An archipelago is a large group of islands grouped in the sea at relatively close distances from each other.
The word, as such, comes from the Italian arcipelago, which in turn comes from the Greek word αρχιπέλαγος (arkhipélagos), composed of ἀρχι- (arkhi), which means ‘principal’, and πέλαγος (pelagos), which translates ‘sea’: main sea Formerly, the word Archipelago specifically designated the Aegean Sea, characterized by having a large number of islands in its territory.
In this sense, according to Geography, the archipelagos are constituted by a group of portions of land emerging from the surface of the sea, of variable extensions, which can be considered as islands, islets, islands and, even, keys.
In general, the islands are grouped in considerable marine extensions, but geographically close, and have a common geological origin, whether they belong to an oceanic dorsal (underwater elevations in the middle of the sea), since they have originated from activity volcanic Associated with the formation of the archipelagos, sedimentation and erosion processes are also recorded.
In terms of territorial legislation, as part of an archipelago, not only the masses of emerging land that comprise them are considered, but also the waters that surround and intercommunicate them. However, when an archipelago is part of a continental country, the State is obliged to determine the limits that delimit the territory in a legislative text.
There are many archipelagos in the world. Only in Latin America can we refer to the following: Galapagos archipelago, in Ecuador; archipelagos of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina and San Bernardo in Colombia; San Blas archipelago, in Panama; the archipelagos of Chiloé, Los Chonos, Juan Fernández, Campana, Guayaneco and Wellington in Chile; and the archipelagos of Las Aves, Los Frailes, Los Monjes, Los Roques, Las Aves and Los Testigos, in Venezuela. That without counting other archipelagos numbers found in the Antilles. Spain, on the other hand, has the archipelagos of the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands.
On the other hand, the archipelago can also be used figuratively when you want to refer to a multitude of things that, precisely because of its copiosity, is difficult to enumerate.
