Terceira Island
Terceira Island is a Portuguese island in the Azores Archipelago, in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean. Angra do Heroísmo, the historical capital of the Azores, is located on Terceira, and its historical centre is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The island has two ports in Angra do Heroísmo and in Praia da Vitória. It also has a military base in Lajes. Angra do Heroísmo is the oldest city in the Azores dating back to 1534.
It includes the municipalities of Angra do Heroísmo and Praia da Vitória.
The population was once around 59,000 and is now 55,833. The population density is around 140.73/km². The island's area is 396.75 km². The highest point is 1,022 m and the mountain is named Serra de Santa Barbara. The island's length is 29 km and the width from north to south is 18km. The island has a perimeter of 90 km.
| Terceira | |
|---|---|
 Terceira Island, seen here from the Space Shuttle, contains four stratovolcanoes. | |
| Elevation: | 1023 m (3,356 feet) |
| Latitude: | 38.73° N (38° 44' 0" N) |
| Longitude: | 27.32° W (27° 19' 0" W) |
| Location: | Azores, Portugal |
| Type: | Stratovolcano |
| Last eruption: | 2000 |
| First ascent: | |
| Easiest route: | |
Geography
Its geography is of great beauty with beautiful scenery like the sights of the island from the top of the mountain. The western part is covered with vegetation. The northern part of the island is made up of a volcano.
Economy
Its main economy constists of the exportation of live-stock and dairy based products.
Events
An annual event held daily from May 1st to September 30th is the tourada à corda ('Bullfight with rope' in Portuguese). It consists of a bull in the streets, with some men controlling it with a rope and other men challenging it. Leaving the bull in the streets tied with a rope, some men challenge the bull while others control the bull with the rope. There are sometimes touradas two or three times in one day.
Persons
- Francisco Ferreira Drummond (January 21, 1796 - September 11, 1858), a Portuguese historiographer, paleographer and a musician.
Mythical island
Terceira Island has been identified with the phantom island of Brazil. However, its Mediaeval name Brasil arises from a different origin: from red dye-woods, possibly also applied to other vegetable dyes, and so descending from the Insulae Purpurariae of Pliny. It first appears as the "I. de Brazi" in the Venetian map of Andrea Bianco (1436), where it is found attached to one of the larger islands of the Azores. When this group became better known and was colonized, the island in question was renamed Terceira.
External links
- In English:
- In German:
- http://www.azoren-online.com/terceira (in German)
- In Portuguese:
- http://www.cm-ah.pt - Homepage of Angra do Heroísmo
- http://www.praiadavitoria.net - Homepage of Praia da Vitória
Sources
- Siebert L, Simkin T (2002–present). Volcanoes of the World: an Illustrated Catalog of Holocene Volcanoes and their Eruptions. Smithsonian Institution, Global Volcanism Program Digital Information Series, GVP-3 (http://www.volcano.si.edu).