What is an archipelago?
An archipelago is a group or chain of islands close together. Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, Hawaii and Greece's Aegean islands are famous archipelagos.
Archipelagos form in several ways. Many are volcanic, such as Hawaii, the Canary Islands and the Galápagos, created as volcanoes rose from the seafloor. Others are the tops of underwater mountain ranges, pieces of continents separated by rising seas or coral islands built on reefs, like the Maldives.
Indonesia is the largest archipelagic country, with more than 17,000 islands. The Philippines has more than 7,600 islands, and Japan has about 14,000. The Canadian Arctic Archipelago is one of the largest island groups by area, including huge islands like Baffin and Ellesmere.
Where the word comes from
The word archipelago originally referred to the Aegean Sea, between Greece and Turkey, which is dotted with islands. It comes from Italian and Greek roots meaning chief sea. Over time, the word came to mean any group of islands.
Did You Know?
The Galápagos archipelago, part of Ecuador, inspired Charles Darwin's ideas about evolution after his visit in 1835.