The Mergui Archipelago

An archipelago (pronounced /ɑrkəˈpɛləgoʊ/) is a chain or cluster of islands. The Mergui Archipelago (also Myeik Archipelago) is an Archipelago in far southern Burma (Myanmar An island (ˈaɪlənd or isle (/ˈaɪl/ is any piece of land that is completely surrounded by water in two dimensions above high tide and isolated from other significant The word archipelago literally means "chief sea", from Greek arkhon (arkhi-) ("leader") and pelagos ("sea"). This article is about the body of water For other uses see SEA and Seas. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly In antiquity, the Archipelago (Greek: Αρχιπέλαγος) was the proper name for the Aegean Sea and, later, usage shifted to refer to the Aegean Islands (since the sea is remarkable for its large number of islands). Classical antiquity (also the classical era or classical period) is a broad term for a long period of cultural History centered on the Mediterranean Etymology In ancient times there were various explanations for the name Aegean. The Aegean Islands (Νησιά Αιγαίου Nisiá Aigaíou; Ege Adaları are a group of Islands in the Aegean Sea, with mainland Greece It is now used to generally refer to any island group or, sometimes, to a sea containing a large number of scattered islands like the Aegean Sea. Etymology In ancient times there were various explanations for the name Aegean.

Types of archipelagos

Archipelagos are usually found in the open sea; less commonly, a large land mass may neighbour them, an example being Scotland which has more than 700 islands surrounding the mainland. Not to be confused with Landmass. Land mass refers to the total Area of a Country or geographical Region (which Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Archipelagoes are often volcanic, forming along mid-ocean ridges or hotspots, but there are many other processes involved in their construction, including erosion, deposition, and land elevation. Plate tectonics and hotspots Divergent plate boundaries At the A mid-ocean ridge or mid-oceanic ridge is an underwater Mountain range typically having a valley known as a Rift running along its axis formed by In Geology, a hotspot is a location on the Earth's surface that has experienced active volcanism for a long period of time Erosion is the carrying away or displacement of solids ( Sediment, Soil, rock and other particles usually by the agents of currents such as wind Deposition is the geological process by which material is added to a Landform or land mass Post-glacial rebound (sometimes called continental rebound, isostatic rebound, isostatic adjustment or post-ice-age isostatic recovery)

The four largest modern states that are mainly archipelagos are Japan, the Philippines, the United Kingdom and Indonesia (the world's largest archipelagic state according to the CIA World Factbook) [1]. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. The Philippines ( Filipino: Pilipinas, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (fil ''Republika ng Pilipinas'' RP The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The Republic of Indonesia ( (Republik Indonesia is a Country in Southeast Asia.

The largest archipelago in the world by size is the Canadian Arctic Archipelago of Northern Canada. The Canadian Arctic Archipelago, also known as just the Arctic Archipelago, is an Archipelago north of the Canadian mainland in the Arctic Northern Canada is the vast Northernmost Region of Canada variously defined by Geography and Politics. It is situated in the Arctic Ocean. The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major

See also

• Island arc
• Geography
• Earth science
• Geomorphology
• List of landforms
• Plate tectonics
• Island nation
• Earthsea
• The World
• Lists of islands: see List of archipelagos and List of islands

The Archipelago Sea, situated between the Gulf of Bothnia and the Gulf of Finland, the largest archipelago in the world by the number of islands. A volcanic arc is a chain of volcanic islands or Mountains formed by Plate tectonics as an oceanic Tectonic plate subducts under Geography (from Greek γεωγραφία - geografia) is the study of the Earth and its lands features inhabitants and phenomena Earth science (also known as geoscience, the geosciences or the Earth Sciences) is an all-embracing term for the Sciences related to the planet Geomorphology (from Greek: γη ge, "earth" μορφή morfé, "form" and λόγος Logos, "knowledge" Plate tectonics (from Greek τέκτων tektōn "builder" or "mason" describes the large scale motions of Earth 's Lithosphere An island country is a Country that is wholly confined to an Island, several islands an Island group or several island groups and has no territory on Earthsea is a Fictional realm created by Ursula K Le Guin for her short story " The Word of Unbinding " published in 1964 but that became more The World is a man-made Archipelago of 300 islands constructed in the shape of a world map and located 4 kilometres (2 Arctic Ocean Canadian Arctic Archipelago Belcher Islands Queen Elizabeth Islands This is a list of Islands in the world grouped by Oceans and by Continents For rank-order lists see the other lists below Archipelago Sea ( Finnish Saaristomeri, Swedish Skärgårdshavet) is a part of the Baltic Sea between the Gulf of Bothnia The Gulf of Bothnia (Pohjanlahti Bottniska viken ie Bottenviken + Bottenhavet is the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea. The Gulf of Finland ( Finnish: Suomenlahti, Russian: Финский залив, Finskiy zaliv, Swedish: Finska viken