All the 9 islands of the Azores Archipelago are volcanic origin and are located roughly between 37' and 40' north latitude and 25' and 31' west longitude, with the island of Flores marking the westernmost border of the European continent. Around 244,780 people live in the 2325 sq kms of this island territory, which is part of the Portuguese state and constitutes the Autonomous Region of the Azores.

 

The islands of the archipelago are divided in 3 geographical groups: the Eastern Group; comprising Santa Maria and Sao Miguel, the Central Group; includes Terceira, Graciosa, Sao Jorge, Faial and Pico, and the Western Group; composed by Flores and Corvo. The Azores, along with the archipelago of Madeira, Cary Islands, and Cape Verde make up the biogeographic region of Macaronesia, aname that means "fortunate islands" for those who live there and visit them.

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Countries that have schedule or charter flights to the Azores are from  Canada, United States, Spain, Italy, France, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Poland Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Brazil and mainland Portugal. Flights go either direct to some of the Azores islands or via mainland Portugal cities such as Porto and Lisbon.

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