Azores, Acores(noun)

islands in the Atlantic Ocean belonging to Portugal

"the Azores are strategically located on transatlantic air and shipping routes"

Azores(ProperNoun)

An archipelago of nine volcanic islands in the North Atlantic, an autonomous region of Portugal.

Azores

i. e. Hawk Islands (250), a group of nine volcanic islands in the Atlantic, 800 m. W. of Portugal, and forming a province of it; are in general mountainous; covered with orange groves, of which the chief are St. Michael's and Fayal; and 900 m. W. of it, in the latitude of Lisbon; the climate is mild, and good for pulmonary complaints; they were known to the Carthaginian mariners, but fell out of the map of Europe till rediscovered in 1431.

Azores

A group of nine islands and several islets belonging to Portugal in the north Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Portugal. The islands are named after the acores, the Portuguese for goshawks, living there in abundance. (Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p102 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p42)