-
Random Facts
- What are Hot Springs in Iceland used For?
- What Is the Most Common Disease in the World Today?
- What Is an Archipelago?
- Who Built the World’s First Cities In Mesopotamia?
- How Long Have Robots Been Around?
- What are glowworms and where do they come from?
- Can We Build Cities on the Moon?
- How was Cloning of Plants and Animals Invented and When?
- Which cephalopod can swim faster a squid or an octopus?
- Who were Robert O’Hara Burke and William John Wills?
-
Recent Comments
- Kayleigh on Why Did Indians Scalp People?
- keerthana reddy on Who invented Money and why?
- Bryan L. Allen on When was the first human-powered airplane flight?
- Harvey on How Did Eggs and Rabbits Become Associated with the Celebration of Easter?
- Tim tool man on Where is the Hottest Place on Earth?
- Bob Cahill on Are areas near the equator always warm even at higher elevations?
- chris on Who Invented Chewing Gum?
- mary on History of Umbrellas
- Abel Robinault on How Does a Clam Eat?
- chakaloso on How Does a Radio Work?
-
Tags
-
-
Pages
What Is an Archipelago?
The word “archipelago” comes from two Greek words: archos, meaning “chief,” and pelagos, meaning “sea.”
The Greeks originally used the word archipelagos for the Aegean Sea, which washes against the shores of Greece and was their “chief sea.” Since the Aegean Sea is studded with many islands, the word “archipelago” came to mean any sea that is filled with islands.
Later, though, the word came to mean a group or chain of islands, rather than the sea in which they were located. When people say “archipelago” today, they usually mean a chain of islands.
The Aleutian Islands in Alaska, the Florida Keys, and the islands that make up the nation of Japan are all archipelagos. But the world’s biggest archipelago is the island chain of Indonesia, which stretches 3,500 miles and includes more than 13,000 islands!