Geography of Bermuda

Bermuda

Nickname: The Rock or Devil's Isles
Topographic map of Bermuda
Geography
Location	Atlantic Ocean
Coordinates	32°18′N 64°47′W / 32.300°N 64.783°W / 32.300; -64.783
Archipelago	Bermuda
Total islands	138
Area	53.3 km2 (20.6 sq mi)
Coastline	103 km (64 mi)
Highest elevation	76 m (249 ft)
Highest point	Town Hill
Administration
United Kingdom
British Overseas Territory	Bermuda
Largest settlement	Hamilton (pop. 1,500)
Demographics
Population	66,163 (2007)
Ethnic groups	British, Southern African, Portuguese, Amerindian

This article describes the geography of Bermuda.

Bermuda (officially, The Bermuda Islands or The Somers Isles) is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, it is situated around 1,770 km (1,100 mi) northeast of Miami, Florida and 1,350 km (840 mi) south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, west of Spain, northwest of Brazil, north of British Virgin Islands and north-northwest of U.S. Virgin Islands and north of San Juan, Puerto Rico. The nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about 1,030 km (640 mi) west-northwest (see Geography section below). It is nearly antipodal to Perth, Western Australia. Although commonly referred to in the singular (i.e., The Island, The Rock, and Bermuda), the territory consists of approximately 138 islands, with a total area of 71.7 km² (27.7 sq mi).

Seen from above the ocean's surface, the general characteristic of the islands is that of ridges, running from the North East to the South West, before turning towards the North. Together with the submerged, encircling reef, they form the edge of a volcanic caldera, to the south of which the islands lie. The islands enclose a smaller caldera, which forms the Great Sound, and another forms Harrington Sound. It is believed that the volcano was formed on the fault line from which the Atlantic oceanic tectonic plates expand, pushing the Old and New Worlds away from each other and forming the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It has also been theorised that the volcano was formed by a hotspot. Therefore, the volcanic sea mountain first formed from the mid-Atlantic ridge approximately 100 million years ago. Through the processes of plate tectonics and sea floor spreading, this volcano moved to the west of the mid-Atlantic ridge and became extinct. About 30 million years ago, the volcano erupted again, probably due to it floating over a hot spot in the Earth's crust. Afterwards, the volcano became extinct again, and has remained so to this day.