Named after Juan de Bermudez, the islands became a crown colony in 1684 and when the slave trade ended in the 17th century, it grew into a hub for merchants, pirates, and the Royal Navy. Currently, tourism is a key contributor to the nation’s economy. With a population of approximately 70,000 persons, it is the most populous British overseas territory in the world. At the beginning of the 90’s when modern transportation systems and communication networks began to revolve, the country became a renowned tourist spot for wealthy Americans, British, and Canadians. Although the tariff by the US against its trading partners stopped the thriving agricultural export trade to the United States, it gave rise to its tourism industry, which is important in terms of economic significance to the island. The UK is in charge of the country’s foreign and defense policy. However, the government is currently pursuing a few international projects independent of the United Kingdom. It has profitable foster relations with the US, Canada, and other first-world countries.
If you are interested in learning about the diplomatic relation of the country, this article provides information on foreign diplomatic relations of Bermuda and other bilateral information.
About the country
As of 2019, has the sixth-largest GDP per capita in the world. Banking and other financial services are the largest industry of the economy, contributing around 85 percent to the GDP, with tourism being the second largest. Even with the industrial and agricultural activities in the territory, it is still largely dependent on imports. Among the top industries, tourism attracts more than half a million tourists yearly to the island, with over 80 percent of them from the US.
Bilateral relations with other countries
Around 8,500 US nationals reside in the nation, with a ton of them working in the international business community. There are also various American businesses operating within the territory despite its government maintaining that the country is not a “tax haven”, as it charges both local and foreign businesses equally. Though tourists from the United States are the key factor in the island’s tourism sector, the number is declining. Business opportunities for foreign investment here are majorly in the re-insurance and financial services industries. With tax being the greatest factor in the balance of payments, U.S. firms doing business in the nation pay no less than $229 billion in dividends back to their U.S. parents.
Diplomatic relations of the country
Being a British Overseas territory, it has no seat in the UN and is represented by Britain in terms of foreign affairs. To increase its economic interests overseas, it has representative offices in London and Washington, D.C. While seventeen nations have honorary consuls in the territory, the US and Portugal have permanent diplomatic representatives. Thanks to its advantageous proximity to the US, it is an attractive site for summits and conferences between British prime ministers and United States presidents. In 2013 and 2017, it chaired the United Kingdom Overseas Territories Association.
Multilateral memberships
It is an associate member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) despite not being a Caribbean nation. It joined the group mainly to promote cultural links with the region. CARICOM is a socio-economic group of countries in or near the Caribbean Sea. Other similar members include the Co-operative Republic of Guyana and the Republic of Suriname in South America, Belize in Central America, the Commonwealth of The Bahamas in the Atlantic, etc. The country does not have strong trading relations with the Caribbean region and has almost nothing in common with other Caribbean nations economically, being thousands of kilometers away from the Caribbean Sea.
