Bermuda

Bermuda is a small, isolated British archipelago in the middle of the North Atlantic, off the United States; contrary to a common belief, it is not in the Caribbean. A British overseas territory, it is the oldest surviving English colony. About 64,000 people live on its string of linked islands, around the capital, Hamilton. Most of the population is Afro-Bermudian, descended from slaves and settlers, with a notable Portuguese community from the Azores. Known for its pink-sand beaches, its pastel houses with white roofs and the "Bermuda Triangle", Bermuda is above all one of the world's great financial and insurance centres.

Bermuda is a group of low islands, the coral tops of an old undersea volcano, linked by bridges into a single long, hook-shaped strip of land. The landscape is green and well kept, with gentle hills, gardens and pastel houses whose white roofs are designed to catch rainwater. The beaches are known for sand tinted pink by fragments of coral and shell, and the deep blue water hides reefs and many shipwrecks. The climate is subtropical and mild thanks to the Gulf Stream, cooler than the Caribbean.

Discovered by the Spaniard Juan de Bermúdez but left empty, with no native population, the islands entered English history in 1609 through a shipwreck: a ship bound for Virginia ran aground, and its survivors founded the colony, an episode thought to have inspired Shakespeare's The Tempest. Bermuda then lived from shipbuilding, sea trade and plantations, worked by enslaved Africans and Native Americans, from whom much of the population descends. After abolition in 1834 and the arrival of Portuguese immigrants from the Azores, the islands turned to tourism and then finance in the 20th century, which made them one of the richest territories in the world.

Bermudians speak English, with a local accent, and Portuguese is spoken in the community of Azorean origin. The islands are strongly Christian and churchgoing, with many denominations: Anglican, Catholic (especially among the Portuguese), Methodist, the AME Church, strong in the Afro-Bermudian community, and many evangelical churches. Bermuda is said to have one of the highest numbers of churches per head in the world. Religious holidays and a quiet Sunday still set the rhythm of life.

Bermudian culture mixes British, African and Portuguese heritage. The heart of its folklore is the Gombey, a masked, brightly costumed dance driven by drums, with African and Native American roots. Cricket is a passion, with the great annual Cup Match; men wear the famous Bermuda shorts with a jacket and tie; and sailing has a long tradition. The national dish is fish chowder, laced with rum and hot pepper sauce; there is also fish (rockfish, grouper), codfish cakes and dishes of Portuguese origin.