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Coordinates: 32°20′N 64°45′W / 32.333°N 64.750°W / 32.333; -64.750
British Overseas Territory in United Kingdom
"Quo Fata Ferunt" (Latin)
(English: "Whither the Fates carry (us)")[1]
Anthem: "God Save the Queen"
Show the North Atlantic
Show the Western Hemisphere
English settlement
32°18′N 64°47′W / 32.300°N 64.783°W / 32.300; -64.783
(2016[2])
52% Black
31% White
4% Asian
Parliamentary dependency under a constitutional monarchy
• Monarch
• Governor
Rena Lalgie
• Premier
E. David Burt
• Lower house
House of Assembly
53.2 km2 (20.5 sq mi)
Highest elevation
• 2019 estimate
63,913[3] (205th)
• 2016 census
1,338/km2 (3,465.4/sq mi) (9th)
US$7.484 billion[3] (161st)
US$117,097 (4th)
Bermudian dollar (BMD)
UTC−04:00 (AST[4])
UTC−03:00 (ADT)
Bermuda (/bərˈmjuːdə/; historically known as the Bermudas or Somers Isles) is a British Overseas Territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land is in the American state of North Carolina, approximately 1,035 km (643 mi) west-northwest of the territory.
Bermuda is an archipelago consisting of 181 islands, although the most significant islands are connected by bridges and appear to form one landmass. It has a land area of 54 square kilometres (21 sq mi). Bermuda has a subtropical climate,[5] with mild winters and summers. Its climate also exhibits oceanic features similar to other coastal areas in the Northern Hemisphere, with warm, moist air from the ocean ensuring relatively high humidity and stabilising temperature. Bermuda lies in Hurricane Alley and thus is prone to severe weather; however, it receives some protection from a coral reef and its position at the north of the belt, which limits the direction and severity of approaching storms.[6]
Bermuda is named after Spanish explorer Juan de Bermúdez, who discovered the archipelago in 1505. The islands have been permanently inhabited since 1612, when an English settlement was established at St. George's. Forming part of British America, Bermuda was governed under royal charter by the Somers Isles Company until 1684, when it became a crown colony. The first African slaves were taken to Bermuda in 1616, but a full plantation economy did not develop and the slave trade largely ceased by the end of the 17th century. The economy instead became maritime-focused, with the colony serving as a base for merchants, privateers and the Royal Navy, and giving its name to the Bermuda rig and Bermuda sloop. Tourism has been a significant contributor to Bermuda's economy since the 19th century, and after World War II the territory became a prominent offshore financial centre and tax haven.
Divided into nine parishes, Bermuda is a self-governing parliamentary democracy with a bicameral parliament located in the capital Hamilton. The House of Assembly dates from 1620, making it one of the world's oldest legislatures. The premier is the head of government and is formally appointed by the governor, who is nominated by the British government as the representative of the Queen. The United Kingdom is responsible for foreign affairs and defence. An independence referendum was held in 1995, with a large majority voting against independence.
As of July 2018, Bermuda had a population of 71,176, making it the most populous of the British overseas territories.[1] Black Bermudians descended from slaves make up around 50% of the population, while White Bermudians, primarily of British, Irish and Portuguese descent, make up 30% of the population. There are smaller groups from other races or identifying as mixed race, and around 30% of the population is foreign born. Bermuda has a distinct dialect of English and has historically had strong ties with other English-speaking countries in the Americas, including the United States, Canada, and the Commonwealth Caribbean. It is an associate member of the Caribbean Community.
Bermuda is named after the Spanish sailor Juan de Bermúdez, who discovered the islands in 1505,[1] while sailing for Spain from a provisioning voyage to Hispaniola in the ship La Garça. (The name ultimately is therefore from the Visigothic name 'Bermund' or 'Veremund'.)
An early appearance of the name in English literature is in Shakespeare's The Tempest, a play inspired by the wreck of the Sea Venture, though not set on the islands:
Thou call'dst me up at midnight to fetch dew
From the still-vex'd Bermoothes[7]
John Donne's poem The Storm uses the same idea:
Compar'd to these stormes, death is but a qualme,
Hell somewhat lightsome, and the'Bermuda calme.
Main article: History of Bermuda
First map of the islands of Bermuda in 1511, made by Peter Martyr d'Anghiera in his book Legatio Babylonica
Bermuda was discovered in the early 1500s by Spanish explorer Juan de Bermúdez.[9][10] Bermuda had no indigenous population when it was discovered, nor during initial British settlement a century later.[11] It was mentioned in Legatio Babylonica, published in 1511 by historian Pedro Mártir de Anglería, and was included on Spanish charts of that year.[12] Both Spanish and Portuguese ships used the islands as a replenishment spot to take on fresh meat and water. Shipwrecked Portuguese mariners are now thought to have been responsible for the 1543 inscription on Portuguese Rock, previously called Spanish Rock.[13] Legends arose of spirits and devils, now thought to have stemmed from the calls of raucous birds (most likely the Bermuda petrel, or cahow)[14] and loud nocturnal noises from wild hogs.[15] With its frequent storm-wracked conditions and dangerous reefs, the archipelago became known as the 'Isle of Devils'.[16] Neither Spain nor Portugal attempted to settle it.
Settlement by the English
John Smith wrote one of the first histories of Bermuda in 1624 (combined with Virginia and New England).
For the next century, the island was frequently visited but not settled. The English began to focus on the New World, initially settling in Virginia, starting the Thirteen Colonies. After the failure of its first two colonies there, a more determined effort was initiated by King James I of England, who let the Virginia Company establish a colony at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. Two years later, a flotilla of seven ships left England with several hundred settlers, food, and supplies to relieve the colony of Jamestown.[17] However the flotilla was broken up by a storm. One ship, Sea Venture, landed on Bermuda's reef and reached the shores safely, with all 151 of its passengers surviving.[9] (William Shakespeare's play The Tempest is thought to have been inspired by William Strachey's account of this shipwreck.)[9][18][19] While there, they started a new settlement and built two small ships, Deliverance and Patience, to sail on to Jamestown. Bermuda was now claimed for the English Crown.
On 10 May 1610, the remaining survivors of Sea Venture sailed on to Jamestown. The Virginia Company's admiral, George Somers returned to Bermuda with the Patience to obtain food for the starving Jamestown settlers but died in Bermuda; the Patience instead sailed for England. In 1612, the English began settlement of the archipelago, officially named Virgineola,[20] with 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.[21][12] It is the oldest continually inhabited English town in the New World.[21]
In 1615, the colony, which had been renamed the Somers Isles in commemoration of Sir George Somers, was passed on to a new company, the Somers Isles Company.[22][23] As Bermudians settled the Carolina Colony and contributed to establishing other English colonies in the Americas, several other locations were named after the archipelago. During this period the first enslaved people were held and trafficked to the islands. These were a mixture of enslaved native Africans who were trafficked to the Americas via the African slave trade and Native Americans who were enslaved from the Thirteen Colonies.[9]
The archipelago's limited land area and resources led to the creation of what may be the earliest conservation laws of the New World. In 1616 and 1620 acts were passed banning the hunting of certain birds and young tortoises.[24]
Main article: English overseas possessions in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms
Map of Bermuda by Vincenzo Coronelli, 1 January 1692
In 1649, the English Civil War was taking place and King Charles I was beheaded in Whitehall, London. The conflict spilled over into Bermuda, where most of the colonists developed a strong sense of devotion to the Crown. The royalists ousted the Somers Isles Company's Governor, and elected John Trimingham as their leader. Bermuda's civil war was ended by militias, and dissenters were pushed to settle The Bahamas under William Sayle.[25]
The rebellious royalist colonies of Bermuda, Virginia, Barbados and Antigua, were the subjects of an Act of the Rump Parliament of England that was essentially a declaration of war:
[W]hereas divers acts of Rebellion have been committed by many persons inhabiting in Barbada's, Antego, Bermuda's and Virginia, whereby they have most Trayterously, by Force and Subtilty, usurped a Power of Government, and seized the Estates of many well-affected persons into their hands, and banished others, and have set up themselves in opposition to, and distinct from this State and Commonwealth, . . . the Parliament of England taking the premises into consideration, and finding themselves obliged to use all speedy, lawful and just means for the Suppression of the said Rebellion in the said Plantations, and reducing the same to fidelity and due obedience, so as all peaceable and well-affected people, who have been Robbed, Spoiled, Imprisoned or Banished through the said Treasonable practices, may be restored to the freedom of their persons, and possession of their own Lands and Goods, and due punishment inflicted upon the said Delinquents, do Declare all and every the said persons in Barbada's, Antego, Bermuda's and Virginia, that have contrived, abetted, aided or assisted those horrid Rebellions, or have since willingly joyned with them, to be notorious Robbers and Traitors, and such as by the Law of Nations are not to be permitted any maner of Commerce or Traffique with any people whatsoever; and do forbid to all maner of persons, Foreiners, and others, all maner of Commerce, Traffique and Correspondency whatsoever, to be used or held with the said Rebels in the Barbada's, Bermuda's, Virginia and Antego, or either of them.[26]
The royalist colonies were also threatened with invasion. The Government of Bermuda eventually reached an agreement with the Parliament of England which left the status quo in Bermuda.
Later 17th century
Bermuda Gazette of 12 November 1796, calling for privateering against Spain and its allies; it has advertisements for crew for two privateer vessels.
In the 17th century, the Somers Isles Company suppressed shipbuilding, as it needed Bermudians to farm in order to generate income from the land. The Virginia colony, however, far surpassed Bermuda in both quality and quantity of tobacco produced. Bermudians began to turn to maritime trades relatively early in the 17th century, but the Somers Isles Company used all its authority to suppress turning away from agriculture. This interference led to islanders demanding, and receiving, revocation of the company's charter in 1684, and the company was dissolved.[9]
Bermudians rapidly abandoned agriculture for shipbuilding, replanting farmland with the native juniper (Juniperus bermudiana, called Bermuda cedar) trees that grew thickly over the entire island. Establishing effective control over the Turks Islands, Bermudians deforested their landscape to begin the salt trade. It became the world's largest and remained the cornerstone of Bermuda's economy for the next century. Bermudians also vigorously pursued whaling, privateering, and the merchant trade.
Bermuda and the American War of Independence
Bermuda's ambivalence towards the American rebellion changed in September 1774, when the Continental Congress resolved to ban trade with Great Britain, Ireland, and the West Indies after 10 September 1775. Such an embargo would mean the collapse of their intercolonial commerce, famine and civil unrest. Lacking political channels with Great Britain, the Tucker Family met in May 1775 with eight other parishioners, and resolved to send delegates to the Continental Congress in July, aiming for an exemption from the ban. Henry Tucker noted a clause in the ban which allowed the exchange of American goods for military supplies. The clause was confirmed by Benjamin Franklin when Tucker met with the Pennsylvania Committee of Safety. Independently, others confirmed this business arrangement with Peyton Randolph, the Charlestown Committee of Safety, and George Washington.[27]
Three American boats, operating from Charlestown, Philadelphia and Newport, sailed to Bermuda, and on 14 August 1775, 100 barrels of gunpowder were taken from the Bermudian magazine while Governor George James Bruere slept, and loaded onto these boats. As a consequence, on 2 October the Continental Congress exempted Bermuda from their trade ban, and Bermuda acquired a reputation for disloyalty. Later that year, the British Parliament passed the Prohibitory Act to prohibit trade with the American rebelling colonies, and sent HMS Scorpion to keep watch over the island. The island's forts were stripped of cannons. Yet, wartime trade of contraband continued along well-established family connections. With 120 boats by 1775, Bermuda continued to trade with St. Eustatius until 1781, and provided salt to North American ports.[27]: 389–415
In June 1776, HMS Nautilus secured the island, followed by HMS Galatea in September. Yet, the two British captains seemed more intent on capturing prize money, causing a severe food shortage on the island until the departure of Nautilus in October. After France's entry into the war in 1778, Henry Clinton refortified the island under the command of Major William Sutherland. As a result, 91 French and American ships were captured in the winter of 1778–1779, bringing the population once again to the brink of starvation. Bermudian trade was severely hampered by the combined efforts of the Royal Navy, the British garrison and loyalist privateers, such that famine struck the island in 1779.[27]: 416–427
The death of George Bruere in 1780 turned the governorship over to his son, George Jr., an active loyalist. Under his leadership, smuggling was stopped, and the Bermudian colonial government was populated with like-minded loyalists. Even Henry Tucker abandoned trading with the United States, because of the presence of many privateers.[27]: 428–433
The Bermuda Gazette, Bermuda's first newspaper, began publishing in 1784.[28][29][30] The editor, Joseph Stockdale, had been given financial incentive to move to Bermuda with his family and establish the newspaper. He also provided other printing services and operated Bermuda's first local postal service, advertising on page 2 of his own first edition on 17 January 1784:
WANTED to hire immediately a brisk young Negro Man, well acquainted with the Islands of Bermuda, to travel twice through the Country every Week at least. One that can read will be preferred.
The Bermuda Gazette was sold by subscription and delivered to subscribers, with Stockdale's employee also delivering mail for a fee.[31]
An illustration of the Devonshire Redoubt, Bermuda, 1614
After the American Revolution, the Royal Navy began improving the harbours on the Bermudas. In 1811, work began on the large Royal Naval Dockyard on Ireland Island, which was to serve as the islands' principal naval base guarding the western Atlantic Ocean shipping lanes. To guard the dockyard, the British Army built a large Bermuda Garrison, and heavily fortified the archipelago.
During the War of 1812 between Britain and the United States, the British attacks on Washington, D.C. and the Chesapeake were planned and launched from Bermuda, where the headquarters of the Royal Navy's North American Station had recently been moved from Halifax, Nova Scotia.[citation needed]
Mullet Bay and the harbour at St. George's, the original capital
In 1816, James Arnold, the son of Benedict Arnold, fortified Bermuda's Royal Naval Dockyard against possible US attacks.[32] Today, the National Museum of Bermuda, which incorporates Bermuda's Maritime Museum, occupies the Keep of the Royal Naval Dockyard.
The British Government abolished the trade of slaves in 1807, but not the institution of slavery itself.[33] As a result of frequent slave rebellions in their other colonies, as well as the efforts of British abolitionists, the British Parliament abolished slavery in 1833.[12][9]
Due to its proximity to the southeastern US coast, Bermuda was frequently used during the American Civil War as a stopping point base for the Confederate States' blockade runners on their runs to and from the Southern states, and England, to evade Union naval vessels on blockade patrol;[12][9] the blockade runners were then able to transport essential war goods from England and deliver valuable cotton back to England. The old Globe Hotel in St. George's, which was a centre of intrigue for Confederate agents, is preserved as a public museum.
Anglo-Boer War
During the Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902), 5,000 Boer prisoners of war were housed on five islands of Bermuda. They were located according to their views of the war. "Bitterenders" (Afrikaans: Bittereinders), who refused to pledge allegiance to the British Crown, were interned on Darrell's Island and closely guarded. Other islands such as Morgan's Island held 884 men, including 27 officers; Tucker's Island held 809 Boer prisoners, Burt's Island 607, and Port's Island held 35.[34]
The New York Times reported an attempted mutiny by Boer prisoners of war en route to Bermuda and that martial law was enacted on Darrell's Island,[35] in addition to the escape of three Boer prisoners to mainland Bermuda,[36] a young Boer soldier stowed away and sailed from Bermuda to New York on the steamship Trinidad.[37]
The most famous escapee was the Boer prisoner of war Captain Fritz Joubert Duquesne, who was serving a life sentence for "conspiracy against the British government and on (the charge of) espionage".[38] On the night of 25 June 1902, Duquesne slipped out of his tent, worked his way over a barbed-wire fence, swam 1.5 miles (2.4 km) past patrol boats and bright spotlights, through storm-wracked waters, using the distant Gibbs Hill Lighthouse for navigation until he arrived ashore on the main island.[39] From there he escaped to the port of St. George's and a week later, he stowed away on a boat heading to Baltimore, Maryland.[40] He settled in the US and later became a spy for Germany in both World Wars. He claimed to be responsible for the 1916 death of Lord Kitchener in the sinking of HMS Hampshire, the head of the British Army who had also commanded British forces in South Africa during the second Boer War, but this had resulted from a mine. In 1942, Col. Duquesne was arrested by the FBI for leading the Duquesne Spy Ring, which to this day remains the largest espionage case in the history of the United States.[41]
Lord Kitchener's brother, Lt. Gen. Sir Walter Kitchener, had been the governor of Bermuda from 1908 until his death in 1912. His son, Major Hal Kitchener, bought Hinson's Island (with his partner, Major Hemming, another First World War aviator). The island had formerly been part of the Boer POW camp, housing teenaged prisoners from 1901 to 1902.
Hamilton Harbour in the mid-1920s
Winston Churchill hosted the Three-Powers Summit in 1953
The SS Queen of Bermuda in Hamilton Harbour, c. Dec 1952 / Jan 1953
The S.S. Queen of Bermuda departing the island in December 1952 / January 1953. The Devonshire Dock is in the foreground.
In the early 20th century, as modern transport and communication systems developed, Bermuda became a popular destination for American, Canadian and British tourists arriving by sea. The US Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, which enacted protectionist trade tariffs on goods imported into the US, led to the demise of Bermuda's once-thriving agricultural export trade to America and encouraged development of tourism as an alternative source of income. The island was one of the centres for illegal alcohol smuggling during the era of Prohibition in the United States (1920–1933).[12][9]
A rail line was constructed in Bermuda in the 1920s, opening in 1931 as the Bermuda Railway. Although popular, its high operating costs and the introduction of automobiles to the islands doomed the line, which was abandoned in 1948.[42] The right of way is now the Bermuda Railway Trail.[43]
In 1930, after several failed attempts, a Stinson Detroiter seaplane flew to Bermuda from New York City, the first aeroplane ever to reach the islands. The flight was not without incident, as the aircraft had to land twice in the ocean, once because of darkness and again when it needed to refuel. Navigation and weather forecasting improved in 1933 when the Royal Air Force (then responsible for providing equipment and personnel for the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm) established a station at the Royal Naval Dockyard to repair float planes (and supply replacements) for the fleet. In 1936, Luft Hansa began to experiment with seaplane flights from Berlin via the Azores with continuation flights to New York City.[44]
In 1937, Imperial Airways and Pan American Airways began operating scheduled flying boat airline services from New York and Baltimore to Darrell's Island, Bermuda. In World War II the Hamilton Princess Hotel became a censorship centre. All mail, radio and telegraphic traffic bound for Europe, the US and the Far East was intercepted and analysed by 1,200 censors, of British Imperial Censorship, part of British Security Coordination (BSC), before being routed to their destination.[45][46] With BSC working closely with the FBI, the censors were responsible for the discovery and arrest of a number of Axis spies operating in the US, including the Joe K ring.[47] In 1948, a regularly scheduled commercial airline service began to operate, using land-based aeroplanes landing at Kindley Field (now L.F. Wade International Airport), helping tourism to reach a peak in the 1960s and 1970s. By the end of the 1970s, however, international business had supplanted tourism as the dominant sector of Bermuda's economy.
The Royal Naval Dockyard and its attendant military garrison remained important to Bermuda's economy until the mid-20th century. In addition to considerable building work, the armed forces needed to source food and other materials from local vendors. Beginning in World War II, US military installations were also located in Bermuda, including a naval air station and submarine base along with US Army air, anti-aircraft, and coast artillery forces. The Army forces were under the Bermuda Base Command during the war, with some shifting and renaming of bases between the US Army, Navy, and Air Force after the war. The American military presence lasted until 1995.[48]
Universal adult suffrage and development of a two-party political system took place in the 1960s.[9] Universal suffrage was adopted as part of Bermuda's Constitution in 1967; voting had previously been dependent on a certain level of property ownership.
On 10 March 1973, the governor of Bermuda, Richard Sharples, was assassinated by local Black Power militants during a period of civil unrest.[9] Some moves were made towards possible independence for the islands, however this was decisively rejected in a referendum in 1995.[9]
At the 2020 Summer Olympics, Bermuda became the smallest overseas territory to earn a medal, as Flora Duffy won gold in the women's triathlon.
Main article: Geography of Bermuda
View of Bermuda from Gibbs Hill Lighthouse in July 2015
View from the top of Gibb's Hill Lighthouse
Landsat 8 satellite image
Topographic map of Bermuda
Bermuda is a group of low-forming volcanoes in the Atlantic Ocean, in the west of the Sargasso Sea, roughly 578 nautical miles (1,070 km; 665 mi) east-southeast of Cape Hatteras[49] on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, United States which is the nearest landmass.[1][50]
Although usually referred to as one island, the territory consists of 181 islands,[51] with a total area of 53.3 square kilometres (20.6 square miles).[51] The largest island is Main Island (also called Bermuda). Eight larger and populated islands are connected by bridges.[51] The territory is largely low-lying, with the tallest peak being Town Hill on Main Island at 79 metres tall (260').[1][52] The territory's coastline is 103 km (64 mi).[1]
Bermuda gives its name to the Bermuda Triangle, a region of sea in which, according to legend, a number of aircraft and boats have disappeared under unexplained or mysterious circumstances.[53]
Main sights
Bermuda's pink sand beaches and clear, cerulean blue ocean waters are popular with tourists.[54] Many of Bermuda's hotels are located along the south shore of the island. In addition to its beaches, there are a number of sightseeing attractions. Historic St. George's is a designated World Heritage Site. Scuba divers can explore numerous wrecks and coral reefs in relatively shallow water (typically 30–40 ft or 9–12 m in depth), with virtually unlimited visibility. Many nearby reefs are readily accessible from shore by snorkellers, especially at Church Bay.
Bermuda's most popular visitor attraction is the Royal Naval Dockyard, which includes the National Museum of Bermuda.[55] Other attractions include the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo,[56] Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute, the Botanical Gardens and Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art, lighthouses, and the Crystal Caves with stalactites and underground saltwater pools.
Non-residents are prohibited from driving cars on the island.[57] Public transport and taxis are available or visitors can hire scooters for use as private transport.[51]
NOAA Ocean Explorer Bermuda Geologic Map, where red denotes the Walsingham Formation, purple denotes the Town Hill and Belmont Formations, green denotes the Rocky Bay and Southampton Formations, and white is fill associated with the airport
Bermuda consists of over 150 limestone islands, but especially five main islands, along the southern margin of the Bermuda Platform, one of three topographic highs found on the Bermuda Pedestal. This Bermuda Pedestal sits atop the Bermuda Rise, a mid-basin swell surrounded by abyssal plains. The Bermuda Pedestal is one of four topographic highs aligned roughly from North-East to South-West. The others, all submerged, being Bowditch Seamount to the North-East, and Challenger Bank and Argus Bank to the South-West.[58] Initial uplift of this rise occurred in the Middle to Late Eocene and concluded by the Late Oligocene, when it subsided below sea level. The volcanic rocks associated with this rise are tholeiitic lavas and intrusive lamprophyre sheets, which form a volcanic basement, on average, 50 metres (165') below the island carbonate surface.[59]
The limestones of Bermuda consist of biocalcarenites with minor conglomerates. The portion of Bermuda above sea level consists of rocks deposited by aeolian processes, with a karst terrain. These eolianites are actually the type locality, and formed during interglaciations (i.e., the upper levels of the limestone cap, formed primarily by calcium-secreting algae, was broken down into sand by wave action during interglaciation when the seamount was submerged, and during glaciation, when the top of the seamount was above sea level, that sand was blown into dunes and fused together into a limestone sandstone), and are laced by red paleosols, also referred to as geosols or terra rossas, indicative of Saharan atmospheric dust and forming during glacial stages. The stratigraphic column starts with the Walsingham Formation, overlain by the Castle Harbour Geosol, the Lower and Upper Town Hill Formations separated by the Harbour Road Geosol, the Ord Road Geosol, the Belmont Formation, the Shore Hills Geosol, the Rocky Bay Formation, and the Southampton Formation.[59]
The older eolianite ridges (Older Bermuda) are more rounded and subdued compared to the outer coastline (Younger Bermuda). Thus, post deposition morphology includes chemical erosion, with inshore water bodies demonstrating that much of Bermuda is partially drowned Pleistocene karst. The Walsingham Formation is a clear example, constituting the cave district around Castle Harbour. The Upper Town Hill Formation forms the core of the Main Island, and prominent hills such as Town Hill, Knapton Hill, and St. David's Lighthouse, while the highest hills, Gibbs Hill Lighthouse, are due to the Southampton Formation.[59]
Bermuda has two major aquifers, the Langton Aquifer located within the Southampton, Rocky Bay and Belmont Formations, and the Brighton Aquifer located within the Town Hill Formation. Four freshwater lenses occur in Bermuda, with the Central Lens being the largest on Main Island, containing an area of 7.2 km2 (1,800 acres) and a thickness greater than 10 metres (30').[59]
Main articles: Climate of Bermuda and List of Bermuda hurricanes
1904 view across Hamilton Harbour from Fort Hamilton of cedar-cloaked hills in Paget Parish
Residential suburb near the old St. George's Garrison, with "Town Cut Battery" or "Gate's Fort" on the shore of the Town Cut, and St. George's Town and harbour in the background
Bermuda has a tropical rainforest climate (Köppen climate classification: Af), bordering very closely on a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification: Cfa). It is also an oceanic climate, common to many oceanic islands and to the western coasts of continents in the Northern Hemisphere (resulting in a more moderate climate on the western coast of Europe than on the eastern coast of North America), characterised by high relative humidity that moderates temperature, ensuring generally mild winters and summers. Bermuda is warmed by the nearby Gulf Stream, and low latitude. The islands may experience modestly cooler temperatures in January, February, and March [average 18 °C (64 °F)].[5] There has never been snow, a frost or freeze on record in Bermuda.[60]
Summertime heat index in Bermuda can be high, although mid-August temperatures rarely exceed 30 °C (86 °F). The highest recorded temperature was 34 °C (93 °F) in August 1989.[61] The average annual temperature of the Atlantic Ocean around Bermuda is 22.8 °C (73.0 °F), from 18.6 °C (65.5 °F) in February to 28.2 °C (82.8 °F) in August.[62]
Bermuda is in the hurricane belt.[1] Along the Gulf Stream, it is often directly in the path of hurricanes recurving in the westerlies, although they usually begin to weaken as they approach Bermuda, whose small size means that direct landfalls of hurricanes are rare. Hurricane Emily was the first to do so in three decades when it struck Bermuda without warning in 1987. The most recent hurricanes to cause significant damage to Bermuda were category 2 Hurricane Gonzalo on 18 October 2014 and category 3 Hurricane Nicole on 14 October 2016, both of which struck the island directly. Hurricane Paulette directly hit the island in 2020. Before that, Hurricane Fabian on 5 September 2003 was the last major hurricane to hit Bermuda directly.
With no rivers or freshwater lakes, the only source of fresh water is rainfall, which is collected on roofs and catchments (or drawn from underground lenses) and stored in tanks.[1] Each dwelling usually has at least one of these tanks forming part of its foundation. The law requires that each household collect rainwater that is piped down from the roof of each house. Average monthly rainfall is highest in October, at over 6 inches (150 mm), and lowest in April and May.
Access to biocapacity in Bermuda is much lower than world average. In 2016, Bermuda had 0.14 global hectares [63] of biocapacity per person within its territory, far lower than the world average of 1.6 global hectares per person.[64] In 2016 Bermuda used 7.5 global hectares of biocapacity per person—their ecological footprint of consumption. This means they use much more biocapacity than Bermuda contains. As a result, Bermuda runs a biocapacity deficit.[63]
Climate data for Hamilton – capital of Bermuda (L.F. Wade International Airport) 1981–2010, extremes 1949–2010
Record high °C (°F)
Record low °C (°F)
(5.47) 124
(4.17) 89
(4.33) 1,490
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 inch)
Average relative humidity (%)
142.9 144.5 185.7 228.1 248.1 257.2 281.0 274.1 220.1 197.5 170.3 142.5 2,492
Source: Bermuda Weather Service (sun, 1999–2010)[62][65]
Young Bermuda cedar tree at Ferry Reach
White-eyed vireo (Vireo griseus bermudianus)
Main article: Wildlife of Bermuda
When discovered, Bermuda was uninhabited by humans and mostly dominated by forests of Bermuda cedar, with mangrove marshes along its shores.[66] Only 165 of the island's current 1,000 vascular plant species are considered native; fifteen of those, including the eponymous cedar, are endemic.[67] The semi-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.[68]
The only indigenous mammals of Bermuda are five species of bat, all of which are also found in the eastern United States: Lasionycteris noctivagans, Lasiurus borealis, Lasiurus cinereus, Lasiurus seminolus and Perimyotis subflavus.[69] 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.[70] 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.
The Bermuda rock lizard (or Bermuda rock skink) was long thought to have been the only indigenous 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.[71]
Main article: Demographics of Bermuda
19th Century young Bermudian man
Racial Groups in Bermuda (2016 Census)[2]
Ethnic Groups percent
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/km2 (3,111/mi2).[2] As of July 2018, the population is estimated to be 71,176.[1]
The racial makeup of Bermuda as recorded by the 2016 census, was 52% Black, 31% White, 9% multiracial, 4% Asian, and 4% other races, these numbers being based on self-identification. 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. Bermuda has a diverse population including both those with relatively deep roots in Bermuda that extend back for centuries, and newer communities whose ancestry results from recent immigration, especially from Britain, North America, the West Indies, and the Portuguese Atlantic islands (especially the Azores and Madeira), although these groups are steadily merging. 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 Britain remain the largest non-native group at 3,942 persons). 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,[72] 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.[73] Those first immigrants arrived from Madeira aboard the vessel the Golden Rule on 4 November 1849.[74]
There are also several thousand expatriate workers, principally from Britain, 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. Of the total workforce of 38,947 persons in 2005, government employment figures stated that 11,223 (29%) were non-Bermudians.[75]
The predominant language on Bermuda is Bermudian English.[1] It exhibits characteristics of English as spoken on the Atlantic Seaboard of the United States of America (especially in the region around Virginia), in the Canadian Maritimes, southern England, and parts of the British West Indies. There has been noticeable variation in Bermudian English depending on the part of Bermuda and the demographic of the speaker. Much of the population adopted trans-Atlantic English over the latter decades of the twentieth century, while immigration has affected certain areas more than others. Many West Indian workers immigrated to Bermuda in the twentieth century, starting with hundreds of labourers brought in to expand the Royal Naval Dockyard at the West End at the start of the century. Many others immigrated later in the century, settling mostly in Pembroke Parish and western Devonshire Parish, north of the City of Hamilton, and the "back of town" (of Hamilton) dialect and the English spoken by many Blacks at the West End consequently reflects this. The West End also absorbed large numbers of civilian shipwrights and other British workers who were employed at the dockyard until it was reduced to a base in 1951. The central parishes also absorbed considerable numbers of white immigrants from Britain and elsewhere, especially in the years after World War II (when the local government loosened immigration laws to encourage white immigration to counter Black immigration from the West Indies), speaking various varieties of Southern England English, Northern England English, and Scots, et cetera. The central parishes were also where most immigrants from Portuguese territories have settled since the 1840s, and many Bermudians in this area especially speak a Portuguese-influenced Bermudian English as a badge of pride. The East End of Bermuda, which became increasingly cut off from investment and development after the capital moved from St. George's to Hamilton in 1815, has seen the least immigration over the twentieth century, with the least effect how English is spoken there, though the introduction of motor vehicles in 1948 has led to considerable spread of previously more isolated populations throughout Bermuda. The English of the St. David's Islanders, while often derided, is generally perceived as the most authentic form of Bermudian English.[original research?]
British English spellings and conventions are used in print media and formal written communications.[76] Portuguese is also spoken by migrants from the Azores, Madeira, and the Cape Verde Islands and their descendants.[1][77]
The image of the Lord Holy Christ of the Miracles, in Hamilton, venerated by Azoreans in Bermuda
Religion in Bermuda (2010)[78]
Protestant (46.2%)
Roman Catholic (14.5%)
Other Christian (9.1%)
Unaffiliated (17.8%)
Other religion (12.4%)
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.
Main article: Politics of Bermuda
The Queen on a 1953 Bermudian stamp
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 Elizabeth II) and is exercised on her behalf by the governor of Bermuda.[1] The governor is appointed by the queen on the advice of the British Government. Since December 2020, the governor is Rena Lalgie; she was sworn in on 14 December 2020.[79] There is also a deputy governor (currently Alison Crocket).[79] 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 House of Commons remains the sovereign Parliament, 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 Parliament of England, the Tynwald of the Isle of Man, the Althing of Iceland, and the Sejm of Poland.[80]
The State House in St. George's, the home of Bermuda's parliament between 1620 and 1815
The Sessions House in Hamilton, current home of the House of Assembly and the Supreme Court
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 1st October 2020. Following this election, the Progressive Labour Party held onto power, with Edward David Burt sworn in as Premier for the second time. [81][82][83]
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.[84] 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 persons.[85]
Nationality and citizenship
Main article: British nationality law
A British passport as issued by the Department of Immigration of the Government of Bermuda on behalf of the Passport Office of the Government of the United Kingdom, and often erroneously described as a Bermudian passport
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 the Magna Carta had effectively created English citizenship,[86] 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.[87]
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 right by various groups of colonials, including Greek Cypriots).[88]
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).[89][90][91][92]
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.[93][94][95] 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.[96] 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 persons did not become stateless if they were denied the citizenship of their newly independent nation.[97]
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.[98][99][100][101][102]
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 apply to all Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies who were not specifically excepted, including most colonials. By comparison:
Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962:
CONTROL OF IMMIGRATION
1.-(1) The provisions of this Part of this Act shall have effect for controlling the immigration into the United Kingdom of Commonwealth citizens to whom this section applies.
(2) This section applies to any Commonwealth citizen not being-
(a) a person born in the United Kingdom :
(b) a person who holds a United Kingdom passport and is a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies, or who holds such a passport issued in the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland ; or (c) a person included in the passport of another person who is excepted under paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of this subsection.
(3) In this section "passport" means a current passport ; and "United Kingdom passport" means a passport issued to the holder by the Government of the United Kingdom, not being a passport so issued on behalf of the Government of any part of the Commonwealth outside the United Kingdom.
(4) This Part of this Act applies to British protected persons and citizens of the Republic of Ireland as it applies to Commonwealth citizens, and references therein to Commonwealth citizens, and to Commonwealth citizens to whom this section applies, shall be construed accordingly.
1. In section 1 of the principal Act (application of Part I), in subsection (2)(b) after the words "citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies" there shall be inserted the words "and fulfills the condition specified in subsection (2A) of this section", and after subsection (2) there shall be inserted the following subsection:-
"(2A) The condition referred to in subsection (2)(b) of this section, in relation to a person, is that he, or at least one of his parents or grandparents,-
(a) was born in the United Kingdom, or
(b) is or was a person naturalised in the United Kingdom, or
(c) became a citizen of the United Kingdom and colonies by virtue of being adopted in the United Kingdom, or
(d) became such a citizen by being registered under Part II of the British Nationality Act 1948 or under the British Nationality Act 1964, either in the United kingdom or in a country which, on the date on which he was so registered, was one of the countries mentioned in section 1(3) of the said Act of 1948 as it had effect on that date".
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.[103][104]
The British Nationality Act 1981, which entered into force on 1 January 1983,[105] 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.[106][107]
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. As the Act was widely understood to have been passed in preparation for the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China (in order to prevent ethnic-Chinese British nationals from migrating to the United Kingdom), and given the history of neglect and racism those colonies with sizeable non-European (to use the British Government's parlance) populations had endured from the British Government since the end of Empire, the changing of the default citizenship to British Dependent Territories Citizenship only for the colonies with sizeable non-European populations has been understood by Bermudians as a particularly egregious example of racism. This has been further emphasised by the sizeable percentage of white Bermudians who retained right-of-abode in the United Kingdom while very few black Bermudians did.[108]
The stripping of birth rights from Bermudians by the British Government in 1968 and 1971, and the change of their citizenship in 1983, actually 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 the 10 April 1606, thereby applied to Bermudians:[109][110][111][112]
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.
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 wthin 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 wthin this our Kingdome of England or in any other of our Dominions
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,[115] stated:
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).[116][117][118]
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).[119]
Main article: Administrative divisions of Bermuda
Parishes of Bermuda
Bermuda is divided into nine parishes and two incorporated municipalities.[1]
Bermuda's nine parishes are:
Paget
Sandys
Bermuda's two incorporated municipalities are:
Hamilton (city)
St George's (town)
Bermuda's two informal villages are:
Flatts Village
Somerset Village
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[120] and Washington, D.C.[121] 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.[122]
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.[123]
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.[124]
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.[124]
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.[125]
Bermuda has also joined several other jurisdictions in efforts to protect the Sargasso Sea.[126]
In 2013 and 2017 Bermuda chaired the United Kingdom Overseas Territories Association.[127][128]
Asylum offer to four former Guantánamo detainees
Main article: Uyghur detainees at Guantanamo Bay: Bermuda
On 11 June 2009, four Uyghurs who had been held in the United States Guantánamo Bay detention camp, in Cuba, were transferred to Bermuda.[129][130][131][132] 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[129] 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.[133]
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.[134]
British North America, British West Indies and the Caribbean Community
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, with 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:[135]
Upper Canada, Lower Canada
New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island
Bermuda, Newfoundland
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.[136][137] 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; WEST INDIES; MEDITERRANEAN; WEST COAST OF AFRICA AND SOUTH ATLANTIC; SOUTH AFRICA; EGYPT AND THE SUDAN; INDIAN OCEAN; AUSTRALASIA; and CHINA. NORTH AMERICA AND NORTH ATLANTIC included the following stations (or garrisons):[138]
NORTH AMERICA AND NORTH ATLANTIC
New Westminster (British Columbia)
Kingston, Canada West
Military Governors and Staff Officers in British North America and West Indies 1778 and 1784
However, with the confederation of the Canadas and the Maritimes and their attainment of Dominion status in the 1860s, 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.[139][140] 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.[141][142]
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.[143] 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.[144][145]
Bermuda became an associate member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in July 2003, despite not being in the Caribbean region.[146][147][148]
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 a thousand miles 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.[149]
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.[150][151] The late PLP leader, Dame Lois Browne-Evans, and her Trinidadian-born husband, John Evans (who co-founded the West Indian Association of Bermuda in 1976),[152] were prominent members of this group. 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.[152][153][154]
The decision to join CARICOM stirred up a huge amount of debate and speculation among the Bermudian community and politicians.[155][156] 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.[157]
The UBP, which had been in government from 1968 to 1998, argued that joining CARICOM was detrimental to Bermuda's interests:[158]
Bermuda's trade with the West Indies is negligible, its primary economic partners being the US, Canada, and UK (it has no direct air or shipping links to Caribbean islands);
CARICOM is moving towards a single economy;
the Caribbean islands are generally competitors to Bermuda's already ailing tourism industry; and
participation in CARICOM would involve considerable investment of money and the time of government officials that could more profitably be spent elsewhere.
Main article: Military of Bermuda
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The First Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps Contingent, raised in 1914. By the war's end, the two BVRC contingents had lost over 75% of their combined strength.
Remembrance Day Parade, Hamilton, Bermuda
A former Imperial fortress colony once known as "the Gibraltar of the West" and "Fortress Bermuda", defence of Bermuda, as part of the British nation-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.[159] 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.[48]
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/or 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.
HMS Ambuscade at the Royal Naval Dockyard in 1988
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 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 Harvey. When promoted to brigadier at age 39, following his wounding at the Anzio landings, 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, the modern body is formed primarily by conscription: balloted males are required to serve for three years, two months part-time, once they turn 18.
In early 2020 Bermuda 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 Bermuda Regiment, Bermuda Police Service.[160]
Main article: Economy of Bermuda
A proportional representation of Bermuda exports, 2019
Front Street, Hamilton
Bermuda electricity production by source
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][21] 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]
1890s to 1920s economy severely affected by lily virus
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 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. There was a marked improvement in exporting 23 cases of lily bulbs in 1918 to 6043 cases in 1927 from the then 204 lily fields.[161] Still in his 20s, Ogilvie was professionally honoured by an article in Nature magazine.[162] The lily export trade continued to flourish until the 1940s when the Japanese captured much of the market.
In 1970 the country switched its currency from the Bermudian pound to the Bermudian dollar, which is pegged 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.[163] The Bermuda Monetary Authority is the issuing authority for all banknotes and coins, and regulates financial institutions. The Royal Naval Dockyard Museum holds a permanent exhibition of Bermuda notes and coins.[164]
Main article: Taxation in Bermuda
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.[165][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.[166]
Large numbers of leading international insurance companies operate in Bermuda.[167] 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.
There are four hundred securities listed on the Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX), of which almost three hundred are offshore funds and alternative investment structures attracted by Bermuda's regulatory environment.[citation needed] The Exchange 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.[citation needed]
Four banks operate in Bermuda,[168] having consolidated total assets of $24.3 billion (March 2014).[169]
One of Bermuda's pink-sand beaches at Astwood Park
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. Tourists arrive either by cruise ship or by air at L.F. Wade International Airport, the only airport on the island.[170] 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,[171] while real estate agencies have claimed that this figure had risen to between $1.6 million[172] and $1.845 million by 2007,[173] though such high figures have been disputed.[174]
See also: List of schools in Bermuda
The Bermuda Education Act 1996 requires that only three categories of schools can operate in the Bermuda Education system:[175]
An aided school has all or a part of its property vested in a body of trustees or board of governors and is partially maintained by public funding or, since 1965 and the desegregation of schools, has received a grant-in-aid out of public funds.
A maintained school has the whole of its property belonging to the Government and is fully maintained by public funds.
A private school, not maintained by public funds and which has not, since 1965 and the desegregation of schools, received any capital grant-in-aid out of public funds. The private school sector consists of six traditional private schools, two of which are religious schools, and the remaining four are secular with one of these being a single-gender school and another a Montessori school. Also, within the private sector there are a number of home schools, which must be registered with the government and receive minimal government regulation. The only boys' school opened its doors to girls in the 1990s, and in 1996, one of the aided schools became a private school.
Prior to 1950, the Bermuda school system was racially segregated.[176] 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.[177] 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.[178][179]
For higher education, the Bermuda College offers various associate degrees and other certificate programmes.[180] 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.[181]
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.[182] In 2010, it was announced that Bermuda would be an "associate contributing country" due to local Bermudan laws.[183]
Main article: Culture of Bermuda
See also: Holidays in Bermuda
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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. It is thought to have contributed to the abolition of slavery in the British Empire. Ernest Graham Ingham, an expatriate author, published his books at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. In the 20th century, numerous books were written and published locally, though few were directed at a wider market than Bermuda. (The latter consisted primarily of scholarly works rather than creative writing). 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.
See also: Music of Bermuda
Music and dance are an important part of Bermudian culture. 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.
Gombey dancers from Bermuda at the 2001 Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C.
Noted Bermudian musicians include operatic tenor Dr. 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 colourful Gombey dancers, seen at many events, are strongly influenced by African, Caribbean, Native American and British cultural traditions. In summer 2001, they performed at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. These Gombey Dancers continue to showcase their work for locals and visitors during the Harbour Nights festival on Bermuda's Front Street every Wednesday evening (during the summer months) and draw very large crowds.
Bermuda's early literature was limited to the works of non-Bermudian writers commenting on the islands. These included John Smith's The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles (1624), and Edmund Waller's poem, "Battle of the Summer Islands" (1645).[184][185]
Bermuda is the only place name in the New World that is alluded to in the works of Shakespeare; it is mentioned in his play The Tempest, in Act 1, Scene 2, line 230: "the still-vexed Bermoothes", this being a reference to the Bermudas.[citation needed]
Local artwork may be viewed at several galleries around Bermuda, and watercolours painted by local artists are also on sale. Alfred Birdsey was one of the more famous and talented watercolourists; his impressionistic landscapes of Hamilton, St George's, and the surrounding sailboats, homes, and bays of Bermuda, are world-renowned. Hand-carved cedar sculptures are another speciality. One such 7 ft (2.1 m) sculpture, created by Bermudian sculptor Chesley Trott, is installed at the airport's baggage claim area. 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.[186]
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. He has increasingly supported the development of local artists, arts education, and the arts scene.[187] In 2008, the museum opened its new building, constructed within the Botanical Gardens.[188]
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.[189]
Bermudian model Gina Swainson was crowned "Miss World" in 1979.[190]
Main article: Sports and recreation in Bermuda
The football team of 95 Company, Royal Garrison Artillery, victors in the 1917 Governor's Cup football match, pose with the cup. The cup was contested annually by teams from the various Royal Navy, British Army Bermuda Garrison, and Royal Air Force units stationed in Bermuda.
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). Today's association of football with the working classes began in 1885 when the FA changed its rules to allow professional players. The Bermuda national football team managed to qualify to the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup, the country's first ever major football competition.
The professionals soon displaced the amateur ex-Public schoolboys. Bermuda's role as the primary Royal Navy base in the Western Hemisphere, with an army garrison to match, 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 (rowing did not adapt well from British rivers to the stormy Atlantic. The officers soon switched to sail racing, founding the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club). Once these sports reached Bermuda, they were eagerly adopted by Bermudians.
Bermuda's national cricket team participated in the Cricket World Cup 2007 in the West Indies. Their most famous player is a 130-kilogram (290 lb) police officer named Dwayne Leverock. But India defeated Bermuda and set a record of 413 runs in a One-Day International (ODI). Bermuda were knocked out of the World Cup. Also very well known is David Hemp, a former captain of Glamorgan in English first class cricket. The annual "Cup Match" cricket tournament between rival parishes St George's in the east and Somerset in the west is the occasion for a popular national holiday. This tournament began in 1872 when Captain Moresby of the Royal Navy introduced the game to Bermuda, holding a match at Somerset to mark forty years since the unjust thraldom of slavery. The East End versus West End rivalry resulted from the locations of the St. George's Garrison (the original army headquarters in Bermuda) on Barrack Hill, St. George's, and the Royal Naval Dockyard at Ireland Island. Moresby founded the Somerset Cricket Club which plays the St. George's Cricket Club in this game (the membership of both clubs has long been mostly civilian).[191]
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.[192]
An IOD racer on a mooring in Hamilton Harbour
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 'til after the Second World War, though teams from the various Royal Navy, British Army Bermuda Garrison, and Royal Air Force units of Bermuda had competed annually for the Governor's Cup introduced by Major-General Sir George Mackworth Bullock in 1913. A combined team of the Bermuda Militia Artillery (BMA) and the Bermuda Militia Infantry (BMI) defeated HMS Malabar to win the cup on 21 March 1943, becoming the first team of a locally raised unit to do so, and the third British Army team to do so since 1926.[193] 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.
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.[194] In December 2013, Bermuda's bid to host the 2017 America's Cup was announced.
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.
In 1998, Bermuda established its own Basketball Association.[195] Since then, its national team has taken advantage of Bermuda's advanced basketball facilities[196] and competed at the Caribbean Basketball Championship.
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.[197] 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.[citation needed] There were about 6,000 hospital admissions, 30,000 emergency department attendances and 6,300 outpatient procedures in 2017.[198]
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.[199] Healthcare is a mandatory requirement and is expensive, even with the help provided by employers, though no more expensive than that which an employee in the US would typically pay for healthcare when obtained through their employer[citation needed] and the coverage typically far exceeds that which one may have through their employer in the US. There are only a few approved healthcare providers that offer insurance to Bermudians.[199] In 2016 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).[200]
There are no paramedics on the island. The Bermuda Hospitals Board says that they were not vital in Bermuda because of its small size.[201] 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".[202]
Economy of Bermuda
Index of Bermuda-related articles
Notable cultural people of Bermuda
Notable historical people of Bermuda
Notable political people of Bermuda
Notable sporting people of Bermuda
Outline of Bermuda
Places of interest in Bermuda
Telecommunications in Bermuda
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^ "Origin of Bermuda and Its Caves". Ocean Explorer. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (United States Government). 2009. Archived from the original on 20 March 2021. Retrieved 10 September 2021. 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.
^ a b c d Vacher, H.L.; Rowe, Mark (1997). Vacher, H.L.; Quinn, T. (eds.). Geology and Hydrogeology of Bermuda, in Geology and Hydrogeology of Carbonate Islands, Developments in Sedimentology 54. Amsterdam: elsevier Science B.V. pp. 35–90. ISBN 9780444516442.
^ Hans W. Hannau and William Zuill, Bermuda Islands in Colour (London: Macmillan, 1994), 126. ISBN 9780333575970
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^ Lin, David; Hanscom, Laurel; Murthy, Adeline; Galli, Alessandro; Evans, Mikel; Neill, Evan; Mancini, MariaSerena; Martindill, Jon; Medouar, FatimeZahra; Huang, Shiyu; Wackernagel, Mathis (2018). "Ecological Footprint Accounting for Countries: Updates and Results of the National Footprint Accounts, 2012-2018". Resources. 7 (3): 58. doi:10.3390/resources7030058.
^ "Bermuda's Climatology 1949–1999". Bermuda Weather Service. Archived from the original on 14 December 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
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^ "Endemic Species". The Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
^ Dinerstein, Eric; Olson, David; Joshi, Anup; Vynne, Carly; Burgess, Neil D.; Wikramanayake, Eric; Hahn, Nathan; Palminteri, Suzanne; Hedao, Prashant; Noss, Reed; Hansen, Matt; Locke, Harvey; Ellis, Erle C; Jones, Benjamin; Barber, Charles Victor; Hayes, Randy; Kormos, Cyril; Martin, Vance; Crist, Eileen; Sechrest, Wes; Price, Lori; Baillie, Jonathan E. M.; Weeden, Don; Suckling, Kierán; Davis, Crystal; Sizer, Nigel; Moore, Rebecca; Thau, David; Birch, Tanya; Potapov, Peter; Turubanova, Svetlana; Tyukavina, Alexandra; de Souza, Nadia; Pintea, Lilian; Brito, José C.; Llewellyn, Othman A.; Miller, Anthony G.; Patzelt, Annette; Ghazanfar, Shahina A.; Timberlake, Jonathan; Klöser, Heinz; Shennan-Farpón, Yara; Kindt, Roeland; Lillesø, Jens-Peter Barnekow; van Breugel, Paulo; Graudal, Lars; Voge, Maianna; Al-Shammari, Khalaf F.; Saleem, Muhammad (2017). "An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm". BioScience. 67 (6): 534–545. doi:10.1093/biosci/bix014. ISSN 0006-3568. PMC 5451287. PMID 28608869.
^ Grady, F.V. & Olson, S.L. (2006). "Fossil bats from Quaternary deposits on Bermuda (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae)". Journal of Mammalogy. 87 (1): 148–152. doi:10.1644/05-MAMM-A-179R1.1.
^ BirdLife International (2018). "Pterodroma cahow". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T22698088A132624115. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22698088A132624115.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
^ "Diamondback Terrapin". The Department of Conservation Services. Archived from the original on 7 August 2014.
^ "The Portuguese of the West Indies". Freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com. 31 July 2001. Retrieved 20 June 2010.
^ "Holiday To Mark Arrival Of Portuguese Immigrants". Bernews.com. 1 June 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
^ "Portugal Honorary Consul: 'We Are Very Excited'". Bernews.com. 2 June 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
^ Bermuda Sun, 4 April 2007.
^ Bermuda, Richard A. Crooker, Infobase Publishing, 2009, p. 66.
^ Support sought for Portuguese language courses Archived 22 August 2019 at the Wayback Machine, The Royal Gazette, 3 October 2012.
^ "Religions in Bermuda | PEW-GRF". Globalreligiousfutures.org. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
^ a b "The Governor of Bermuda". www.gov.bm. 3 March 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
^ Pethen, Valarie: Bermuda Report, Second Edition 1985–1988, p. 17. Department of Information Services, 1988. Bermuda.
^ Clifford, Ivan. "Bermuda PLP 14-year reign ends with premier also losing seat". Caribbean360. Archived from the original on 22 June 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
^ Kent, Jonathan (18 December 2012). "Cannonier: 'Bermuda has seen a new day'". The Royal Gazette. Archived from the original on 21 December 2012. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
^ Strangeways, Sam (19 July 2017). "Burt cries 'Hallelujah' as victory for PLP is declared". The Royal Gazette. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
^ "Our Relationship: Policy & History". bm.usconsulate.gov. Government of the United States of America. Retrieved 11 September 2021. 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.
^ "2016 Census Report" (PDF). Government of Bermuda, Department of Statistics. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 July 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
^ "Magna Carta, Petition of Right, History of Civil Liberties". United for Human Rights. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
^ Warwick, Professor (of Political Science) John (24 September 2007). "Race and the development of Immigration policy during the 20th century". Race and the development of Immigration policy during the 20th century. Professor John Warwick. Retrieved 11 September 2021. 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.
^ Smith, Evan; Varnava, Andrekos (4 June 2018). "Restrictions on British colonial migrants in an era of free movement: the case of Cyprus". History & Policy. Institute of Historical Research, Senate House, University of London. Retrieved 11 September 2021. 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).
^ "What Are the Commonwealth Realms?". www.monarchist.org.au. Australian Monarchist League. Retrieved 11 September 2021. 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: History and present government". Royal.UK. The Royal Household. Retrieved 11 September 2021. 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.
^ "Australia". Royal.UK. The Royal Household. Retrieved 11 September 2021. 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.
^ "The Commonwealth". Royal.UK. The Royal Household. Retrieved 11 September 2021. 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.
^ Warwick, Professor (of Political Science) John (24 September 2007). "Race and the development of Immigration policy during the 20th century". Race and the development of Immigration policy during the 20th century. Professor John Warwick. Retrieved 11 September 2021. The BNA 1948 reaffirmed the status of 'British Subject' on all those born within the empire and Commonwealth territories, but allowed for the creation of two sub-divisions within this term. The first was Citizenship of the UK and colonies (henceforth referred to as CUKC) which was created for Britain and those imperial territories yet to gain independence. The other being that of Commonwealth citizenship enacted by the self-governing Dominions, such as Canada, who began to create their own form of national citizenship and control over who entered their territories. Such dominions had however wished to retain a common empire-wide status. On gaining independence from the empire, inhabitants of the former colonial territory usually lost their CUKC status, but if that territory on independence joined the British commonwealth, they had gained commonwealth citizenship and thus retained their status as a British subject.
^ Lidher, Sundeep (20 April 2018). "British citizenship and the windrush generation". www.runnymedetrust.org. The Runnymede Trust. Retrieved 11 September 2021. Under the Act of 1948 British-born and colonial-born people were, in legal terms, one and the same. Anyone born in Britain or in a British colonial territory became a 'Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies' (CUKC or 'British citizen'). All Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies were also British subjects. The Act recognised Citizens of Independent Commonwealth Countries (CICC or 'Commonwealth citizens') as British subjects too, and afforded them the same rights in Britain as Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies
^ Pearsall, Mark (14 April 2014). "British nationality: subject or citizen?". nationalarchives.gov.uk. British Government National Archives. Retrieved 11 September 2021. things change with the British Nationality Act of 1981 which came into effect from 1 January 1983. It introduced five different types of citizenship. British citizens, people living in the UK or having a connection to the UK and the British Isles, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, so they became British citizens with an automatic right of abode. We actually ceased to be British subjects from 1 January 1983. That status still survives as a legal status and people still use it colloquially as British subjects. But in fact legally we just became British citizens from 1 January 1983 in the UK. It also created British Overseas Territory citizens, what used to be British dependent territories citizenship, for those territories that Britain held that hadn't become independent. From 2002 there was a British Overseas Territories Act (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2002/8/contents) which actually in most cases converted those British dependent territories citizens into British citizens, but some of them remained British Overseas Territory citizenship.
^ "Commonwealth Immigration control and legislation: The Commonwealth Immigration Act 1962". nationalarchives.gov.uk. British Government National Archives. Retrieved 11 September 2021. 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.
^ "Commonwealth Immigration control and legislation: The Commonwealth Immigration Act 1962". nationalarchives.gov.uk. British Government National Archives. Retrieved 11 September 2021. 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.
^ "Migration's effect on Britain - government. Post-war British laws for and against immigration, 1945-1972: Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968". BBC News. BBC News. Retrieved 11 September 2021. 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.
^ "Commonwealth immigrants in the Modern Era, 1948-present". BBC News. BBC News. Retrieved 11 September 2021. The 1962 Commonwealth Immigrants Act, which aimed to restrict numbers, set up a voucher system for those entering the UK to work. However, the law backfired. Many men who were working here at the time had intended to return to their families in the long-term, but when they realised that they may not be readmitted if they left the UK, they brought their families to join them and decided to settle permanently in the UK instead. The 1968 Commonwealth Immigrants Act restricted entry only to those with a father or grandfather born in the UK. When Asian refugees who had been expelled from East Africa arrived in the UK, they were met with hostility from sections of the press and protests organised by anti-immigration groups. The most prominent of which was the National Front, which wanted to ban all non-white immigration. They were, however, allowed entry. Two speeches criticising levels of immigration by leading politicians - Enoch Powell in 1968 and Margaret Thatcher in 1978 - had the effect of polarising public opinion, with a rise in the numbers expressing anti-immigrant views
^ "ON THIS DAY 1950-2005: 26 November, 1968: Race discrimination law tightened". BBC News. BBC News. 26 November 2008. Retrieved 11 September 2021. 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
^ "Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968". www.legislation.gov.uk. British Government. Retrieved 11 September 2021. Status: This item of legislation is only available to download and view as PDF.
^ Malik, Kenan (4 March 2018). "Opinion: Race; Racist rhetoric hasn't been consigned to Britain's past". The Guardian. London: Guardian News & Media Limited. Retrieved 11 September 2021. Fifty years ago last week, the Commonwealth Immigrants Act became law. It remains perhaps the most nakedly racist piece of legislation of postwar years. The background to the law was Kenyan president Jomo Kenyatta's "Africanisation" policy and his insistence that anyone without Kenyan citizenship faced expulsion. Thousands of Asian Kenyans with British passports decided to leave for Britain. In London, the Labour government panicked, fearing a racist backlash. Home secretary Jim Callaghan, Richard Crossman recorded in his diaries, had come to an emergency cabinet meeting "with the air of a man… [who] wasn't going to tolerate any of this bloody liberalism". Callaghan pushed through parliament in three days a law whose sole aim was to prevent Kenyan Asians with British passports from entering this country.
^ "Commonwealth Immigration control and legislation: The Commonwealth Immigration Act 1962". nationalarchives.gov.uk. British Government National Archives. Retrieved 11 September 2021. 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.
^ "Migration's effect on Britain - government. Post-war British laws for and against immigration, 1945-1972: Immigration Act 1971". BBC News. BBC News. Retrieved 11 September 2021. 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.
^ "The British Nationality Act 1981 (Commencement) Order 1982". Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
^ Lord Waddington (10 July 2001). "British Overseas Territories Bill". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Lords. col. 1014–1037. My Lords, I congratulate the Minister and the Government on the introduction of the Bill, even though we have had to wait a long time for it. I am sorry that the Conservative government did not introduce a Bill on these lines, but, when I raised this matter during my time in Bermuda, I had to accept the argument that action was not possible in the run-up to the handing over of Hong Kong to China. At the same time, have to say that in those days officials and Ministers alike made it fairly plain to me that after 1997 they would still take a lot of persuading that action was necessary, which makes me doubly appreciative of what has been done by this Government. I shall touch on one matter mentioned by my noble friend Lady Rawlings. When I was in Bermuda I was made acutely aware of the resentment felt by Bermudians who, on travelling to Britain, found themselves waiting in the foreigners' queue at London airport while EU citizens were whisked through immigration ahead of them. In fact, the situation was even worse than that because some Bermudians did find their way into the fast lane—Bermudians with British citizenship or the right of abode in Britain by virtue of ancestry—and they, of course, were white. Bermudians in the slow lane were for the most part black. There are other and very much more important ways in which the law at present harms race relations and the efforts to achieve equal opportunity in a place such as Bermuda. If bright young people working in the banks on the island do not get work experience in a far wider environment—in practice, in England—it will be that much less likely that they will be able to equip themselves, through experience overseas, for senior management. In short, opportunities to get more black Bermudians to the top in business, to share economic power with the whites, are being lost. I am sure that that is still the case today. It is something that this Bill will help to put right. Bermuda is a prosperous place. There are other overseas territories which are far from prosperous. St Helena, which I visited a year or two ago, is one such. I agree with my noble friend Lady Rawlings about the need to press ahead with plans for an airport. But it will still be some years before those plans can come to fruition, and in the foreseeable future, "Saints" will continue to travel abroad in order to seek work. As everyone knows, at present they go to Ascension, the Falkland Islands and some to Britain. The Bill will open up more job opportunities for them. Again, that is a very good effect of the Bill. In the case of St Helena, the Bill will get rid of a long-standing sense of injustice, the "Saints" believing—with much reason—that the immigration Acts of the 1960s and the British Nationality Act robbed them of rights bestowed on them by Royal Charter in the 17th century, a point made very clearly in the White Paper produced by the Government two or so years ago. There is one thing that all the dependent territories apart from Gibraltar have in common: they have all had, and still have, the right to become independent states, but instead they have chosen to remain British. Bermuda held a referendum on the subject in 1995, when the people voted overwhelmingly against independence. They remain loyal to Britain. The least that we can do is to repay that loyalty in some measure by giving them a common citizenship with us. I have only two questions to put to the Minister. The first relates to the position that will arise if, after the Bill becomes law, one of the overseas territories decides to become independent. The White Paper published by the Bermuda Government prior to the referendum on independence in 1995 stated that those enjoying Bermuda status would be Bermuda citizens on independence; however, it was silent on what would happen to their citizenship of the British Dependent Territories. What would happen to the British citizenship granted by this Bill? Would those who have been granted British citizenship lose it? At first blush, it would seem very unfair if they did, but, on the other hand, it might seem very unfair if a favoured few living in that little clutch of dependent territories were allowed to keep their citizenship with the right of free entry into Britain, while the mass of people living in former colonies continued to be denied that right. There seems to me to be a real problem here and I should like some guidance from the Minister. I was told the other day at the meeting that the Minister was kind enough to hold in the Foreign Office that what happened would be a matter of consultation and agreement between the British Government and the government of the territory in question. In other words, no assurance could be given that the people would keep their citizenship. I should appreciate the Minister's comments. My second question is easier. It relates to Clause 4. I gather that this provision covers the situation where someone comes to, say, Bermuda and after a number of years is granted overseas territories citizenship by the governor and then applies for British citizenship. But does such a person have to apply for overseas territories citizenship first? Why cannot such a person apply direct to the Secretary of State for British citizenship with proof of residence as required by the British Nationality Act? I am not sure why there will not remain an alternative route to British citizenship without having to go through the formality of achieving British Overseas Territories citizenship first. Once again, I warmly congratulate the Minister and I wish the Bill speedy progress through Parliament.
^ Warwick, Professor (of Political Science) John (24 September 2007). "Race and the development of Immigration policy during the 20th century". Race and the development of Immigration policy during the 20th century. Professor John Warwick. Retrieved 11 September 2021. The BNA 1981 completed the removal of the central notion of 'jus soli' (based around place of birth) and increased the element of 'jus sanguinis' (based around familial connection) within British citizenship. Any person born in the UK after 1st January 1983 could only to be regarded as a British citizen if at the time of their birth at least one of their parents is a British citizen or ordinarily resident in the UK for more than five years without restriction. In contrast commonwealth citizens, who were not born in the UK, but had 'patriality' under the Immigration Act 1971 were now considered to be British citizens. Two other categories of British nationals were created from those eliminated from CUKC status under the BNA 1981, that of British Dependent Territory Citizenship (henceforth referred to as BDTC) and British Overseas Citizenship (henceforth referred to as BOC). Being mere British nationals as opposed to British citizens, neither BDTCs or BOCs had rights of abode in the UK.
^ Lord Waddington (10 July 2001). "British Overseas Territories Bill". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Lords. col. 1014–1037. I shall touch on one matter mentioned by my noble friend Lady Rawlings. When I was in Bermuda I was made acutely aware of the resentment felt by Bermudians who, on travelling to Britain, found themselves waiting in the foreigners' queue at London airport while EU citizens were whisked through immigration ahead of them. In fact, the situation was even worse than that because some Bermudians did find their way into the fast lane—Bermudians with British citizenship or the right of abode in Britain by virtue of ancestry—and they, of course, were white. Bermudians in the slow lane were for the most part black...
...The White Paper published by the Bermuda Government prior to the referendum on independence in 1995 stated that those enjoying Bermuda status would be Bermuda citizens on independence; however, it was silent on what would happen to their citizenship of the British Dependent Territories. What would happen to the British citizenship granted by this Bill? Would those who have been granted British citizenship lose it? At first blush, it would seem very unfair if they did, but, on the other hand, it might seem very unfair if a favoured few living in that little clutch of dependent territories were allowed to keep their citizenship with the right of free entry into Britain, while the mass of people living in former colonies continued to be denied that right. There seems to me to be a real problem here and I should like some guidance from the Minister.
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^ Smith, Karen; Breen, Stephen (14 December 2002). "Caricom set to pass". The Royal Gazette. Archived from the original on 10 November 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
^ "Welcome to Caricom". The Royal Gazette. 19 December 2002. Archived from the original on 10 November 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
^ Smith, Karen; Breen, Stephen (16 December 2002). "The 'ayes' have it in the great Caricom debate". The Royal Gazette. Archived from the original on 10 November 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
^ Johnson, Ayo (18 June 2003). "UBP takes 'wait-and-see' stance on Caricom". The Royal Gazette. Archived from the original on 10 November 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
^ Martin Gilbert, Churchill and America. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005.
^ "Launch of Bermuda Coast Guard". Gov.bm. 6 February 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
^ October 1928 Monthly Bulletin of the Bermuda Department of Agriculture and Fisheries article by Lawrence Ogilvie
^ Nature number 2997, 9 April 1927, page 52
^ Bank of Butterfield Exchange Rate Page. Butterfieldbank.bm. Retrieved 15 August 2012. Archived 9 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine
^ "Exhibits". Bermuda Maritime Museum. Archived from the original on 29 August 2006. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
^ "US Commercial Service: Doing Business in Bermuda" (PDF). Photos.state.gov. 15 August 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 October 2017. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
^ Drucker, Jesse (15 December 2012). "Google Revenues Sheltered in No-Tax Bermuda Soar to $10 Billion". Bloomberg L.P.
^ "Hiscox Prepares Move to Bermuda Holding Company", Insurance Journal, 25 October 2006. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
^ "List of Banks in Bermuda". thebanks.eu.
^ Quarterly Banking Digest, Q1 2014 Archived 7 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine. bma.bm. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
^ "Tourism in 2006". The Royal Gazette. 1 February 2006. Archived from the original on 10 November 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
^ Central Intelligence Agency (2009). "Bermuda". The World Factbook. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
^ Kent, Jonathan (10 January 2007). "Average cost of houses hits $1.6m". The Royal Gazette. Archived from the original on 5 September 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
^ Ebbin, Meredith (2 August 2007), "Average family home now $1.8m", Bermuda Sun.
^ Kent, Jonathan (12 January 2007), "$1.6m average house price? It's a distortion says Sir John", The Royal Gazette.[dead link]
^ "Bermuda Education Act 1996" (PDF). Bermuda Union of Teachers. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 January 2021. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
^ "Historical Context of Education in Bermuda: Perspectives of a Participant Observer" (PDF).
^ "Home – Bermuda Schools". schools.moed.bm. Archived from the original on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
^ Gozney, Richard H.T. (6 November 2009). "2009 Throne Speech". BDA Sun Bermuda Sun Online. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
^ kbsmith (4 July 2019). "Minister of Education Provides End of School Year Update". Gov.bm. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
^ "Bermuda College". Archived from the original on 1 May 2008. Retrieved 10 February 2008.
^ College, Bermuda. "Bermuda College Pathways to a Bachelor's Degree". Bermuda College. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
^ "Bermuda joins the UWI Family". Campus News. UWI St. Augustine. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
^ "UWI welcomes Bermuda as a member country". Campus News. UWI St. Augustine. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
^ "The Battle Of The Summer Islands : Canto 1 – Poem by Edmund Waller". poemhunter.com. Archived from the original on 8 October 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
^ "The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (1907–21), Volume VII. Cavalier and Puritan, III. Writers of the Couplet, § 4. Edmund Waller". bartleby.com. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
^ Dale, Amanda (19 February 2010). "If there is a story that has the potential to bring all of us together, then this is the one". The Royal Gazette. Archived from the original on 23 August 2018. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
^ "Tom Butterfield". CBS DC. 6 July 2011. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
^ "Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art – official website". Bermudamasterworks.org. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
^ "Bermuda International Film Festival – official website". Biff.bm. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
^ "Gina Swainson". Bernews. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
^ Stranack
^ "Staff". Oceanviewgolfclub.com. Archived from the original on 16 January 2021. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
^ Bermuda Militia Win Governor's Football Cup. The Recorder. Page 1. City of Hamilton, Bermuda. 24 March 1943.
^ "Bermuda International One Design Fleet". Iodfleet.bm. Retrieved 20 June 2010.
^ FIBA National Federations | Bermuda, Fiba.com. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
^ "Bermuda's Sports". bermuda-online.org/. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
^ "Contact Us" Archived 6 December 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Bermuda Hospitals Board. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
^ "Hospital reveals harm figures". Royal Gazette. 10 July 2018. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
^ a b Keith Archibald Forbes. "Bermuda Healthcare costs". bermuda-online.org/healthcare. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
^ "Licensed and Approved Health Insurers" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 August 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
^ "Call for paramedics to save lives on island". Royal Gazette. 22 October 2018. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
^ "Nurse can write prescriptions". Royal Gazette. 25 September 2018. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
Duffy, Peter (2014). Double Agent. New York: Scribner. ISBN 978-1-4516-6795-0.
McGovern, Terrance; Harris, Edward (2018). Defenses of Bermuda 1612–1995 (Fortress 112). New York: Osprey Publishing c/o Bloomsbury Publishing.
Ronnie, Art (1995). Counterfeit Hero: Fritz Duquesne, Adventurer and Spy. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-733-3. OCLC 605599179.
"Bermuda". The New American Desk Encyclopedia (Third ed.). New York, NY: Signet. 1993. ISBN 0-451-17566-2.
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Bermudas".
Boultbee, Paul G. and David F. Raine. Bermuda. Oxford: ABC-Clio Press, 1998.
Connell, J. (1994). "Britain's Caribbean colonies: The end of the era of Decolonisation?" The Journal of Commonwealth & Comparative Politics, 32(1), 87–106.
Glover, Lorri. co-author, The Shipwreck That Saved Jamestown: The Sea Venture Castaways and the Fate of America
Anonymous, but probably written by John Smith (1580–1631): The Historye of the Bermudaes or Summer Islands. University of Cambridge Press, 2010. ISBN 978-1108011570
Media related to Bermuda at Wikimedia Commons
Bermuda Archipelago
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Articles relating to Bermuda
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Culture:Anglosphere
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Since 1816 Tristan da Cunha23
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1882–1922 Egypt
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1920–1963 Kenya
1922–1961 Tanganyika13
1923–1965 and 1979–1980 Southern Rhodesia14
1924–1964 Northern Rhodesia15
6. Now Lesotho.
7. Now Ghana.
8. Now Botswana.
9. Now part of Tanzania.
10. Now Malawi.
11. Now named Eswatini.
12. Now Namibia.
13. League of Nations mandate. British Cameroons is now part of Cameroon, while Tanganyika is part of Tanzania.
14. Self-governing Southern Rhodesia unilaterally declared independence in 1965 (as Rhodesia) and continued as an unrecognised state until the 1979 Lancaster House Agreement. After recognised independence in 1980, Zimbabwe was a member of the Commonwealth until it withdrew in 2003.
15. Now Zambia.
1685–1824 Bencoolen
1702–1705 Pulo Condore
1757–1947 Bengal
1762–1764 Manila and Cavite
1781–1784 and 1795–1819 Padang
1786–1946 Penang
1795–1948 Ceylon16
1796–1965 Maldives
1811–1816 Java
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1848–1946 Labuan
1858–1947 India18
1874–1963 Borneo
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1882–1963 North Borneo17
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1888–1984 Brunei
1891–1971 Muscat and Oman
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1895–1946 Federated Malay States
1898–1930 Weihai
1907–1949 Bhutan (protectorate)
1918–1961 Kuwait
1920–1932 Mesopotamia19
1921–1946 Transjordan8
1923–1948 Palestine19
1945–1946 South Vietnam
1946–1963 North Borneo
1946–1963 Sarawak
1946–1963 Singapore
1946–1948 Malayan Union
1948–1957 Federation of Malaya17
Since 1965 British Indian Ocean Territory (before as part of Mauritius and Seychelles)
16. Now Sri Lanka.
17. Now part of Malaysia.
18. Now India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
19. League of Nations mandate. Iraq's mandate was not enacted and replaced by the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty
17th century and before 18th century 19th and 20th centuries
1579 New Albion
16th c.–1880 British Arctic Territories
1583–1907 Newfoundland
1605–1979 *Saint Lucia
1607–1776 Virginia
Since 1619 Bermuda
1620–1691 Plymouth
1623–1883 Saint Kitts
1624–1966 *Barbados
1625–1650 Saint Croix
1627–1979 *Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
1628–1883 Nevis
1629–1691 Massachusetts-Bay
1632–1776 Maryland
since 1632 Montserrat
1632–1860 Antigua
1635–1644 Saybrook
1636–1776 Connecticut
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1643–1860 Bay Islands
Since 1650 Anguilla
1655–1860 Mosquito Coast
1655–1962 *Jamaica
1663–1712 Carolina
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1665–1674 and 1702–1776 New-Jersey
Since 1666 Virgin Islands
Since 1670 Cayman Islands
1670–1973 *Bahamas
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1674–1702 East Jersey
1674–1702 West Jersey
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1681–1776 Pennsylvania
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1713–1867 Nova-Scotia
1733–1776 Georgia
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1762–1974 *Grenada
1763–1978 Dominica
1763–1873 Prince Edward Island
1763–1791 Quebec
1763–1783 East Florida
1763–1783 West Florida
1784–1867 New Brunswick
1791–1841 Lower Canada
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Since 1799 Turks and Caicos Islands
1818–1846 Columbia District/Oregon Country1
1833–1960 Windward Islands
1841–1867 Canada
1843 Paulet affair
1849–1866 Vancouver Island
1853–1863 Queen Charlotte Islands
1858–1866 British Columbia
1859–1870 North-Western Territory
1860–1981 *Antigua and Barbuda
1862–1863 Stickeen
1867–1931 *Dominion of Canada2
1871–1981 *Belize
1882–1983 *Saint Kitts and Nevis
1889–1962 Trinidad and Tobago
1907–1949 Newfoundland3
1958–1962 West Indies Federation
1967–1983 West Indies Associated States
1. Occupied jointly with the United States.
2. In 1931, Canada and other British dominions obtained self-government through the Statute of Westminster. See Name of Canada.
3. Gave up self-rule in 1934, but remained a de jure Dominion until it joined Canada in 1949.
18th and 19th centuries 20th century
1788–1901 New South Wales
1803–1901 Van Diemen's Land/Tasmania
1807–1863 Auckland Islands20
1824–1980 New Hebrides21
1824–1901 Queensland
1829–1901 Swan River/Western Australia
1836–1901 South Australia
since 1838 Pitcairn Islands
1841–1907 New Zealand
1846-1847 North Australia
1851–1901 Victoria
1874–1970 Fiji
1877–1976 Western Pacific Territories
1884–1902 Papua
1888–1901 Rarotonga/Cook Islands20
1889–1948 Union Islands20
1892–1979 Gilbert and Ellice Islands22
1893–1978 *Solomon Islands
1900–1970 Tonga
1900–1974 Niue20
1901–1942 *Australia
1907–1947 *New Zealand
1914–1962 Samoa
1919–1942 and 1945–1968 Nauru
20. Now part of the *Realm of New Zealand.
21. Now Vanuatu.
22. Now Kiribati and *Tuvalu.
1631–1641 Providence Island
1651–1667 Willoughbyland
1670–1688 Saint Andrew and Providence Islands4
1831–1966 Guiana
Since 1833 Falkland Islands5
Since 1908 South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands5
4. Now a department of Colombia.
5. Occupied by Argentina during the Falklands War of April–June 1982.
Antarctica and the South Atlantic
Since 1833 Falkland Islands
1841–1933 Australian Antarctic Territory (transferred to the Commonwealth of Australia)
1841–1947 Ross Dependency (transferred to the Realm of New Zealand)
Since 1908 British Antarctic Territory24
Since 1908 South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands24
23. Since 2009 part of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha; Ascension Island (1922–) and Tristan da Cunha (1938–) were previously dependencies of Saint Helena.
24. Both claimed in 1908; territories formed in 1962 (British Antarctic Territory) and 1985 (South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands).
Historical flags of the British Empire
Outlying territories of European countries
Territories under European sovereignty but closer to or on continents other than Europe (see inclusion criteria for further information).
Adélie Land
Crozet Islands
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Île Saint-Paul
Kerguelen Islands
Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean
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Lampione
Peter I Island
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Peñón de Alhucemas
Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera
Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
Secretariat (Secretary-General)
Montserrat2
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Common Fund for Commodities (CFC)
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Single Market and Economy (CSME)
CARIFORUM
Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)
1 Member of the Community but not of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME)
2 British overseas territory awaiting entrustment to join the CSME
English-speaking world
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Akrotiri and Dhekelia
Dependencies shown in italics.
Bermuda at Wikipedia's sister projects:
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Calderas of North America
Volcanoes of Bermuda