Azoren: Blumeninseln im Atlantik

A short regional geography of the Azores, with special focus on the main aspects of physical geography, biogeography, rural geography and tourist infrastructure is presented first. The paper then focuses on the main geographical feature of Flores, the most western island of the archipelago - and the most unknown of the Azores islands. This forgotten western outpost of Europe in the Atlantic ocean - is the victim of his peripherical position in the Atlantic ocean besides some poor benefits from the whale industry at the beginning of the 201h century - and some economic "spin-offs" from a French military base, which was situated on the island from 1960-1990 - the island has never known a phase of economic prosperity. But this relative low economic development provided the island a unique biodiversity heritage - which could be characteristic as one the last biodiversity hotspots of the world - Flores hosts one of the last vestiges of subtropical rainforests in the world.