Simple directory > Regional > Bermuda

Country : Bermuda Official name: Bermuda Head of State: Queen Elizabeth II; represented by Governor Sir John Vereker (sworn in 11 Apr 2002) Head of government: Prime Minister Alex Scott (PLP) (sworn in 29 Jul 2003) Ruling party: Progressive Labour Party (PLP) (since Nov 1998; re-elected 24 Jul 2003) Area: 55 square km Population: 65,000 (2004) Capital: Hamilton Official language: English Currency: Bermudan dollar (BD$) = 100 cents Exchange rate: BD$1.00 per US$ (fixed) GDP per capita: US$35,000 (2003) GDP real growth: 0.50% (2003) Labour force: 37,472 (2003) Unemployment: 4.50% (2003) Inflation: 2.30% (2003) Balance of trade: -US$668.00 million (2003) Foreign debt: US$145.00 million (2003) Visitor numbers: 482,673 (2003)

Historical profile

1503 A Spaniard, Juan de Bermudez, sighted the islands.

1609 Settled by the British.

1612 A charter was given by James I to the Virginia Company to include Bermuda in the dominion. The first permanent settlers arrived shortly afterwards.

1684 The islands were subsequently sold to the City of London and became the property of the Crown.

1623 Representative government. Bermuda is the oldest British colony.

1700s Bermuda developed links with the US.

1800s Bermuda developed a thriving trade route with the West Indies.

1940 An agreement between the US and Britain granted about 10 per cent of Bermuda's land to the US for military use.

1968 Bermuda was granted internal self-government. The first elections were won by the United Bermuda Party (UBP).

1998 The UBP lost power for the first time since 1968 when the Progressive Labour Party (PLP) won the general election.

2001 Regulation of the insurance sector was moved from the ministry of finance to the Monetary Authority, in order to increase the transparency of the sector.

2002 The Bermuda Companies Amendment Act simplifing the procedure for forming companies was past.

2003 The Bermuda Companies Amendment Act 2002 came into force on 14 February. The ruling PLP won the 24 July parliamentary elections. Following a revolt in her own party, the PLP, Prime Minister Jennifer Smith resigned and Alex Scott was sworn in as premier on 29 July; a new cabinet was named on 30 July. In September, Bermuda was struck by Hurricane Fabian, the most powerful storm to hit the island in 50 years.

2004 The 2004/05 budget included some moderate increases to Bermuda's tax structure.

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