought to restrict further numbers from immigrating to Britain through a number of measures, despite the fact that Cypriots were British subjects. This was done predominantly through the refusal to issue passports, as well as requesting that those travelling from the island pay a surety bond. The British limited the number of passports issued to Cypriots intending to travel to Britain. To obtain a passport for Britain, Cypriots had to pay a bond (in case they had to be repatriated).
These are independent kingdoms where Elizabeth II is Queen and Sovereign. There are 16 of them (see below) and all are members of the Commonwealth of Nations. Each Realm, being independent of all the others, titles the Queen differently.
Canada has been a monarchy for centuries - first under the kings of France in the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, then under the British Crown in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and now as a kingdom in her own right. These lands had been occupied for thousands of years by Aboriginal Peoples who, now for many centuries, have maintained an enduring and very close relationship with the person of the Sovereign and the Crown of Canada.
The Queen's relationship to Australia is unique. In all her duties, she speaks and acts as Queen of Australia, and not as Queen of the United Kingdom.
After achieving independence, India was the first of a number of countries which decided that, although they wished to become republics, they still wanted to remain within the Commonwealth.
Butler oversaw the production of the Bill that became the Commonwealth Immigration Act of 1962. This controlled the immigration of all Commonwealth passport holders (except those who held UK passports). Prospective immigrants now needed to apply for a work voucher, graded according to the applicant's employment prospects.
In 1967, Asians from Kenya and Uganda, fearing discrimination from their own national governments, began to arrive in Britain. They had retained their British citizenship following independence, and were therefore not subject to the act. The Conservative Enoch Powell and his associates campaigned for tighter controls. The Labour government responded with the Commonwealth Immigration Act of 1968. It extended control to those without a parent or grandparent who was born in or was a citizen of the UK.
This act imposed strict quotas and removed automatic right of entry into Britain for Asian British passport holders (except those born in Britain or those who had a British parent or grandparent). The next Conservative government brought in further tough controls on immigration.
At the beginning of the year, up to 1,000 Kenyan Asians, who hold British passports, were arriving in Britain each month. Amid growing unrest, the government rushed through the Commonwealth Immigrants Act in March, restricting the number of Kenyan Asians who could enter the country to those who had a relative who was already a British resident. The new Race Relations Act is intended to counter-balance the Immigration Act, and so fulfil the government's promise to be "fair but tough" on immigrants
Status: This item of legislation is only available to download and view as PDF.
The Conservative government announced the Immigration Act of 1971. The act replaced employment vouchers with work permits, allowing only temporary residence. 'Patrials' (those with close UK associations) were exempted from the act.
This Act moved away from the employment vouchers scheme and established temporary work permits. The Act also introduced the category of 'patrial' which was a 'grandfather' clause: if you had a grandparent born in the UK then you were exempt from the immigration controls.
Our North American colonies are eight in number, - Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, Bermuda, Vancouver Island, and British Columbia
CANADA: PROVINCES OF CANADA-Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Manitoba, North-west Territories, British Columbia, Prince Edward Island; NEWFOUNDLAND; BERMUDA; FALKLAND ISLANDS
The Diocese of Hamilton in Bermuda was established in 12th June 1967. Bermuda was served by the Diocesan clergy of Halifax until 1953, after which pastoral responsibility transferred to the Congregation of the Resurrection.
JAMAICANS in Bermuda have come a long way in only a few years. Once laughingly dismissed as "jump-ups", they have since established themselves as pillars of our community, gaining recognition for the many worthy contributions they have made to the island.
In July 2003, Bermuda formally joined the Caribbean Community as an Associate Member (non-voting member)...
Transport Minister Dr. Ewart Brown, who went to school in Jamaica, and had two Jamaican grandparents, said he hoped Mr. Patterson's visit, the first by a Jamaican PM, would put an end to strains in the relationship between Atlantic Bermuda and its Caribbean neighbours. Dr. Brown said: "Tonight perhaps we can put to rest our ambivalent and sometimes schizoid attitude to West Indians." He added that the only school named after a black teacher in Bermuda was Victor Scott -- who was a Jamaican.
An older sister of Bermuda's new Premier David Burt says he was a "miracle baby" as their Jamaican mother, Merlin, suffered complications during her pregnancy.
Mr. Roban's father, Matthew Roban, came to Bermuda from St. Vincent and the Grenadines. He married Charlotte Pavey and the couple had two children, Walter and his sister Teresa Pavey Roban.
He denied any PLP involvement with printed material that Mr. Swan said had appeared on sports club noticeboards and in the mail suggesting that UBP candidates were "carrying out the slavemaster's agenda". "Speaking as one of the campaign managers, I can say that no such material was produced by the PLP," said Mr. Roban. "This had nothing to do with the PLP. "Mr. Swan should be very careful about who he is aiming these accusations against. He seems to be accusing the people who operate these clubs. "Race plays a role in many aspects of Bermuda life and we are aware of that and deal with it with sensibility. We do not deal with it lightly, certainly not in a way that could abuse or insult people."
The Leader of the Opposition has hit back at an opinion piece by the former Deputy Premier, accusing its criticisms of being a repeat of old claims. Jarion Richardson added that Walter Roban's article, published in yesterday's edition of The Royal Gazette, reminded his party of how not to act. He said: "To Bermuda, we in the OBA double our commitment to not act like this Progressive Labour Party Government, to simplify government and governing, to exist solely to serve the interests of others.
Definitions from Wiktionary
Media from Commons
News from Wikinews
Quotations from Wikiquote
Texts from Wikisource
Textbooks from Wikibooks
Resources from Wikiversity
Travel information from Wikivoyage
Data from Wikidata
Wikimedia Atlas of Bermuda32°19′N 64°44′W / 32.32°N 64.74°W / 32.32; -64.74