Map of The Azores

The Azores (Açores in Portuguese) are an archipelago in the middle (literally) of the Atlantic. They are an attractive destination for visitors, being of volcanic origin, so having exotic geographical features, and rich in fauna and, especially, flora. There are nine islands in the Azores, grouped by proximity and for administrative purposes into Eastern, Central and Western groups. The Western Group consists of the two smallest islands of the Azores: Flores and the even tinier Corvo (both populated, though, Corvo Island having a population of four hundred and something). Both are old volcanoes, and both lie to the west of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, unlike the rest of the Azores. The Central Group of the Azores is the thickest, with five medium-sized or large islands: from west to east, they are, first, Faial Island, with a single town, Horta, and a volcano which erupted as recently as 1958. East of it lies Pico Island, much larger but with a similar population and a remarkable volcano of its own, the Ponta de Pico or Mount Pico which gives the island its name and is the highest mountain in Portugal (2,531 metres above sea level). Not content with that, it is also the highest point in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. East of Pico Island lies São Jorge Island, 53 kilometres long, shaped like a bayonet and also volcanic. North of this is Graciosa Island, little more than a speck no more than 10 kilometres across at any point but having a volcano 400 metres high (and the poisonous-sounding Furna do Enxofre, Sulphur Cavern, a World Heritage Site "whose origin is related to the collapse phase and drainage of a lava lake in the interior of the caldera"). The most easterly of the Central Group of islands is Terceira Island, the third largest in the Azores (hence the name, I think, though it could also mean "third" as in "third island on the right on your way to Brazil") and the second in population. The historic centre of its main town, the grandly named Angra do Heroísmo, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Eastern Group is São Miguel Island, the largest and most populated of the Azores, twice the size of Malta; Santa Maria, the dot below it, the nearest of the islands to Europe, and the Formigas Islets, a group of tiny islands between São Miguel and Santa María, to the east (you will not be able to see them on the map, the largest is no more than 180 metres long). The Formigas (Portuguese for 'ants') are an important nature reserve (either for birdlife or marine, I imagine, as there are no plants or animals) and a feared ships' graveyard - as well as the islets themselves, there is a long coral reef in there.