The Azores is an achipelago situated in the North Atlantic roughly 1,500 Km West of Lisbon, made up of 9 islands with land masses varying between 17 Km2 (Corvo) and 747 Km2 (São Miguel). The archipelago in an area of approximately 2,333 Km2 forming 3 groups of islands: the Eastern group which is comprised of of Santa Maria and São Miguel; the Central group which is comprised of Terceira, Graciosa, São Jorge, Pico and Faial; and the Western group which is comprised of Flores and Corvo.

The population of the Azores was 243,760 inhabitants in 1997, being distributed throught the 9 islands. The total land mass of all the islands if of 2,332.7 Km2, the Exclusive Economic zone has 984,280 Km2