Archipelago

Short description: Collection of islands

The Aegean Sea with its large number of islands is the origin of the term archipelago.

The Mergui Archipelago in Myanmar

An archipelago (/ˌɑːrkəˈpɛləɡoʊ/ (listen) AR-kə-PEL-ə-goh),[1] sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands.

Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archipelago, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Lakshadweep Islands, the Galápagos Islands, the Japanese archipelago, the Philippine Archipelago, the Maldives, the Balearic Islands, the Åland Islands, The Bahamas, the Aegean Islands, the Hawaiian Islands, the Canary Islands, Malta, the Azores, the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, the British Isles, the islands of the Archipelago Sea, and Shetland. Archipelagos are sometimes defined by political boundaries. For example, while they are geopolitically divided, the San Juan Islands and Gulf Islands geologically form part of a larger Gulf Archipelago.[2]

## Contents

* 1 Etymology
* 2 Geographic types
* 2.1 Oceanic islands
* 2.2 Continental fragments
* 2.3 Continental archipelagos
* 2.4 Artificial archipelagos
* 3 Superlatives
* 4 See also
* 5 References
* 6 External links

## Etymology

The word archipelago is derived from the Ancient Greek ἄρχι-(arkhi-, "chief") and πέλαγος (pélagos, "sea") through the Italian arcipelago. In antiquity, "Archipelago" (from Medieval Greek *ἀρχιπέλαγος and Latin [archipelagus] error: {{lang}}: unrecognized private tag: medieval (help)) was the proper name for the Aegean Sea. Later, usage shifted to refer to the Aegean Islands (since the sea has a large number of islands).

## Geographic types

Archipelagos may be found isolated in large amounts of water or neighbouring a large land mass. For example, Scotland has more than 700 islands surrounding its mainland, which form an archipelago.

Archipelagos are often volcanic, forming along island arcs generated by subduction zones or hotspots, but may also be the result of erosion, deposition, and land elevation. Depending on their geological origin, islands forming archipelagos can be referred to as oceanic islands, continental fragments, or continental islands.[3]

### Oceanic islands

Oceanic islands are mainly of volcanic origin, and widely separated from any adjacent continent. The Hawaiian Islands and Galapagos Islands in the Pacific, and Mascarene Islands in the south Indian Ocean are examples.

### Continental fragments

Continental fragments correspond to land masses that have separated from a continental mass due to tectonic displacement. The Farallon Islands off the coast of California are an example.

### Continental archipelagos

The Archipelago Sea with many islands in southwestern Finland

Sets of islands formed close to the coast of a continent are considered continental archipelagos when they form part of the same continental shelf, when those islands are above-water extensions of the shelf. The islands of the Inside Passage off the coast of British Columbia and the Canadian Arctic Archipelago are examples.

### Artificial archipelagos

Artificial archipelagos have been created in various countries for different purposes. Palm Islands and The World Islands off Dubai were or are being created for leisure and tourism purposes.[4][5] Marker Wadden in the Netherlands is being built as a conservation area for birds and other wildlife.[6]

## Superlatives

The largest archipelago in the world by number of islands is the Archipelago Sea, which is part of Finland . There are approximately 40,000, mostly uninhabited, islands [7]

The largest archipelagic state in the world by area, and by population, is Indonesia.[8]

## See also

* Island arc
* List of landforms
* List of archipelagos by number of islands
* List of archipelagos
* Archipelagic state
* List of islands
* Aquapelago

## References

1. ↑ "archipelago". Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/archipelago.
2. ↑ "What is an archipelago?". https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/archipelago.html.
3. ↑ Whittaker R. J. & Fernández-Palacios J. M. (2007) Island Biogeography: Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation. New York, Oxford University Press
4. ↑ McFadden, Christopher (22 December 2019). "7+ Amazing Facts About Dubai's Palm Islands". https://interestingengineering.com/7-curious-facts-about-dubais-palm-islands.
5. ↑ Wainwright, Oliver (13 February 2018). "Not the end of The World: the return of Dubai's ultimate folly". http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/feb/13/not-end-the-world-return-dubai-ultimate-folly.
6. ↑ Boffey, Daniel (27 April 2019). "Marker Wadden, the manmade Dutch archipelago where wild birds reign supreme". http://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/27/marker-wadden-islands-netherlands-manmade-archipelago-wild-birds-eco-haven.
7. ↑ "Nautical chart: International no. 1205, SE61, Baltic Sea, North, Sea of Åland.". http://www.sjofartsverket.se/upload/378/Sjokortsbilder/61.pdf.
8. ↑ Template:Cite CIA World Factbook

## External links

* 30 Most Incredible Island Archipelagos

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Coastal geography

Landforms|

* Anchialine pool
* Archipelago
* Atoll
* Avulsion
* Ayre
* Barrier island
* Bay
* Baymouth bar
* Bight
* Bodden
* Brackish marsh
* Cape
* Channel
* Cliff
* Coast
* Coastal plain
* Coastal waterfall
* Continental margin
* Continental shelf
* Coral reef
* Cove
* Dune
* cliff-top
* Estuary
* Firth
* Fjard
* Fjord
* Förde
* Freshwater marsh
* Fundus
* Gat
* Geo
* Gulf
* Gut
* Headland
* Inlet
* Intertidal wetland
* Island
* Islet
* Isthmus
* Lagoon
* Machair
* Marine terrace
* Mega delta
* Mouth bar
* Mudflat
* Natural arch
* Peninsula
* Reef
* Regressive delta
* Ria
* River delta
* Salt marsh
* Shoal
* Shore
* Skerry
* Sound
* Spit
* Stack
* Strait
* Strand plain
* Submarine canyon
* Tidal island
* Tidal marsh
* Tide pool
* Tied island
* Tombolo
* Windwatt

Beaches|

* Beach cusps
* Beach evolution
* Coastal morphodynamics
* Beach ridge
* Beachrock
* Pocket beach
* Raised beach
* Recession
* Shell beach
* Shingle beach
* Storm beach
* Wash margin

Processes|

* Blowhole
* Cliffed coast
* Coastal biogeomorphology
* Coastal erosion
* Concordant coastline
* Current
* Cuspate foreland
* Discordant coastline
* Emergent coastline
* Feeder bluff
* Fetch
* Flat coast
* Graded shoreline
* Headlands and bays
* Ingression coast
* Large-scale coastal behaviour
* Longshore drift
* Marine regression
* Marine transgression
* Raised shoreline
* Rip current
* Rocky shore
* Sea cave
* Sea foam
* Shoal
* Steep coast
* Submergent coastline
* Surf break
* Surf zone
* Surge channel
* Swash
* Undertow
* Volcanic arc
* Wave-cut platform
* Wave shoaling
* Wind wave
* Wrack zone

Management|

* Accretion
* Coastal management
* Integrated coastal zone management
* Submersion

Related|

* Bulkhead line
* Grain size
* boulder
* clay
* cobble
* granule
* pebble
* sand
* shingle
* silt
* Intertidal zone
* Littoral zone
* Physical oceanography
* Region of freshwater influence

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