50 Fun Facts About Bermuda

What is the capital of Bermuda?

It houses the bicameral parliament; St George's was the original capital.

Which US state holds the closest land to Bermuda?

Cape Hatteras lies about 1,070 km to the west-northwest; Nova Scotia is the next nearest.

How many islands make up the Bermuda archipelago?

The main ones are joined by bridges and look like a single landmass.

Bermuda is named after an explorer of which nationality?

Juan de Bermúdez sighted it in the early 1500s; there were no indigenous people.

Early sailors called Bermuda the 'Isle of Devils' because of what?

The eerie cries were probably cahows; the hogs had been left by passing ships.

Which ship's wreck on Bermuda's reef in 1609 led to English settlement?

She was the flagship of a relief fleet bound for Jamestown; everyone aboard survived.

Which two ships did the stranded settlers build to continue to Jamestown?

Some castaways tried to rebel and stay rather than face conditions in Virginia.

Bermuda's first capital, St George's, is the oldest continuously inhabited English town where?

Founded in 1612 as New London, it is now a World Heritage Site.

What may be the earliest conservation law in the New World, passed in Bermuda in 1620?

The Assembly's 'Act Agaynst The Killing Of Ouer Young Tortoyses' followed 1616 bird protections.

Bermuda's House of Assembly dates from which year, making it one of the world's oldest legislatures?

Universal adult suffrage only arrived in the 1967 constitution.

The colony was renamed in 1615 in honour of which admiral of the wrecked 1609 relief fleet?

The Somers Isles Company ran the colony and, needing farmers, suppressed shipbuilding.

The first two enslaved people brought to Bermuda in 1616 were sent to do what?

There turned out to be no pearls; one was Black and one Native American, from the West Indies.

What was stolen from Bermuda's magazine on 14 August 1775 while the governor slept?

American boats carried it off, and the Continental Congress exempted Bermuda from its trade ban.

The island's first newspaper, founded in 1784 by Joseph Stockdale, was called what?

Editor Joseph Stockdale also ran the island's first postal service.

Which flower's bulb exports to New York were vital to Bermuda's economy around 1900?

A virus nearly killed the trade until plant pathologist Lawrence Ogilvie diagnosed it in the 1920s.

Which US law of 1930 killed Bermuda's agricultural exports and pushed it toward tourism?

The island was also a hub for rum-running during Prohibition.

The Bermuda Railway, opened in 1931, was abandoned in which year?

Its right of way is now the Bermuda Railway Trail.

Which hotel served as a British censorship centre during the Second World War?

About 1,200 censors read transatlantic mail there and helped catch Axis spies including the Joe K ring.

Which governor of Bermuda was assassinated in March 1973?

Black Power militants killed him during a period of civil unrest.

How did Bermudians vote in the 1995 independence referendum?

Bermuda remains the last territory of the former British North America.

What is Bermuda's highest point, Town Hill, in metres?

The territory has 103 km of coastline and sits in the west of the Sargasso Sea.

Bermuda's islands are made mostly of what rock, sitting on an extinct volcano?

Wind-blown carbonate sand fused into eolianite over a volcanic base about 50 metres down.

Bermuda's mild winters are attributed to which ocean current?

January to March average about 18 °C, and ground frost hasn't been recorded since the 19th century.

Where does Bermuda get its fresh water, having no rivers or lakes?

By law every household must pipe rainwater from its roof into a tank in the foundations.

Which 2003 hurricane hit Bermuda directly with winds over 120 mph?

It was the last major hurricane to strike the island directly for over two decades; Gonzalo and Nicole struck in 2014 and 2016, and Ernesto brushed Bermuda in 2024.

Bermuda's national bird, the cahow, was rediscovered in 1951 after being thought extinct since when?

The petrel is a textbook 'Lazarus species' and has its own recovery programme.

What are Bermuda's only indigenous mammals?

All five bats are also found in the eastern United States.

Which bird, locally called the longtail, is Bermudians' first sign of spring?

They come inland to breed in February and March.

Somerset Bridge holds what world record?

Its opening is just 32 inches wide, enough for a sailboat's mast.

What is Bermuda's most popular visitor attraction?

It houses the National Museum of Bermuda.

What colour are Bermuda's famous beaches?

Horseshoe Bay and Warwick Long Bay are among the best known.

Bermuda's currency, adopted in 1970, is pegged at par with which other one?

US notes and coins circulate interchangeably on the island.

What kind of tax did Bermuda first introduce in 2025, having never had one before?

It applies only to multinationals with revenue of €750 million or more.

Which industry dominates Bermuda's international business sector?

Around 400 international firms are physically based on the island, and 15,000-plus are registered.

What proportion of Bermuda's visitors arrive by cruise ship?

Air visitors, though fewer, account for about 78 percent of tourist spending.

Bermuda's traditional Gombey troupes combine African and Caribbean music with what?

Their costumes and props even include a tomahawk and bow and arrow.

Which slave narrative, published in 1831, is the first notable book by a Bermudian?

It appeared at the height of Britain's abolitionist movement.

Who won Bermuda's first Olympic gold medal, in the 2020 triathlon?

Bermuda became the smallest overseas territory ever to win gold; Hill's boxing bronze was the only previous medal.

What garment do the island's athletes traditionally wear at Olympic opening ceremonies, summer or winter?

The tradition holds even for the Winter Games.

The island's famous shorts are considered proper business attire when worn with what?

The hem sits about an inch above the knee.

The Bermuda Triangle is roughly bounded by Bermuda, Puerto Rico and which US state?

Official investigations have found no evidence of anything unusual in the area.

The century-old Newport-Bermuda Yacht Race starts in which US state?

The Marion-Bermuda race and the unique Bermuda Fitted Dinghy racing are other sailing traditions.

On which side of the road does traffic drive in Bermuda?

Like the UK and most British Overseas Territories; the island has 447 km of paved roads, about half of them private.

How many parishes is Bermuda divided into?

The self-governing territory has a bicameral parliament in Hamilton, with a House of Assembly dating from 1620.

Roughly what was Bermuda's population in 2019?

That makes it the second-most populous of the British Overseas Territories, packed onto just 53 square kilometres of land.

The first aeroplane ever to reach Bermuda, in 1930, was what kind of aircraft?

It flew from New York City after several failed attempts; regular land-plane airline service only began at Kindley Field in 1948.

Which 1940 deal gave the United States base rights in Bermuda?

Bermuda and Newfoundland were added to the deal without Britain receiving any war material in exchange; the US began building two airbases in 1941.

Which British prime minister insisted on holding the first Bermuda summit with the US president in 1953?

He met Eisenhower and French premier Joseph Laniel to discuss the Soviet Union; the island's closeness to the US made it a favoured summit venue.

Bermuda's national football team qualified for its first major tournament, the CONCACAF Gold Cup, in which year?

The cricket team had reached the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies, and the same year Bermuda hosted the PGA Grand Slam of Golf at the Mid Ocean Club.

How many bee species have ever been recorded on Bermuda?

English colonists introduced the western honey bee around 1616; a sweat bee species has not been recorded since 1922.