Hamilton (Bermuda)

Hamilton is a port town and the capital of Bermuda - one of the British Overseas Territories. This small town is bermuda's financial centre, main seaport and a major tourist travel destination. Its population (around 1000) ranks it among the world's smallest capital cities (listed as number 233) - the smallest being King Edward Point (South Georgia Island UK, population under 20) and the largest being .Beijing China (around 21 million).

As a British city, Hamilton's history started in 1790 when the Government of Bermuda set aside a land area of 0,6 km2 (0,23 ml2) for its future seat. In 1793, it was officially incorporated by an Act of Parliament. The city was named after Henry Hamilton (1734-1796) - Governor of Bermuda in the period 1785-1794.

Nowadays, the city's portion that overlooks Hamilton Harbour is predominately a business district, lined up with mainly banks, office buildings and shops. Hamilton has a long maintained building height limit. It states that no buildings may obscure the Cathedral. In the 21st century, buildings have been designed as high as 10-story in this area.

In Hamilton are the registered headquarters of Bacardi (spirits manufacturer), Global Crossing (telecom company), Tokio Millennium Re Ltd (reinsurance company), Genpact (outsourcing company). In the city are also the headquarters of renowned marine shipping companies, including Dockwise, DryShips Inc, Frontline Ltd. Hamilton's low corporate tax rate makes it very attractive as offshore destination for large international companies.

Hamilton Bermuda is a major exporter of financial services (insurance, reinsurance, investment funds) as virtually all of this developed international business takes place within the city's borders. The list of large insurance companies based in Hamilton has around 400 businesses (all internationally owned). The total number of registered in Hamilton international companies exceeds 1500.

Hamilton Bermuda offers its offshore registry (flag-state) for UK-owned ships since 1974. First, P&O Cruises changed all its ships' flags from London to Hamilton. Most Bermuda-flagged cruise ships today are from the fleets of Princess, P&O and Cunard. The main reason for that is the Bermudian flag of convenience allows cruise ship captains to perform onboard weddings. The Bermudian flag is of course British, but Bermuda's registry has different legislation.

For season 2020, the cruise port had 19 ship calls (booked berthings) - up from 13 in 2019.

Hamilton cruise terminal