What is "bermuda"

Bermuda \Bermuda\ n. same as Bermudas.

Syn: Bermudas.

Atlantic island, named for Spanish explorer Juan de Bermudez (d.1570), who discovered it c.1515. Bermuda shorts first attested 1946 (in "The Princeton Alumni Weekly"), from the type of garb worn by U.S. tourists there. Bermuda triangle in the supernatural sense was popular from 1972. As the adjective form, Bermudian (1777) holds seniority over Bermudan (1895).

Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory in the North Atlantic Ocean, off the east shore of North America about east-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, south of Cape Sable Island, Canada, and north of Puerto Rico. The capital city is Hamilton.

The first known European explorer to reach Bermuda was Spanish sea captain Juan de Bermúdez in 1503, after whom the islands are named. He claimed the apparently uninhabited islands for the Spanish Empire. Bermúdez never landed on the islands, but made two visits to the archipelago, of which he created a recognisable map. Shipwrecked Portuguese mariners are now thought to have been responsible for the 1543 inscription in Portuguese Rock (previously called Spanish Rock). Subsequent Spanish or other European parties are believed to have released pigs there, which had become feral and abundant on the island by the time European settlement began. In 1609, the English Virginia Company, which had established Jamestown in Virginia (a term originally applied to all of the North American continent) two years earlier, permanently settled Bermuda in the aftermath of a hurricane, when the crew and passengers of the Sea Venture steered the ship onto the surrounding reef to prevent its sinking, then landed ashore.

The island was administered as an extension of Virginia by the Company until 1614. Its spin-off, the Somers Isles Company, took over in 1615 and managed the colony until 1684. At that time, the company's charter was revoked, and the English Crown took over administration. The islands became a British colony following the 1707 unification of the parliaments of Scotland and England, which created the Kingdom of Great Britain. After 1949, when Newfoundland became part of Canada, Bermuda was automatically ranked as the oldest remaining British Overseas Territory. Since the transfer of Hong Kong to China in 1997, it is the most populous Territory. Its first capital, St. George's, was established in 1612 and is the oldest continuously inhabited English town in the New World.

Bermuda's economy is based on offshore insurance and reinsurance, and tourism, the two largest economic sectors. Bermuda had one of the world's highest GDP per capita for most of the 20th century and several years beyond. Recently, its economic status has been affected by the global recession. It has a subtropical climate. Bermuda is the northernmost point of the Bermuda Triangle, a region of sea in which, according to legend, a number of aircraft and surface vessels have disappeared under supposedly unexplained or mysterious circumstances. The island is in the hurricane belt and prone to severe weather. However, it is somewhat protected from the full force of a hurricane by the coral reef that surrounds the island.

Bermuda, Islands of Bermuda, or The Somers Isles is an Atlantic archipelago, a British Overseas Territory, and formerly part of Virginia.

Bermuda may also refer to:

• Bermuda Hundred Campaign, a campaign during the American Civil War
• Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda, known as HMD Bermuda, the dockyard at the core of the Royal Navy base in Bermuda
• Fortress Bermuda, a romantic term for Bermuda, resulting from its designation as an Imperial Fortress
• Bermuda kite, a type of kite traditionally flown in Bermuda at Easter, symbolizing the ascent of Christ
• Bermuda shorts, a type of short trousers
• Bermuda Conference, an international conference between the United Kingdom and the United States held on April 19, 1943 at Hamilton, Bermuda, concerned with the plight of European Jews
• Bermuda Agreement, an aviation agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom
• Brewster Bermuda, a British name for the Brewster SB2A Buccaneer two-seat scout bomber
• Bermuda national cricket team, the national cricket team of Bermuda
• "Bermuda" (song), a 1951 song by The Bell Sisters
• "Bermuda", a song by Roky Erickson, first released as a single, and then inserted into some albums

"Bermuda" is a song written by Cynthia Strother and Eugene R. Strother and performed by The Bell Sisters featuring Henri René and His Orchestra. It reached #7 on the US pop chart in 1951.