What is an Archipelago?

Sometimes, islands are formed very close together, in clusters. Such a cluster of islands is called an archipelago. Archipelagos can be made up of hundreds, or even thousands, of islands. These islands may differ from one another in their plant and animal life.
 
Archipelagos may be found isolated in large amounts of water or neighbouring a large land mass. For example, Scotland 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 are mainly of volcanic origin. Continental fragments correspond to land masses that have separated from a continental mass due to tectonic displacement. Finally, sets of islands formed close to the coast of a continent are considered continental archipelagos when they form part of the same continental shelf so islands are just exposed continental shelf.

Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, New Zealand, Greece, Hawaii, Maldives, Azores, and New York City are examples of well-known archipelagos. Indonesia is the world's largest archipelago by area and population. Hawaii is one of the most famous among archipelagos. It has eight main islands, and hundreds of smaller ones. Archipelagos are usually created by volcanic activity. 

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