archipelago

The Italian term arcipelago came to our language as archipelago. Specifically, it is considered that the etymological origin of this word in Castilian is in that other Greek that is a cultism fruit of the sum of two components: the adjective "archi", which can be translated as "superior", and the noun "pielagos ", Which is equivalent to" sea ".

The concept refers to a grouping of islands stretching into the ocean. For example: "This archipelago was discovered by a Portuguese navigator in 1520", "I spent my summer vacation touring a beautiful archipelago in the Indian Ocean", "Fishing is the archipelago's main economic resource".

The archipelagos are made up of various bodies of land, since islands until keys passing by islets and other formations. These various masses of territory are located within a short distance from each other: that is why they are considered as a unit.

A well-known archipelago is the Juan Fernández archipelago, which belongs to chili. Located in the South Pacific, to some 670 kilometers away from continent, is formed by the islet Santa Clara, the island Alexander Selkirk, the island Robinson crusoe and other smaller islets.

In the Juan Fernández archipelago they live near 600 people, distributed in a surface almost 100 square kilometers. The island Robinson crusoe it is the most populated.

On Europe, the archipelago of the British islands It's one of the most important. This archipelago includes the islands of Britain (that is distributed England, Scotland Y Welsh) e Ireland (whose territory is divided into Ireland and North Ireland).

However, in Spain we cannot forget the existence of two other important archipelagos:
-Canarian Archipelago (Canary Islands). It is made up of seven islands: El Hierro, La Gomera, Tenerife, La Palma, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote. It is located in North Africa, has a marked volcanic origin and has a subtropical climate. The latter has led to it becoming one of the most relevant tourist destinations throughout the year in the country. It has a long list of National Parks that have become true jewels and attractions of the aforementioned archipelago: Teide, Timanfaya, Caldera de Taburiente, Garajonay ...
-Balearic Archipelago (Balearic Islands), which is divided into two large groups: the Pitiusan islands (Formentera, Ibiza and several islets) and the gymnastic islands (Menorca, Mallorca, Cabrera and other islets). Its capital is Palma de Mallorca and it is located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea. It is also one of the preferred tourist destinations in Spain, having become the third autonomous community with the most visitors, after Catalonia and the Canary Islands. Its beaches, its climate and its nightlife are three of the main attractions of this corner, without forgetting monuments such as the Cathedral of Palma or the archaeological sites.

When the archipelago has little infrastructure and offers little possibility of growth to its inhabitants, it is common for people tend to seek opportunities on the mainland, emigrating from the islands. This usually happens especially with young people who want to access study or professional options that do not exist in the archipelago.