The Azorean Islands are a group of three archipelagos composed of nine inhabited islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The shortest distance to the european (portuguese) coast is about 1,300 km, wheras the distance to New Foundland is aproximately 1,700 km.



The eastern archipelago consists of the islands of Santa Maria, São Miguel and the uninhabited Formigas reef. The central archipelago consists of the islands of Terceira, São Jorge, Graciosa, Pico and Faial. The two smaller islands, Ilha das Flores and Corvo make up the western archipelago.​
Together with the Selvagens, the Madeira group, the Canary Islands, the Cape Verde Islands and parts of south-western Morocco, they form the floral region of MACARONÉSIA.

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After centuries of intensive clear-cutting and uncontolled harvesting of tree species, wich resulted in a considerable decline of Azorean forests in quatity and quality, indigenous vegetation can be found only in few inaccessible places like craters, costal cliffs and on mountain slopes.



As a consequence of the high precipitation, the Azores is the only region in Macaronesia where real peat bogs occur, especially on Ilha das Flores. Marshland vegetation is more common but often invaded by American species of Hypericum and also used for plantation of Cryptomeria.​​ The indigenous laurel and juniper forests were seriously affected by the influence of man, owing to the high demand for most of it's tree species.