/
 
ESTIMATE
 
7~ General ~
 
     a. The AZORES are a group of 9 islands with a distance of about 400 miles between the extreme islands, SANTA ~,~ARIA and
 
FLORES. (See Appendix "B" ). The largest island of the group
 
is SAN MIGUEL, 40 miles long and 10 miles in width at the widest part. The islands have a population of approximately
 
260,000, congregated mostly on the only islands of importance
 
in the group, SAN MIGUEL, TERCEIRA, and FAYAL. There are
 
reputed to be more AZOREANS in th.e UNITED STATES than there
 
are in the AZORES~ as a result of which the people of the
 
islands have strong economic and blood ties with their people
 
who have emigrated to this country. However, the military
 
forces in the AZORES come from PORTUGAL, so that bonds of
 
understanding which exist between the people of the UNITED
 
STATES and the AZORES do not extend to the armed forces of
 
the islands.
 
b. The islands are volcanic in origin. All are rugged
 
and hilly, with deep, narrow valleys. The maximum elevation
 
throughout the islands is 7600 feet. Level stretches of land
 
are the exception rather than the rule. Landing beaches are scarce. Movement over most of the interior of the islands
 
must be on foot, although all of the islands have circum-
 
ferential road systems capable of handling two-way normal
 
traffic. Most of the roads, due to nz~merous defiles and a
 
few bridges, could be blocked temporarily. Water is abundant
t
 
in the coastal areas of the islands except on FAYAL where,
 
during the stnmme~_, it is scarce and at all times is suf-
 
ficient only for the local population. At HORTA is situated
 
the principal cable station of the mid-Atlantic. SAN MIGUEL is served by an indifferent telephone system.