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Shantar Islands

(Encyclopedia)Shantar Islands shəntärˈ [key], archipelago, c.980 sq mi (2,540 sq km), Khabarovsk Territory, Russian Far East, in the Sea of Okhotsk. Discovered in 1645, the islands are used as a fishing base and...

Shetland Islands

(Encyclopedia)Shetland Islands zĕtˈ– [key], the archipelago is 70 mi (110 km) long and consists of some 100 islands, of which fewer than one fourth are inhabited. Mainland, Yell, Unst, Fetlar, Whalsey, and Bres...

Ryukyu Islands

(Encyclopedia)Ryukyu Islands rēo͞oˈkyo͞o [key], Jap. Ryukyu-retto or Nansei-shoto [southwest group], archipelago (1990 est. pop. 1,500,000), c.1,850 sq mi (4,790 sq km), SW Japan, in the W Pacific Ocean. The ch...

Phoenix Islands

(Encyclopedia)Phoenix Islands, group of eight islands, 11 sq mi (28 sq km), central Pacific, N of Samoa. The chain comprises a portion of Kiribati. The two most important are Kanton (or Abariringa) and Enderbury Is...

Pribilof Islands

(Encyclopedia)Pribilof Islands prĭbˈĭlŏfˌ [key], group of four volcanic islands, off SW Alaska in the Bering Sea, c.230 mi (370 km) N of the Aleutian Islands; explored and named in 1786 by Gerasim Pribilof, a ...

Princes Islands

(Encyclopedia)Princes Islands, Turkey: see Kizil Adalar. ...

Safety Islands

(Encyclopedia)Safety Islands: see Îles du Salut. ...

Sangihe Islands

(Encyclopedia)Sangihe Islands sängˈē [key], volcanic group (314 sq mi/813 sq km), Indonesia, NE of Sulawesi. Tahuna is the chief town and port. The islands are mountainous, forested, and fertile; tropical woods,...

Sandwich Islands

(Encyclopedia)Sandwich Islands: see Hawaii.

Canary Islands

(Encyclopedia)Canary Islands, Span. Islas Canarias, group of seven islands (2020 est. pop. 2,161,000), 2,875 sq mi (7,445 sq km), autonomous community of Spain, ...