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14-502: The Yasawa Group is an archipelago of about 20 volcanic islands in the Western Division of Fiji , with an approximate total area of 135 square kilometres (52 sq mi). The Yasawa volcanic group consists of six main islands and numerous smaller islets. The archipelago, which stretches in a north-easterly direction for more than 80 kilometres (50 mi) from a point 40 kilometres (25 mi) north-west of Lautoka ,

28-753: A bit more limited than some of the closer islands to Nadi and Denarau. Sea planes from local airlines (like Turtle Airways) make multiple flights to the Yasawa resorts per day, and charters are also available. Helicopter charters are also available or one can take the Yasawa Flyer , a catamaran. This article about a geographical location in Fiji is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Archipelago An archipelago ( / ˌ ɑːr k ə ˈ p ɛ l ə ɡ oʊ / AR -kə- PEL -ə-goh ), sometimes called an island group or island chain ,

42-561: Is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands , or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Archipelagos are sometimes defined by political boundaries. For example, while they are geopolitically divided, the San Juan Islands and Gulf Islands geologically form part of a larger Gulf Archipelago. The word archipelago is derived from the Ancient Greek ἄρχι-( arkhi- , "chief") and πέλαγος ( pélagos , "sea") through

56-418: Is volcanic in origin and very mountainous, with peaks ranging from 250 to 600 metres (820 to 1,969 ft) in height. The only safe passage for shipping is between Yasawa Island (the second largest in the archipelago, about 22 kilometres (14 mi) long and less than a kilometer wide) and Round Island , 22 kilometers to the north-east. The British navigator William Bligh was the first European to sight

70-543: The Aegean Sea are Imbros (Gökçeada) and Tenedos (Bozcaada), in the northeastern part of the sea. Various smaller islets off Turkey's western coast are also under Turkish sovereignty. The islands have hot summers and mild winters, a hot-summer Mediterranean climate ( Csa in the Köppen climate classification ). The Aegean Islands are traditionally subdivided into seven groups, from north to south: The term Italian Islands of

84-757: The Italian arcipelago . In antiquity , "Archipelago" (from Medieval Greek * ἀρχιπέλαγος and Latin archipelagus ) was the proper name for the Aegean Sea . Later, usage shifted to refer to the Aegean Islands (since the sea has a large number of islands). 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

98-669: The Yasawas in 1789, following the Mutiny on the Bounty . Captain Barber in HMS ; Arthur visited the islands in 1794, but they were not charted until 1840, when they were surveyed and charted by a United States expedition commanded by Charles Wilkes . Throughout the 1800s, Tongan raiders bartered for, and sometimes stole, the sail mats for which the Yasawas were famous. The islands were largely ignored by

112-522: The island of Crete delimits the sea to the south, those of Rhodes , Karpathos and Kasos to the southeast. The ancient Greek name of the Aegean Sea, Archipelago ( ἀρχιπέλαγος , archipelagos ), was later applied to the islands it contains and is now used more generally, to refer to any island group. The vast majority of the Aegean Islands belong to Greece, being split among nine administrative regions . The only sizable possessions of Turkey in

126-578: The local residents lived in peace and harmony in a communal atmosphere. Since the Fijian government lifted the restrictions on land-based tourism in the Yasawa Group, a number of resorts have been established there. Due to its freehold real-estate status, three budget resorts have been operating on Tavewa island since the early 1980s. As one of the outer island chains, options to get to the Yasawa Islands are

140-460: 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 , or continental islands . Oceanic islands are mainly of volcanic origin, and widely separated from any adjacent continent. The Hawaiian Islands and Galapagos Islands in the Pacific , and Mascarene Islands in

154-646: The shelf. The islands of the Inside Passage off the coast of British Columbia and the Canadian Arctic Archipelago are examples. Artificial archipelagos have been created in various countries for different purposes. Palm Islands and The World Islands off Dubai were or are being created for leisure and tourism purposes. Marker Wadden in the Netherlands is being built as a conservation area for birds and other wildlife. The largest archipelago in

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168-432: The south Indian Ocean are examples. Continental fragments correspond to land masses that have separated from a continental mass due to tectonic displacement. The Farallon Islands off the coast of California are an example. Sets of islands formed close to the coast of a continent are considered continental archipelagos when they form part of the same continental shelf, when those islands are above-water extensions of

182-541: The wider world until World War II , when the United States military used them as communications outposts. Until 1987, it was the policy of the Fiji government that the Yasawa Group was closed to land-based tourism because the king of the Yasawa Group, who was not controlled by the government, did not want tourism. There were limited cruise operations since the 1950s, but passengers had to stay aboard their ships. Without tourism,

196-459: The world by number of islands is the Archipelago Sea , which is part of Finland . There are approximately 40,000 islands, mostly uninhabited. The largest archipelagic state in the world by area, and by population, is Indonesia . Aegean Islands The Aegean Islands are the group of islands in the Aegean Sea , with mainland Greece to the west and north and Turkey to the east;

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