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Geography

Faial is located at the western end of the central group of the Azores.
Its morphology suggests an irregular pentagon with an area of 173.8 square kilometres and its highest point is located in an altitude of 1043 metres in Cabeço Gordo (edge of the Caldeira).
The island is 21 kilometres long in the direction east-west and has a maximum width of 14 kilometres. It is separated from the Pico Island by a narrow inlet of about 8.3 kilometres wide (4.5 nautical miles), known as Canal Faial-Pico (water channel).
The latitude and the longitude of Faial are 38° 34’ 37’’ N and 28° 42’ 10’’ W. It has only one county, Horta county, and 13 parishes: Angústias, Conceição, Matriz, Flamengos, Feteira, Castelo Branco, Capelo, Praia do Norte, Cedros, Salão, Ribeirinha, Pedro Miguel and Praia do Almoxarife; with resident population of about 15 thousand inhabitants.
It has a maritime climate, with annual average temperatures between 13 °C in winter and 22 °C in summer and a relative humidity, on average, above 79%.