Overview
Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory located in the North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the US state of North Carolina, approximately 1,035 kilometers (643 miles) to the west-northwest. Despite its location in the Atlantic, Bermuda is considered part of North America geographically.
Bermuda is an archipelago consisting of 181 islands, though the most significant islands are connected by bridges and appear to form a single landmass. The territory has a land area of 54 square kilometers (21 square miles) and is divided into nine parishes.
Climate and Geography
Bermuda has a tropical climate characterized by warm winters and hot summers. The climate also exhibits oceanic features common to coastal areas in the Northern Hemisphere, with warm, moist air from the ocean ensuring relatively high humidity and stabilizing temperatures.
The territory is prone to severe weather from tropical cyclones. However, it receives some protection from a coral reef and its position north of the Main Development Region, which limits the direction and severity of approaching storms.
Government and Politics
Bermuda is a self-governing parliamentary democracy with a bicameral parliament located in the capital, Hamilton. The House of Assembly is the lower house and dates from 1620, making it one of the world's oldest legislatures.
The premier serves as head of government and is formally appointed by the governor, who is nominated by the British government as the representative of the King. The United Kingdom remains responsible for foreign affairs and defence. In 1995, an independence referendum was held with a large majority voting against independence.
Population and Demographics
As of 2019, Bermuda had a population of around 64,000 people, making it the second-most populous of the British Overseas Territories. The population is diverse:
- Black Bermudians, primarily of any mixture of African, European, and Native American ancestry, make up around 50% of the population
- White Bermudians, primarily of British, Irish, and Portuguese descent, make up 30% of the population
- Smaller groups from other races or identifying as mixed race comprise the remainder
- Approximately 30% of the population is not Bermudian by birth
Bermuda is the last remaining territory in the former British North America, following Canada's Confederation in 1867 and Newfoundland becoming a dominion in 1907. The territory has a distinct dialect of English and historically maintained strong ties with English-speaking countries in the Americas, including the United States, Canada, and the Commonwealth Caribbean. Bermuda is an associate member of the Caribbean Community.
Early History and Discovery
Bermuda was discovered in the early 1500s by Spanish explorer Juan de Bermúdez and named after him. The archipelago had no Indigenous population when discovered. It was mentioned in Legatio Babylonica, published in 1511 by historian Pedro Mártir de Anglería, and was included on Spanish charts of that year.
Both Spanish and Portuguese ships used the islands as a replenishment spot to take on fresh meat and water. The archipelago became known as the "Isle of Devils" due to its frequent storm-racked conditions, dangerous reefs, and legends of spirits and devils—now thought to have stemmed from the calls of raucous birds (most likely the Bermuda petrel) and loud nocturnal noises from introduced wild hogs. Neither Spain nor Portugal attempted to settle the territory.
English Settlement
For approximately a century, the island was frequently visited but not settled. In 1609, a flotilla of seven ships left England with settlers, food, and supplies intended to relieve the Jamestown colony in Virginia. A storm broke up the flotilla, and the flagship, the Sea Venture, drove onto Bermuda's reef to prevent sinking, resulting in the survival of all passengers and crew. The settlers, having learned about conditions in Jamestown, were unwilling to move on and made several attempts to rebel and stay in Bermuda. They built two ships, the Deliverance and the Patience, and argued they had a right to establish their own government.
In 1612, the English officially began settlement of the archipelago, officially named Virgineola, with the arrival of the ship the Plough. New London (renamed St George's Town) was settled that year and designated as the colony's first capital. It is the oldest continuously inhabited English town in the New World. In 1616 and 1620, acts were passed banning the hunting of certain birds and young sea turtles. An Act Agaynst The Killing Of Ouer Young Tortoyses, passed by the Bermuda Assembly, may be the earliest conservation law in the New World.
Slavery Era
In 1615, the colony, renamed the Somers Isles in commemoration of Sir George Somers, was passed to the Somers Isles Company. As Bermudians settled the Carolina Colony and contributed to establishing other English colonies in the Americas, several locations were named after the archipelago.
During this period, the first slaves were held and trafficked to the islands—a mixture of native Africans and Native Americans enslaved from New World colonies. The first two slaves arrived in Bermuda in 1616 from the West Indies, one being Black and the other Native American. More Black slaves were later trafficked to the island in large numbers from America and the Caribbean.
As the Black population grew, white settlers' fears of insurrection increased. In 1623, a law was passed forbidding Black slaves from buying, selling, bartering, or exchanging tobacco or other produce without their master's consent. Major slave rebellions occurred in 1656, 1661, 1673, 1682, 1730, and 1761. In 1761, a conspiracy involving the majority of the island's Black slaves was discovered, resulting in six executions and a prohibition on all Black celebrations.
English Civil War Period
In 1649, King Charles I was beheaded in Whitehall, London, following the English Civil War. The conflict spilled over into Bermuda, where most colonists developed a strong sense of devotion to the Crown. Royalists ousted the Somers Isles Company's Governor and elected John Trimingham as their leader. Bermuda's civil conflict was ended by militias, and dissenters were pushed to settle The Bahamas under William Sayle.
The rebellious royalist colonies of Bermuda, Virginia, Barbados, and Antigua were subjects of a punitive Act by the Rump Parliament of England. However, the Government of Bermuda reached an agreement with Parliament that retained the status quo. In 1655, fifty-four Bermudians became the first English subjects to settle permanently on Jamaica, followed by another 200 in 1658 after Cromwell's invasion of Jamaica.
Later 17th Century Development
In the 17th century, the Somers Isles Company suppressed shipbuilding to force Bermudians into farming for income. However, the Virginia colony far surpassed Bermuda in tobacco production quality and quantity. Bermudians began turning to maritime trades early in the century, but the Somers Isles Company suppressed this shift. This interference led islanders to demand and receive revocation of the company's charter in 1684.
After the company's dissolution, Bermudians rapidly abandoned agriculture for shipbuilding, replanting farmland with native juniper trees (Juniperus bermudiana, called Bermuda cedar). They established effective control over the Turks Islands and deforested their landscape to begin the salt trade. Bermudians also vigorously pursued whaling, privateering, and merchant trade.
Some islanders, especially in St David's, trace their ancestry to Native Americans. Hundreds of Native Americans were shipped to Bermuda, particularly Algonquian peoples such as Pequots, Wampanoags, Podunks, Nipmucks, and Narragansetts, who were exiled from New England colonies and sold into slavery in the seventeenth century, notably following the Pequot War and King Philip's War.