The Azores are a group of islands in the north Atlantic Ocean, a long way west of Portugal. They belong to Portugal, even though they sit far out in the sea — you fly for about two hours from Lisbon to reach them. People live there year-round. The islands are volcanic and famously green, with steep hills, cows, and wild weather coming off the ocean. In English we almost always say the Azores, with the, the way we say the UK. You will meet the name in geography, travel writing, and Atlantic news. The name came into English from Spanish Azores, from Portuguese Açores, which is the plural of açor, a hunting bird called a goshawk. Sailors named the islands after those birds. Though actually, some people who study the story say the birds they saw were probably not true goshawks — but that is still where the name comes from.