Country name:
conventional long form: none
conventional short form:
Bermuda
former:
Somers Islands
Dependency status:
overseas territory of the UK
Government type:
parliamentary; self-governing territory
Capital:
name:
Hamilton
geographic coordinates:
32 17 N, 64 47 W
time difference:
UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
daylight saving time:
+1hr, begins second Sunday in March; ends first Sunday in November
Administrative divisions:
9 parishes and 2 municipalities*; Devonshire, Hamilton, Hamilton*, Paget, Pembroke, Saint George*, Saint George's, Sandys, Smith's, Southampton, Warwick
Independence:
none (overseas territory of the UK)
National holiday:
Bermuda Day, 24 May
Constitution:
several previous (dating to 1684); latest entered into force 8 June 1968; amended several times, last in 2003 (2013)
Legal system:
English common law
International law organization participation:
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
[see also: Suffrage country ranks ]
:
chief of state:
Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor George FERGUSSON (since 23 May 2012)
head of government:
Premier Michael DUNKLEY (since 20 May 2014)
cabinet:
Cabinet nominated by the premier, appointed by the governor
elections:
the monarchy is hereditary; governor appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition usually appointed premier by the governor
Legislative branch:
bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (11 seats; members appointed by the governor, the premier, and the opposition to serve a five-year term) and the House of Assembly (36 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve up to five-year terms)
elections:
last held on 17 December 2012 (next to be held not later than 2017)
election results:
percent of vote by party - OBA 51.7%, PLP 46.1%, other 2.2%; seats by party - OBA 19, PLP 17
Judicial branch:
highest court(s):
Court of Appeal (consists of the court president and 4 justices); Supreme Court (consists of the chief justice, 4 puisne judges, and 1 associate justice)
judge selection and term of office: Court of Appeal justice appointed by the governor; justice tenure by individual appointment; Supreme Court judges nominated by the Judicial and Legal Services Commission and appointed by the governor; judge tenure NA
subordinate courts: commercial court (began in 2006); magistrates' courts
Political parties and leaders:
Progressive Labor Party or PLP [Marc BEAN]; One Bermuda Alliance or OBA [Thad HOLLIS]
Political pressure groups and leaders: Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers or ABIR [Bradley KADING]; Association of Bermuda International Companies or ABIC [George HUTCHINGS]; Bermuda Employer's Council [Keith JENSEN]; Bermuda Industrial Union or BIU [Chris Furbert]; Bermuda Public Services Union or BPSU [Kevin GRANT and Ed BALL]; Bermuda Union of Teachers [Michael CHARLES]
International organization participation:
Caricom (associate), ICC (NGOs), Interpol (subbureau), IOC, ITUC (NGOs), UPU, WCO
Diplomatic representation in the US: none (overseas territory of the UK)
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission:
Consul General Robert SETTJE (since August 2012)
consulate(s) general:
Crown Hill, 16 Middle Road, Devonshire DVO3
mailing address:
P. O. Box HM325, Hamilton HMBX; American Consulate General Hamilton, US Department of State, 5300 Hamilton Place, Washington, DC 20520-5300
telephone:
[1] (441) 295-1342
FAX:
[1] (441) 295-1592, 296-9233
Flag description:
red, with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Bermudian coat of arms (a white shield with a red lion standing on a green grassy field holding a scrolled shield showing the sinking of the ship Sea Venture off Bermuda in 1609) centered on the outer half of the flag; it was the shipwreck of the vessel, filled with English colonists originally bound for Virginia, that led to settling of Bermuda
note:
the flag is unusual in that it is only British overseas territory that uses a red ensign, all others use blue
National symbol(s):
red lion
National anthem:
name:
"Hail to Bermuda"
lyrics/music:
Bette JOHNS
note:
serves as a local anthem; as a territory of the United Kingdom, "God Save the Queen" is official (see United Kingdom)
NOTE: 1) The information regarding Bermuda on this page is re-published from the 2015 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Bermuda Government 2015 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Bermuda Government 2015 should be addressed to the CIA.
2) The rank that you see is the CIA reported rank, which may habe the following issues:
a) They assign increasing rank number, alphabetically for countries with the same value of the ranked item, whereas we assign them the same rank.
b) The CIA sometimes assignes counterintuitive ranks. For example, it assigns unemployment rates in increasing order, whereas we rank them in decreasing order
- Main Index
- 2015 Index
- Country Ranks
- Definitions
- Bermuda Index 2015
- Bermuda Main Index
- Introduction
- Geography
- Maps
- People Religion
- Government Flags
- Economy
- Energy
- Communications
- Transportation
- Military
- Transnational Issues
- Photos
- Advertise Here
- Feedback
Airport Codes
- If you wish to link to this page, you can do so by referring to the URL address below this line.
This page was last modified 10-Feb-15