Government and society
Bermuda is an internally self-governing British overseas territory with a parliamentary government. Under its 1968 constitution, the British monarch, represented by the governor, is the head of state. The governor maintains control over external affairs, defense, internal security, and the police but acts on the advice of the cabinet, led by the premier, who is head of government and of the majority party in the legislature. The bicameral legislature is composed of the House of Assembly, with 40 members elected to terms of up to five years, and the Senate, with 11 members appointed by the governor (5 on the advice of the premier, 3 on the advice of the leader of the opposition, and 3 at the governor’s discretion. The Supreme Court heads the judicial system. The system of local government comprises nine parishes: St. George’s, Hamilton, Smith’s, Devonshire, Pembroke, Paget, Warwick, Southampton, and Sandys.
Bermuda enjoys a high standard of health, as reflected in the average life expectancy of about 73 years for men and 79 years for women and in the relatively low infant-mortality rate. Social security provisions, first enacted in 1965, include old-age, disability, and survivor pensions and compulsory hospitalization insurance for all citizens.
Nearly the entire population is literate. Education is compulsory and free between the ages of 5 and 16. There is one junior college, and government scholarships are available for overseas study.
In 1511 an island named “Bermudas” was depicted on a map in Spain. The Spanish navigator Fernández de Oviedo sailed close to the islands in 1515 and attributed their discovery to his countryman Juan Bermúdez, possibly as early as 1503.
In 1609 about 150 English travelers aboard the Virginia Company ship Sea Venture, en route to the colony of Jamestown, Virginia, were blown off course by a hurricane and shipwrecked at Bermuda, which they named the Somers Isles for their leader, Sir George Somers. News of those events inspired Shakespeare’s writing of The Tempest (1611–12); in the play Ariel makes reference to “the still-vex’d Bermoothes.” Most of the voyagers did reach Jamestown the following year on two new ships built locally, but the shipwreck marked the beginning of Bermuda’s permanent settlement. Bermuda was included (1612) in the third charter of the Virginia Company, and 60 English settlers were sent to colonize the islands, joining three who had remained from the Sea Venture party.
About 1617 an “Indian” (possibly a Carib) and a person of African descent (possibly a slave) were transported to Bermuda; they may have been intended to serve as pearl divers, although no pearls were found. The colony was administered until 1684 by the Virginia Company and its successor, the Company of the Plantation of the Somers Islands. During that period the colony received many immigrants as indentured servants; to these were added increasing numbers of enslaved people, including passengers from shipwrecks and the crews of captured enemy vessels, Native Americans, and Africans transported in the slave trade. Irish and Scottish political prisoners were also sold into servitude and transported to Bermuda.
In 1684 the colony became administered by the crown. The colonial capital was transferred from St. George to Hamilton on Main Island in 1815. Slavery was outlawed in Bermuda and the rest of the British Empire in 1833.
During the American Civil War, Bermuda was a staging area for blockade runners to Southern ports. Rum was smuggled into the United States from the island during the Prohibition period (1919–33). In the 20th century the colony developed thriving industries in tourism and international finance. The U.S. government acquired a 99-year lease for military bases in 1941 but closed them in 1995. The British army garrison, which dated to 1797, was withdrawn in 1957, a Canadian base closed in 1993, and a small remaining Royal Navy base ceased operating in 1995.
The first Bermudian political party, the Progressive Labour Party (PLP), organized in 1963, claimed to represent the nonwhite citizens. In 1968 a new constitution gave strong powers to the elected head of the majority political party in the legislature, and the next election placed the multiracial United Bermuda Party (UBP) in power with a substantial majority; the party was returned to power in subsequent elections.
Political tensions increased in 1973 when the governor, Sir Richard Sharples, was assassinated. Political unrest and rioting in 1977 led to official efforts to end de facto racial discrimination and to begin independence talks. In a referendum held in August 1995, however, nearly three-fourths of those voting opposed independence. In the 1990s economic and environmental concerns—the latter resulting in part from the high population density—and a growing traffic in illegal drugs were major political issues.
The PLP won the 1998 elections, and its leader, Jennifer Smith, became Bermuda’s first PLP premier; the party remained in power for the next 14 years. In the 2012 elections the One Bermuda Alliance—formed the previous year through the merger of the UBP and another opposition party, the Bermuda Democratic Alliance—won a decisive majority. Its leader, Craig Cannonier, took office as premier.
In the early 21st century independence from Great Britain was still an issue, and the government established a commission in 2004 to discuss the procedures by which it might be achieved. The commission issued its formal report the following year, but the idea of cutting ties continued to lack wide support among citizens. In 2002 the British Overseas Territories Act granted full British citizenship to Bermudians, which would not automatically accrue to citizens of an independent Bermuda.
1All seats are appointed.
|Political status||overseas territory (United Kingdom) with two legislative houses (Senate ; House of Assembly )|
|Head of state||British Monarch: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by Governor: George Fergusson|
|Head of government||Premier: Michael Dunkley (acting)|
|Monetary unit||Bermuda dollar (Bd$)|
|Population||(2013 est.) 65,000|
|Total area (sq mi)||21|
|Total area (sq km)||54|
|Urban-rural population||Urban: (2012) 100%|
Rural: (2012) 0%
|Life expectancy at birth||Male: (2010) 77.4 years|
Female: (2010) 83.9 years
|Literacy: percentage of population age 15 and over literate||Male: 96.7%|
|GNI per capita (U.S.$)||(2012) 106,920|