Editing Azores (section)

==Politics==
{{Main|Political status of the Azores}}
[[File:Palacio de Santana (14826301491) (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|[[:pt:Palácio de Sant'Ana|Sant'Ana Palace]] is the seat of the President of the Azores.]]
[[File:Palácio dos Capitães Generais Angra 1.jpg|thumb|right|[[:pt:Palácio dos Capitães-Generais (Angra do Heroísmo)|Palace of the Capitães-Generais]] is a residence of the Azorean President.]]
Since 1976, the Azores has been an autonomous region integrated within the framework of the Portuguese Republic. It has its own government and autonomous legislature within its own political-administrative statute and organic law. Its governmental organs include: the legislative assembly, a [[Unicameralism|unicameral]] parliament composed of 52 elected deputies, elected by universal [[suffrage]] for a four-year term; the regional government and presidency, with parliamentary legitimacy, composed of a president, a vice-president and seven regional secretaries responsible for day-to-day operations. It is represented in the Council of Ministers by a representative appointed by the president of the Republic, which was created during the revision of the constitution of 2004 (which, among other things, removed the older Portuguese representative that was appointed by the president of the Republic, beholden to the Council of State and coincident with the president). Since becoming a Portuguese autonomous region, the executive branch of the regional authority has been located in [[Ponta Delgada]], the legislative branch in [[Horta, Azores|Horta]], and the judicial branch in [[Angra do Heroísmo]]. [[File:Solar da Madre de Deus.jpg|thumb|left|[[Madre de Deus Manor]] is the seat of the [[:pt:Representante da República nos Açores|Representative of the Republic]].]]
[[File:Largo 2 de Março, Ponta Delgada (16863454855) (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|[[Conceição Palace, Ponta Delgada|Conceição Palace]] is the headquarters of the Azorean cabinet.]]
The islands of the archipelago do not have independent status in law, except in electoral law and are governed by 19 municipalities that subdivide the islands. In addition, until the administrative reform of the 19th century, the following civil parishes had municipal standing: Topo (today integrated into the municipality of [[Calheta (Azores)|Calheta]], São Jorge); [[Praia (Santa Cruz da Graciosa)|Praia]] (today integrated into municipality of [[Santa Cruz da Graciosa]]); [[Vila de São Sebastião|São Sebastião]] (today an integral part of the municipality of Angra do Heroísmo); Capelas (now part of the municipality of Ponta Delgada); and Água de Pau (now a civil parish in the municipality of Lagoa). These civil parishes still retain their titles of "vila" in name only; the populations of Capelas and neighbouring parish still protest the change and promote the restoration of their status. The municipalities are further subdivided into several civil parishes, with the exception of [[Corvo (Azores)|Corvo]] (the only municipality by law without a civil parish, owing to its size).

Azorean politics is dominated by the two largest Portuguese political parties, the [[Socialist Party (Portugal)|Socialist Party]] and [[Social Democratic Party (Portugal)|Social Democratic Party]], the former holding a majority in the Legislative Assembly. The [[CDS – People's Party|Democratic and Social Center / People's Party]], the [[Left Bloc (Portugal)|Left Bloc]], the [[Unitary Democratic Coalition]] and the [[People's Monarchist Party (Portugal)|People's Monarchist Party]] are also represented. {{As of|2020|alt=As of the 2020 regional election}}, the President of the Azores is Social Democratic Party leader [[José Manuel Bolieiro]]. Although the Socialist Party dominates the regional politics, the Social Democratic Party is traditionally popular in city and [[town council]] elections.

===Foreign relations and defence===

As an autonomous but integral region of Portugal, foreign affairs and defence are the responsibility of the national government. As is all of Portugal, the Azores are in the [[European Union]] and [[Schengen Area]]. They are also in the [[European Union Customs Union]] and [[Value-added tax|VAT]] area<ref>[https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/business/vat/eu-vat-rules-topic/territorial-status-eu-countries-certain-territories_en Territorial status of EU countries and certain territories] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190812213949/https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/business/vat/eu-vat-rules-topic/territorial-status-eu-countries-certain-territories_en |date=12 August 2019 }}{{snd}} [[European Commission]], retrieved 18 December 2018</ref> but levy a lower rate of VAT than applies on the mainland. The Azores, like Madeira and the [[Canary Islands]], are among the European Union's [[Special territories of members of the European Economic Area|state territories with special status]], and are one of its designated "Outermost Regions".

The [[Azores Military Zone]] is the Portuguese Army's command for ground forces stationed in the archipelago.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.exercito.pt/pt/quem-somos/organizacao/ceme/cft/zma|title=Quartel-General da Zona Militar dos Açores |website=Portuguese Army |access-date=24 July 2023}}</ref> The [[Portuguese Air Force|Air Force]], in turn, maintains a base at [[Lajes Field]], which is also home to the [[United States Forces Azores]], while the [[Portuguese Navy|Navy]] tasks the offshore patrol vessel ''[[Viana do Castelo-class patrol vessel|Figueira da Foz]]'', as well as a range of other patrol vessels, to patrol [[Exclusive economic zone of Portugal|Portugal's large economic zone around the islands]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.marinha.pt/pt/os_meios/patrulhasoceanicos/Paginas/nrp-figueira-foz.aspx|title=NRP Figueira da Foz |website=Portuguese Navy |access-date=24 July 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.marinha.pt/pt/os_meios/lanchas/Paginas/default.aspx|title=Lanchas |website=Portuguese Navy |access-date=24 July 2023}}</ref>