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 Bermuda
is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic around
600 miles off the coast of the United States. It consists
of around 138 islands, of total area 53.3 sq km. The largest
island is where the capital, Hamilton is located. Bermuda
has one of the most advanced economies in the world, with
a large financial sector. It is a popular tourist destination
as well. Discovered by the early 1500s, probably in 1503,
although the evidence for the exact year, and the identity
of the discoverer, is sketchy. It was certainly known by 1511,
when Peter Martyr published his Legatio Babylonica, which
mentioned Bermuda. The discovery is attributed to a Spanish
explorer, Juan de Bermudez. Both Spanish and Portuguese ships
used the islands as a replenishment spot for fresh meat and
water, but legends of spirits, now thought to have stemmed
only from the callings of raucous birds, kept them from attempting
any permanent settlement. William Shakespeare set the location
of his play, "The Tempest" on the island in that
early period.
 The
island became permanently inhabited when the Sea Venture,
on its way to the new colony in America, was wrecked off Bermuda
in 1609 (as depicted on the territory's Coat of Arms), and
left the first colonists in possession of a new territory.
The land was claimed by the British Crown and control was
granted to a company in order to produce tobacco for the markets
in London. The islands gained the name the Somers Isles, named
after Sir George Somers, the captain of the Sea Venture.
. After the decline of the Somers Isle Company, life petered along until a
period of boat building became prevalent on the island due
to the large amounts of good juniper (Juniperus bermudiana,
Bermuda cedar) woods that grew thickly over the whole island.
The Bermuda sloop became highly regarded for its speed and
manoverability. Indeed, at the end of the Battle of Trafalgar,
the Bermuda sloop HMS Pickle one of the fastest vessels in
the Royal Navy, raced back to England with news of the victory
and the death of Admiral Lord Nelson.
After the American Revolution, the British Royal
Navy began improving the harbours and built a large dockyard
on Ireland Island, in the west of the chain. Thereafter the
navy used the bases as a strategic asset which later benefited
the USA as well (see below).
 In
the early 20th century, as modern transport and communication
systems developed, Bermuda became a popular destination for
wealthy US, Canadian and British tourists. In addition, the
tariff Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act enacted by the United States
against its trading partners in 1930 cut off Bermuda's once-thriving
agricultural export trade - primarily fresh vegetables to
the US - spurring the overseas territory to develop its tourist
industry, which is second behind international business in
terms of economic importance to the island.
Bermuda had been a strategically important military base
since the war of 1812, but it became particularly important
during World War II, because of its central location in the
north Atlantic Ocean. In 1941, the United States signed a
lend-lease agreement with the United Kingdom giving the British
surplus US Navy destroyers in exchange for 99-year lease rights
to establish naval and air bases in Bermuda. The bases consisted
of 5.8km ² (2.25 mi²) of land largely reclaimed
from the sea. The US Naval Air Station (Kindley Air Force
Base) was on St. David's Island, while the US Naval Air Station
Annex was at the western end of the main island in the Great
Sound.
Both bases were closed on 1 September 1995, as were British
and Canadian bases on the island. Unresolved issues concerning
the 1995 withdrawal of US forces - primarily related to environmental
factors - delayed the formal return of the base lands to the
Government of Bermuda, which finally happened in 2002.
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