Formigas Islets are islets of the Azores, Portugal. Located 100 km northeast of Santa Maria Island, they have special biological interest and a natural reserve . The islets are in the northwest part of a 13 km bank of extension and 5,5 km wide.

Formigas is the Portuguese for Ants, because they are many and small, some being pure rocks in the ocean. The islets are demanding for navigation, even if visible at 19 km away during sunlight, but in foggy days one can run aground without seeing the lighthouse (built in 1948) of the islets predicting the dangers of the islets. Surrounding the islets there are several hidden dangers, the depth of the islets group is never deeper than 30 meters, with the exception of a small point in the southwest, the Dollabarat, where there is only a small area that lies 3 meters deep.

One of the smallest but one of the highest islets lies only 5 meters above the sea level, and it’s named "Formigão" (big ant). The two biggest islets have only 180 meters length and 40 meters in width.

Geography

• Location:
  • Latitude: 37.2667 (27°16') N
  • Longitude: 24.85 (24°51') W

External links

• Map and aerial photos
  • Street map from Mapquest
  • Aerial photograph from Microsoft Terraserver