Archipelago

An archipelago, 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.

The Hârnic Isles, Afarezirs, the Karejia Islands, Shoju, the Molnasya, Tazach,, Molkura, the Korlua Islands, Hepekeria, the Menema Islands, Goris, are all examples of well-known archipelagos. They are sometimes defined by political boundaries. The Menglana archipelago off the northwestern coast of Ivinia forms part of a larger archipelago that geographically includes the Rogna islands. While the Menglana archipelago and Rogna islands are geographically related, they are not technically included in the same archipelago due to manmade geopolitical borders.

Etymology
In English the word archipelago is derived from the Ancient Greek ἄρχι-(arkhi-, "chief") and πέλαγος (pélagos, "sea") through the Italian arcipelago. In Italian, possibly following a tradition of antiquity, "Archipelago" (from medieval Greek *ἀρχιπέλαγος and Latin archipelagus) was the proper name for the Aegean Sea. Later, usage shifted to refer to the Aegean Islands (since the sea is remarkable for its large number of islands).

Geographic types
Archipelagos may be found isolated in large amounts of water or neighbouring a large land mass. For example, Hârn 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, and continental islands.

Oceanic islands
Oceanic islands are mainly of volcanic origin, and widely separated from any adjacent continent. The Molnasya Islands in the south Haonic Ocean are examples.

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

Continental archipelagos
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 Principality of Menema off the coast of Hepekeria is an example.

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