Atlantic Islands
| Definition: |
Widely scattered islands in the Atlantic Ocean as far north as the AZORES and as far south as the South Sandwich Islands, with the greatest concentration found in the CARIBBEAN REGION. They include Annobon Island, Ascension, Canary Islands, Falkland Islands, Fernando Po (also called Isla de Bioko and Bioko), Gough Island, Madeira, Sao Tome and Principe, Saint Helena, and Tristan da Cunha. |
| Notes: |
in addition to indentions here & under CARIBBEAN REGION, see MeSH definition for other specific islands; in titles & translations use accents on island names as in author's text |
| Also Called: |
Sao Tome and Principe,St. Helena |
Atlantic Islands Categories.
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Azores - A group of nine islands and several islets belonging to Portugal in the north Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Portugal. The islands are named after the acores, the Portuguese for goshawks, living there in abundance. (Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p102 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p42) |
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Bermuda - A British colony in the western North Atlantic Ocean about 640 miles east southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. It comprises a group of about 300 islands of which only about 20 are inhabited. It is called also the Bermuda Islands or the Bermudas. It was named for the Spanish explorer Juan Bermudez who visited the islands in 1515. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p140 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p61) |
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Falkland Islands - A British colony in the Atlantic Islands, comprising two principal islands, East Falkland and West Falkland. Its capital is Stanley. Discovered in 1592, it was not occupied until the French settled there briefly in 1764. Later the English settled there but were expelled by the Spanish in 1770. The Falklands were claimed by Argentina but were occupied in 1833 by the British who, after an April 1982 invasion by Argentina, regained them in June. The islands were named by British Captain John Strong in 1690 for the fifth Viscount Falkland who financed Strong's expedition. The Spanish name for the islands, Malvinas, is from the French Malouins, inhabitants of St. Malo who attempted to colonize the islands in 1764. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p389 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p182) |
Atlantic Islands Definitions and Terms
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