Research – A World of Islands – FAMILY HISTORY

A World of Islands

Author: Robert W. Penry @ 2021

Islands! Earth contains millions of islands, of which about 11,000 are inhabited.

Many countries are islands, and I have included them on this site. But each country may consist of many, many islands.

For instance, Cuba. The main island of Cuba is surrounded by nearly 1,600 additional small islands and cays. The state of Hawaii has eight major islands, but altogether, there are 137 islands! Any mainland country has offshore islands.

The North and South American continents have some countries with coasts on both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and east of the coastal countries will probably have offshore islands.

Besides islands in oceans, there are islands in seas, gulfs, bays, lakes, and rivers.

Islands are often in the ocean in a line or a group. We call these groups Archipelagos. Examples are the Mariana Islands, the Florida Keys, Hawaiian Islands, and Aleutian Islands. Archipelagos are given names to identify the group. If you query an archipelago name, it will usually include a list of islands in the group. Archipelagos are grouped because they share common characteristics such as a line of volcanic islands above an underwater ridge, or perhaps coral outcroppings in a line.

If you are interested in seeing lists and information on the world’s islands, please visit the following links:

Lists of the Earth’s islands:

How Many Islands are There in the World?

List of islands in the Atlantic Ocean

List of islands in the Pacific Ocean

List of islands of the United States by area

British Isles (Many Islands)

List of islands of the Great Lakes

Lake islands

Of special interest are islands that have seen wars. Islands in the Mediterranean Sea have seen warfare since the dawn of civilization. The Minoan Culture on the island of Crete saw the Mycenaean invasion as early as the 15th century BC. The Anglo-French conflicts and the Napoleonic wars saw islands under siege for hundreds of years. During the American Revolution, a major battle was fought on Long Island. Smaller battles were fought on several small islands in the Carolina’s and Georgia. The Falkland Islands aka Maldives in the South Atlantic have seen combat in WW1 and also in 1982 between the British and Argentina.

However, the World War II saw many seemingly small and insignificant islands in the Pacific become household names for decades. Iwo Jima, Corregidor, and Guadalcanal are just a few. To learn more about islands that were involved in World War 1 and World War 2, please visit the following link: https://penrygenealogy.com/wp-content/uploads/Sea-and-Island-Involvement-in-WW-WW2.jpg

Geological Features of Islands

There are many thousands of islands in the world’s oceans. Of what are they composed? Why do they exsist? Section I indicated that the oceans’ floors are not flat. They have trenches, valleys, hills, mountains, or volcanoes. In other words, just like on land. Examples of these different types of islands follow.

Volcanic Islands: Most islands in the world are volcanic and are the tips of underwater volcanos, most are dormant, but some are active. Example Hawaiian Islands.

Coral Islands: These are coral reefs or atolls that have risen above the surface of the surrounding water. Example – Barbados and the Florida Keys. The Florida Keys are limestone outcroppings of an ancient coral reef but a few keys are just sand bars. In the Indian Ocean, the Maldives are Coral.

Continental Islands. These are islands that have broken from the mainland, usually caused by rising sea levels. Examples: Cuba, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico.

Tectonic Islands: The islands are formed when plates in the earth’s crust rub against each other and push rock upward. Example – Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean.

Sand Bar Islands. These islands that consist of nothing but sand. Example – Outer Banks of North Carolina.

An archipelago is a line or group of related islands scattered in lakes, rivers or the ocean and is given a group name that includes all of the included islands. Examples: Hawaii Islands, The Marshall Islands, The Philippines, or the Florida Keys.

Sometimes an archipelago can have multiple types of islands. Example: The Mariana Islands in the Pacific are the summits of fifteen mostly dormant volcanic mountains. But the southern islands in the Mariana Archipelago are limestone terraces and coral reefs.

Archipelagos -
Many, Many, Islands!

To understand the formation of an archipelago, it helps to review the topography (or shape of the land) on the bottom of the sea. The bottom of the sea is not flat. Just like the earth’s lands, the ocean bottom consists of granite mountains, deep canyons, volcanos, plains, and faults which are cracks in the earth. Mountains usually lie in a straight line on land, and so the ocean mountains do the same. A chain of islands is often just the peaks of an ocean mountain range.

A fault (a crack in the earth) is weak spot in the earth’s crust. The earth has a layer of rock and soil, several miles thick that lies over molten rock. The earth is not a solid, cold lump of rock. The earth is kind of like an orange. The orange has a hard peel, and underneath it is wet. If you cut the peel with a knife, juice will leak out. The earth is like that, put a crack in it, and the hot molten rock can leak out or erupt (explode) as a volcano. Faults are usually in a straight line and so a straight line of the tops of underwater volcanos can stick up above the water.

Sometimes, sand can pile up along a raised part of the earth underwater and as the piles get deeper, they can become sand islands. Coral can grow along a ridge and grow above the water in some places forming coral islands, reefs and atolls. Coral eventually dies and becomes limestone, and a chain of limestone islands can appear. Shallow water over rock can create shoals which can be hazardous to shipping.

Over time, the level of water on earth rises and falls. Seas get deeper or shallower. New islands can appear, or some can disappear. Volcanoes erupt underwater and rise creating a new island.

Careful! The links on the following list take you to associated Wiki articles. To get back to this page, you must use your browser's back arrow.

The number of islands on Earth number in the millions. The number of Archipelagos or chains of islands number over 1000. Wikipedia lists the world’s archipelagos which list follows. It is grouped by ocean and follows with a list of archipelagos sorted by populations (from greatest down to a population of 24 – there are many with less than 24).

o 2.1Along the coast of Europe

o 2.2Along the coast of Africa

o 2.3Along the coast of the Americas

o 2.4Macaronesia

o 2.5Baltic Sea, Gulf of Bothnia and Gulf Of Finland

o 2.6Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico

o 2.7Caspian Sea

o 2.8Mediterranean Sea

o 2.9North Sea

3 Indian Ocean

o 3.1Along the coast of Africa

o 3.2Along the coast of Asia

o 3.3Along the coast of Australia

o 3.4Outlying archipelagos

o 3.5Red Sea

4 Pacific Ocean

o 4.1Along the coast of the Americas

o 4.2Along the coast of Asia

o 4.3Oceania

§ 4.3.1Australia

§ 4.3.2Melanesia

§ 4.3.3Micronesia (Subdivision of Oceania not country)

§ 4.3.4Polynesia

Arctic Ocean

Archipelagos of the Arctic Ocean:

· Achton Friis Islands

· Anzhu Islands

· Arkticheskiy Institut Islands

· Barren Islands

· Berkeley Islands

· Bonsall Islands

· Canadian Arctic Archipelago

o Aihoyok Islands

o Akvitlak Islands

o Arvalik Islands

o Astronomical Society Islands

o Cape Chidley Islands

o Crown Prince Islands

o Digges Islands

o Duke of York Archipelago

o Finlaysin Islands

o Harrison Islands

o Hay Islands

o Hecla and Fury Islands

o Paint Hills Islands

o Queen Elizabeth Islands

§ Fay Islands

o Saneruarsuk Islands

o Solomons Temple Islands

o Spicer Islands

o Walrus Islands (Nunavut)

o Walrus Islands (Southampton)

· Cape Farewell Archipelago

· Izvestiy TSIK Islands

· Kasegaluk Lagoon Islands

· Kirov Islands

· Komsomolskaya Pravda Islands

· Labyrintovye Islands

· Lofoten

· New Siberian Islands

o De Long Islands

o Sedov Archipelago

· Nordenskiöld Archipelago

· Novaya Zemlya

· Nuvuk Islands

· Plavnikovyye Islands

· Plover Islands

· Pye Islands

· Return Islands

· Routan Islands

· Saint Peter Islands

· Scott Hansen Islands

· Seahorse Islands

· Serykh Gusey Islands

· Spy Islands

· Svalbard

· Upernavik Archipelago

· Vegaøyan

· Vestmannaeyjar

· Zveroboy Islands

Atlantic Ocean[

Archipelagos of the Atlantic Ocean:

Along the coast of Europe

· Berlengas

o Estelas Islets

o Farilhões-Forcados Islets

§ St Kilda

o Islands of the Clyde

o Orkney

§ North Isles

o Chausey

· Columbretes Islands

· Lofoten

· Þórðarhöfði (Thordarhofdi)

Along the coast of Africa

· Arquipélago dos Bijagós

· Baboon Islands

· Bight of Bonny Islands

o Annobón

o Bioko

o São Tomé e Príncipe

· Turtle Islands, Sierra Leone

· Îles de Los

Along the coast of the Americas

· Abrolhos Archipelago

· Diego Ramírez Islands

· Falkland Islands

o Arch Islands

o Jason Islands

· Fernando de Noronha

· Flat Islands, Bovista Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador Flat Islands*

· Lucayan Archipelago

o The Bahamas

o Turks and Caicos Islands

· Magdalen Islands (Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine)

· Marcopeet Islands

· Mingan Archipelago

· Outer Lands (New England-New York islands)

· Puerto Rico

· Saint Peter and Paul Rocks

· Salvation’s Islands

· San Blas Islands

· Thimble Islands

· Tierra del Fuego

· Trindade and Martin Vaz

· Wollaston Islands

Macaronesia

Archipelagos of Macaronesia:

· Azores

o Formigas

· Canary Islands

o Chinijo Archipelago

· Cape Verde

Baltic Sea, Gulf of Bothnia and Gulf Of Finland

Archipelagos of the Baltic Sea, Gulf of Bothnia and Gulf of Finland:

· Åland

· Archipelago Sea

· Beryozovye Islands

· Blekinge Archipelago

· Bothnian Bay archipelago^[1]

o Haparanda archipelago^[2]

o Kalix archipelago^[3]

o Luleå archipelago^[4]

o Piteå archipelago^[5]

o Skellefteå archipelago^[6]

· Froan

· Kvarken Archipelago

· Norrbotten Archipelago

· Oskarshamn archipelago

· Pakri Islands

· South Funen Archipelago

· Swedish East Coast Archipelago

o Gräsö archipelago

o Oskarshamn archipelago

o Stockholm Archipelago

§ Rödlöga archipelago

§ Skarv Archipelago

o Södermanland archipelago

o Öregrund archipelago

o Östergötland archipelago

§ Gryt archipelago

§ Sankt Anna’s Archipelago

§ Tjust Archipelago

o Småland archipelago

· Turku archipelago

· West Estonian archipelago

Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico

Archipelagos of the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico:

· Archipelago of San Bernando

· West Indies

§ Colorados Archipelago

§ Cannarreos Archipelago

§ Jardines de la Reina

§ Sabana-Camagüey Archipelago

§ Puerto Rican Islands

§ Lesser Antilles

§ Leeward Islands

§ Petite Terre islands

§ Virgin Islands

§ British Virgin Islands

§ Dog Islands

§ ABC Islands

§ Las Aves Archipelago

§ Los Hermanos Archipelago

§ Los Monjes Archipelago

§ Los Roques Archipelago

§ Los Testigos Islands

§ Lucayan Archipelago

§ Cat Cays

§ Double Headed Shot Cays

§ Elbow Cays

§ Plana Cays

§ Water Cays

§ Cow And Calves Islands

§ Grenadines

Caspian Sea

Archipelagos of the Caspian Sea:

· Baku Archipelago

· Podvodnyye Islands

· Tuledi Araldary

· Tyuleniy Archipelago

Mediterranean Sea

Archipelagos of the Mediterranean Sea:

· Ayvalık

· Brijuni

· Campanian Archipelago

o Phlegrean Islands

· Cres-Lošinj Archipelago

· Kornati

· Maddalena Archipelago

North Sea

Archipelagos of the North Sea:

· Frisian Islands (or Wadden Islands)

o Danish Wadden Sea Islands

o East Frisian Islands

o North Frisian Islands

o North Frisian Barrier Islands

o West Frisian Islands

· Southern Gothenburg Archipelago

· Vega Islands (Vegaøyan)

Indian Ocean

Along the coast of Africa

· Bajuni Islands

· Cargados Carajos Shoals (Saint Brandon)

· Choazil Islands (Malandzamia Islands)

· Comoro Islands

· Glorioso Islands

· Khuriya Muriya Islands

· Mayotte

· Seychelles

· Socotra Archipelago

· Zanzibar Archipelago

Along the coast of Asia

· Ad Dimaniyat Islands

· Andaman Islands and Nicobar Islands

o Andaman Islands

o Ritchie’s Archipelago

§ Twin Islands

o Nicobar Islands

· Ashmore and Cartier Islands

· Cocos (Keeling) Islands

· Hawar Islands

· Langkawi

· Lakshadweep (Laccadives)

· Logo Islands (artificial)

· Logo Islands (other artificial one)

· Maldives

· Mentawai Islands

· Nurana Islands

· Mergui Archipelago

· Palm Jumeirah (artificial)

· The World (artificial)

Along the coast of Australia

· Bonaparte Archipelago

· Buccaneer Archipelago

· Recherche Archipelago

Outlying archipelagos

· Prince Edward Islands

Red Sea

Archipelagos in the Red Sea:

· Dahlak Archipelago

· Farasan Islands

· Hanish Islands

· Hurghada Archipelago

· Sa’ad ad-Din Islands

· Seven Brothers Islands

· Suakin Archipelago

· Zubair Group

Pacific Ocean

Along the coast of the Americas

o Islands of Four Mountains

o Komandorski Islands

· Alexander Archipelago

· Archipelagoes of Patagonia

o Guaitecas Archipelago (Archipiélago de las Guaitecas)

o Guayaneco Archipelago (Archipiélago Guayaneco)

o Chonos Archipelago (Archipiélago de los Chonos)

o Diego Ramírez Islands (Islas Diego Ramírez)

o Katalalixar Archipielago

o Madre de Dios Archipelago

o Pearl Islands

o Queen Adelaide Archipelago (Archipelago de La Reina Adelaida)

o Tierra del Fuego (Archipiélago de Tierra del Fuego)

o Wollaston Islands (Islas Wollaston)

o Wellington Archipelago

· Baranof Archipelago

· Bird Rocks

· Broughton Archipelago

· Channel Islands of California

· Chiloé Archipelago (Archipiélago de Chiloé)

· Chinchas Islands

· Chriswell Islands

· Coronado Islands

· Desventuradas Islands

· Easter Island

· Farallon Islands

· Flat Islands

· Galápagos Islands (Archipiélago de Colón)

· Goose Group

· Gulf Islands

· Haida Gwaii

· Islas Secas

· Juan Fernández Islands

· Revillagigedo Islands

· San Juan Islands

Along the coast of Asia

· Amakusa Islands

· Banzhou Archipelago

· Chàm Islands

· Côn Đảo

· Changsan Archipelago

· Chastye Islands

· Coco Islands

· Chumphon Islands

· Eugénie Archipelago

· Fishers’ Islands

· Japanese archipelago (including Sakhalin)

§ Iheya-Izena Islands

· Koh Rong Archipelago

· Korean Archipelago

· Kuril Islands

· Liancourt Rocks

· Miaodao Archipelago

· Malay Archipelago

o Great Indonesia Archipelago

§ Asia Islands

§ Ayu Islands

§ Bacan Islands

§ Balabalagan Islands

§ Banda Arc

§ Banda Islands

§ Banggai Islands

§ Bowokan Islands

§ Bangka Belitung Islands

§ Boo Islands

§ Karakaralong Islands

§ Karimata Islands

§ Karimun Islands

§ Kepulauan Mentawai

§ Krakatoa Archipelago

§ Aru Islands

§ Kai Islands

§ Penyu Islands

§ Watubela Archipelago

§ Masalembu Islands

§ Mentawai Islands Regency

§ Nias Islands

§ Batu Islands

§ Obi Islands

§ Spermonde Archipelago (Pabbring Islands)

§ Fam Islands

§ Riau Islands (separate from the Riau Archipelago)

§ Sabalana Islands

§ Sangihe Islands

§ Schouten Islands (Known as Biak Islands and Geelvink Islands)

§ Selayar Islands

§ Macan Islands

§ Taka Bonerate Islands

§ Sula Islands Also Known As Xulla Islands

§ Sunda Islands

§ Greater Sunda Islands

§ Lesser Sunda Islands

§ Thousand Islands (Indonesia)

§ Tambelan Archipelago

o Philippine Islands (Island nation)

§ Batanes

§ Visayas

§ Olango Island Group

· Ogasawara Islands

· Penghu Islands

· Poulo Wai islands

· Rimsky-Korsakov Archipelago

· Shantar Islands

· Shengsi Islands

· South China Sea Islands

· Taehwa-Do

· Yam Islands

Oceania

Australia

· Archipelago of the Recherche

· Beagle Islands

· Bird Isles

· Bonaparte Archipelago

· Breaksea Islands

· Buccaneer Archipelago

· Dampier Archipelago

· Fig Islands

· High Cliffy Islands

· Home Islands

· Hunter Islands

· Islands on the Great Barrier Reef

o Sir James Smith Group

o Torres Strait Islands

· Kent Group

· Leschenaultia Islands

· Middle Pasco Islands

· Minnieritchie Islands

· Mud Islands

· Saint Alouarm Islands

· Sir Graham Moore Islands

· Sir Joseph Banks Group

· Smith Islands

· The English Company Islands

o South Wellesley Islands

· Whitsunday Islands

Melanesia

· Bismarck Archipelago

o Admiralty Islands

o Arawe Islands

o Duke of York Islands

o St Matthias Islands

· D’Entrecasteaux Islands

· Fiji Islands

o Lau Islands (Also known as Lau Group, Eastern Group and Eastern Archipelago)

· Louisiade Archipelago

o Bentley Islands

o Dumolin Islands

· New Caledonia (Kanaky)

o Loyalty Islands

· New Guinea

· Shepherd Islands

· Solomon Islands

o Solomon Islands (country)

§ Duff Islands

§ Santa Cruz Islands

§ Nggela Islands

§ New Georgia Islands

o Northern Solomons (Bougainville)

· Tonga

o Geography of Tonga

· Trobiand Islands

· Vanuatu (New Hebrides)

o Banks Islands

o Maskelyne Islands

o Mathew and Hunter Islands (Disputed between Vanuatu and France so it could be in here or not)

o Shephard Islands

o Torres Islands

Micronesia (Subdivision of Oceania not country)

· Caroline Islands

· Faichuk Islands

o Nomiwisofo Group

· Gilbert Islands (Kiribati)

· Mortlock Islands (Nomoi Islands)

o Upper Mortlock Islands

· Palau

Polynesia

· Adams Rocks

· Cook Islands (Hervey Islands)

o Northern Cook Islands

o Southern Cook Islands

o Rurutu

§ Îles du vent (Windward Islands)

§ Îles sous le vent (Leeward Islands)

o Tuamotus

§ Disappointment Islands

§ Duke of Gloucester Islands

§ King George islands

· Hawaiian Islands (Sandwich Islands)

o Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

§ French Frigate Shoals

§ Gardner Pinnacles

· Mercury Islands

· New Zealand (main chain)

o Bream Islands

o Cavalli Islands

o Chetwode Islands

o Islands of the Hauraki Gulf

§ Hen and Chicken Islands (NZ)

§ The Noises

o Poor Knights Islands

o Three Kings Islands

o Titi/Muttonbird Islands

· Pitcairn Islands

· Samoan Islands (Navigators’ Islands)

o Aleipata Islands

§ American Samoa (Eastern Samoa)

§ Manu’a

§ Samoa (Western Samoa)

· Snares Islands

· Tonga Islands (Friendly Islands)

· Tokelau (Union Islands)

· Tuvalu (Ellice Islands)

· Wallis and Futuna Islands

o Horne Islands

Southern Ocean

· Aagaard Islands

· Afuera Islands or Penguin Island or Dodge Rocks

· Bishop and Clerk Islets

· Bugge Islands

· Burkett Islands

· Colbeck Archipelago

· Heard Island and McDonald Islands

· Hydrographer Islands

· Joinville Island Group

o Danger Islands

· Judge and Clerk Islets

· Law Islands

· Marshall Archipelago

· Mikkelsen Islands

· Nøkkelholmane Islands

§ South Sandwich Islands

· South Orkney Islands

o Flensing Islands

o Gosling Islands

o Governor Islands

o Inaccessible Islands

· South Shetland Islands

§ Okol Rocks

§ Asses Ears

· Wilhelm Archipelago

§ Yato Rocks

Lakes and rivers

· Archipelago of Saint-Pierre Lake

· Hen and Chicken Islands (USA)

· Hochelaga Archipelago

· Mabanda Islets

· Sandy Islands (Lake Winnipeg)

· Sandy Islands (Lake Wollasten)

· Si Phan Don

· Slate Islands

· Solentiname Islands

· The McKivens Archipelago

· Thirty Thousand Islands

· Ushkan Islands

· Vesi Archipelago

By population

· Malay Archipelago 380,000,000 inhabitants

Indonesia 267,000,000 Philippines 108,576,000

· Japanese archipelago

Japan 125,950,000 Sakhalin 498,000 Kuril Islands 19,434

· British Isles 71,900,000

Great Britain 60,800,000 Ireland 6,572,728

· Antilles 43,563,500

Greater Antilles 38,400,500 Lesser Antilles 3,950,000 Lucayan Archipelago 443,000 Leeward Antilles 770,000

· Danish Archipelago 3,000,000

· Maluku Islands 2,844,131

· Riau Islands 2,241,570

· Mascarene Islands 2,195,087

· Canary Islands 2,153,400

· Sulu Archipelago 1,996,970

· Ryukyu Islands 1,550,161

· Hawaiian Islands

Hawaii 1,415,870

· Zanzibar Archipelago 1,350,379

· Comoro Islands 1,153,195

· Balearic Islands 1,107,200

· Gulf of Guinea islands 550,695

Bioko 334,463 São Tomé and Príncipe 211,000 Annobón 5,232

· Cape Verde 550,483

· Malta 493,559

· Maldives 374,775

· Andaman Islands 343,125

· Madeira 289,000

· Society Islands 275,918

· Samoan Islands 257,574

· Azores 246,772

· Mariana Islands 228,600

· Ionian Islands 207,855

· Channel Islands 169,592

· Virgin Islands 145,727

· Caroline Islands 122,368

· Croatian Archipelago 121,366

· Cyclades 119,549

· Gilbert Islands 83,382

· Frisian Islands 81,341

· Lakshadweep 70,365

· Bermuda 64,055

· Faroe Islands 52,337

· Hebrides 46,632

· Nicobar Islands 36,842

· Tuscan Archipelago 34,389

· Bissagos Islands 30,000

· Åland 29,884

· Caicos Islands 26,519

· Galapagos Islands 25,124

· Lofoten 24,500

· Shetland 23,210

· Orkney 22,100

· Grenadines 20,880

· San Juan Islands 17,582

· Southern Cook Islands 16,418

· Kerkennah Islands 15,501

· Aeolian Islands 15,419

· Tuamotus 15,346

· Arctic Archipelago 14,000

· Bocas del Toro Archipelago 13,000

· Magdalen Islands 12,781

· Islands of the Clyde 12,534

· Marquesas Islands 9,346

· Line Islands 8,813

· Aleutian Islands 8,162

· Austral Islands 6,965

· Pelagie Islands 6,556

· Haida Gwaii 4,761

· Torres Strait Islands 4,514

· Vestmannaeyjar 4,500

· Aegadian Islands 4,292

· Pontine Islands 4,066

· Falkland Islands 4,000

· Chagos Archipelago 3,000–5,000

· Fernando de Noronha 3,061

· Dahlak Archipelago 3,000

· Svalbard 2,667

· Bonin Islands 2,440

· Isles of Scilly 2,224

· Gambier Islands 1,533

· Aran Islands 1,225

· Northern Cook Islands 1,041

· Paracel Islands 1,000+

· Juan Fernandez Islands 900

· Chatham Islands 663

· Commander Islands 613

· Isole Tremiti 489

· Diomede Islands 135

· Phoenix Islands 24