In figures
With a total population of approximately 245,000, the population of the Azores is made up of approximately 124,000 women and 121,000 men. The population has been declining slightly in recent years and is very unevenly distributed over the 9 islands: São Miguel concentrates the largest part of the population with no less than 140,000 people, followed by Terceira with 56,000, then Faial 15,000, Pico 14,000, São Jorge 8,500, Santa Maria 5,600, Graciosa 4,300, Flores 3,700, and 460 on the small last Corvo.
The birth rate is 9% in 2019. This rate is increasing on the islands of São Miguel and Santa Maria, and decreasing in Graciosa and especially Corvo, where no births were registered in 2016, for example. The mortality rate is 9.5 per cent as a regional average in 2019. It is above this average in almost all the islands, except São Miguel (8.6%) and Corvo (8.7%). The highest rate is in São Jorge with 14%. The fertility rate has been on a downward trend since the 2000s and is expected to reach about 36 per cent in 2019.History of the Azorean population
The Azorean settlement is a colonization settlement resulting from six centuries of existence of the islands within the Empire and then the former Portuguese Empire. The majority of the islands' inhabitants are descendants of Portuguese colonists, coming in particular in significant numbers from the Alentejo and Algarve regions in southern Portugal. But other populations were called upon to settle there, notably by the will of Portuguese princes who organized the development of their new territories. Among others, many Flemings settled as early as the 1490s in Terceira, Pico, Faial, São Jorge and Flores. Flanders was overpopulated and the conquering princes needed land clearers... Throughout history, the Azores were sometimes called the "Flemish Islands"; this cultural element can be found today in the cheese close to Gouda, the windmills, very Flemish, and perhaps also in the way the Azores people, definitely more Germanic than their fellow citizens of the mainland, organised themselves... Other populations, over the centuries, have contributed to the creation of this Azorian "melting pot". Notably those who were victims of persecution: Sephardic Jews from the Iberian Peninsula, Moors or Spaniards, but also French, Italians or English, those who were fleeing the law of their country... The population mix was perfect and today we no longer distinguish any truly separate ethnic groups among the population of the islands.
Being Azorean : an insularity
Vitorino Nemésio, an Azores poet and writer, wrote that "the Azores [...] are a strong variety of the Portuguese nation created over half a millennium in North Atlantic isolation", and at the same time he forged the word açorianidade
(açorianity), adding that being Azorian was "a quality". Can we really say that there is an Azorian "type", a common spirit? Aren't the people the same as on the continent?Most analysts evoke an identity conditioned by insularity and the ever-changing climate; it is also evident that the ongoing struggles with the natural elements have also played a major role in the affirmation of a certain "açorianity". Isolation has probably encouraged an even more intense saudade, a somewhat austere or withdrawn character, which may seem indolent or apathetic; the fear of natural disasters has fostered a somewhat fatalistic awareness of events, at the same time as it has flattered hope. To describe the spirit of the islander, one still speaks of mornaça
, a peaceful nonchalance, a muffled bonhomie, a patient and measured nostalgia. It is clear that remoteness or isolation forges a very distinct temperament, instinctively conservative in order to preserve one's identity, and naturally turned towards emigration as the only way to literally get by. Thus the population of the Azores displays, more or less, these two different but not antinomic qualities.However, there are indeed specificities on each of the islands, and even on one island, between each conselho
(as shown by the rivalries on Pico or in São Jorge, between Velas and Calheta). Imperturbable, Nemésio defines three different types of islanders: the Micaelense (from São Miguel, hard-working, industrious); the Terceirense of the central rural islands (like Terceira, affable, open, festive); and the Picaroto (strong complexion, man of the sea and the hard work of the land, on Pico for example). Beyond the poetry of the words, it is possible to understand to what extent the "açorianity" is not one, but multiple; moreover, the settlement of the archipelago explains and reflects this equivocation at the same time: the first inhabitants came from mainland Portugal, Beiras, the Algarve, Alentejo, but also from Flanders, Brittany, Spain, England or even Morbihan; millers were hired there in the 17th century to build mills in the archipelago. A vast mosaic of peoples united in the image of the great shades of green and blue that illuminate the archipelago, the Azores seem, in appearance, divided. However, these important differences, which are justified by their insularity, do not prevent a homogenous cultural background: language, gastronomy, religion, customs, etc.Emigration
The concept of insularity is inseparable from that of emigration. But why such an exodus? It is common to invoke overcrowding, climatic disasters or poor working conditions (such as the distribution of land, especially on São Miguel, to the benefit of captain-donors). All these causes certainly had to play an important role. Why, however, did this intensive emigration only really begin in the 19th century, when conditions were no worse than before, on the contrary? One might think that these population movements went hand in hand with the industrial movements that were disrupting the economic situation. "Living better there", without living badly here, was perhaps the watchword of all those who, clandestinely or not, left on large boats without ever having left their native village before. It should be pointed out that the flow of people in the 18th century was rather due to a policy of colonization by Portugal, which saw fit to send men to the south of Brazil to secure their territories in front of the Spaniards, when the colony of Sacramento had just been given to them (Colonia, today in Uruguay). Nowadays, there are many more Azorians in the world than there are in the Azores, and some newly rich, passing through or returning to the country, are changing the landscape and mentalities, at great cost (and expense) of huge Californian-style houses. But not all emigrants are like this, and the festivals celebrated in their honour, such as those in Flores in July, are a demonstration of the attachment to these prodigal sons by those who remain.
We should also mention those Azoresians expelled from the United States or Canada, following crimes they have committed on the spot in recent years. There are about 1,000 of them throughout the archipelago, living in specialised reception centres. Having started their families in the country where they emigrated, they usually have no ties to the archipelago and live very badly in this forced exile. It is a double punishment for them. Without forgetting the bad image they have with the locals for whom they are responsible for all the ills. They are not welcome and many think that they should have stayed in their prison abroad, that it is creating delinquency in the Azores by sending them back there. The Azores right is trying to politicise this debate to win voters by advocating a safer policy than that proposed by the left. Delinquency has not, however, become the Azores' prerogative!
Thecrime rate is still as low as ever, and these second-class emigrants make more noise than harm
... The Azores islands are nine in number, like the fairies on the island of Avalon, and offer as many ways of being and thinking. But one thing is certain at least: although the archipelago looks towards the Americas, it is in Europe, which perhaps augurs well for a new and richer common identity.An "Azorean Portuguese
The Portuguese spoken in the Azores is different from that spoken on the mainland. The geographical isolation, the climate, the continuous struggle against the natural elements and the social level, rather low over the centuries, have preserved an archaic language in the archipelago. Thus, instead of desde (since), conhecença instead of conhecer (to know), etc., the archipelago has
been a place where the language is still spoken. Some words are even completely unknown in Lisbon. São Jorge is the island that has best preserved its insularity with the linguistic archaisms of the first inhabitants.But, a characteristic peculiar to the culture of the archipelago, there are almost as many languages spoken in the Azores as there are islands. To be completely accurate, we can distinguish three types of talks: that of São Miguel, close to the Algarve or Alentejo, that of Terceira, and that of the other islands. For example, caçoila means caçarola (saucepan, pot) in Terceira but guisado de carne
(meat stew) in São Miguel; if the sound "ei" is pronounced in Ponta Delgada as an "ê", in Terceira the diphthong is more pronounced, and in Faial even more (almost like an "ai"). Concerning the phonetics, São Miguel's speech is really particular: the sounds are "francized", with "ou" and "ü". Some people see the influence of the Bretons who reached the north-western coast in the 16th century; but in the Algarve the "ü" sound also appears, as does the "an" sound, which is very widespread on this island. The French influence may not have been so decisive. Curiously, one can hardly find any Flemish influence in the Azores despite the significant immigration and the role played by the first inhabitants in the political, economic and cultural development of the archipelago. This is often explained by the fact that many Flemings married Portuguese women; the children were immediately immersed in the language of their mother, who was in charge of bringing them up, thus quickly obscuring the father's original language. Of course, mass emigration considerably changed the way the Azoresians spoke, also importing words more or less translated from English, as in Brazil .
