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Atoll
An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical parts of the oceans and seas where corals can develop. Most of the approximately 440 atolls in the world are in the Pacific Ocean. Two different, well-cited models, the subsidence model and the antecedent karst model, have been used to explain the development of atolls.Droxler, A.W. and Jorry, S.J., 2021. "The Origin of Modern Atolls: Challenging Darwin's Deeply Ingrained Theory". ''Annual Review of Marine Science'', 13, pp. 537–573. According to Charles Darwin's subsidence model, the formation of an atoll is explained by the sinking of a volcanic island around which a coral fringing reef has formed. Over geologic time, the volcanic island becomes extinct and eroded as it subsides completely beneath the surface of the ocean. As the volcanic island subsides, the coral fringing reef becomes a ba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atolls Of The Maldives
The Maldive Islands are formed by 20 natural atolls, along with a few islands and isolated reefs today which form a pattern stretching from 7 degrees 10′ North to 0 degrees 45′ South. The largest of these atolls is Boduthiladhunmathi, while the atoll containing the most islands is Huvadhu. Some atolls are in the form of a number of islands by time and in the form of isolated reefs, which could be classified as smaller atoll formations. All land above the surface in the Maldives is of coralline origin. The atolls of the Maldives form a quite regular chain and, especially in the northern and central atolls, an arrayed structure is apparent. There are broad and deep channels between some atolls. The origin of the word "atoll" itself is in the language of the Maldives. "Atoll" (from ) is now used in many languages worldwide. Traditionally, Maldivians call the atolls ending in '-madulu' or '-mathi' by their name without adding the word "Atoll" at the end. For example, it is co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country west of the International Date Line and north of the equator in the Micronesia region of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. The territory consists of 29 coral atolls and five main islands as well as 1,220 other very small ones, divided across two Archipelago, island chains: Ratak in the east and Ralik in the west. 97.87% of its territory is water, the largest proportion of water to land of any sovereign state. The country shares Maritime boundary, maritime boundaries with Wake Island to the north, Kiribati to the southeast, Nauru to the south, and the Federated States of Micronesia to the west. The capital city, capital and largest city is Majuro, home to approximately half of the country's population. The Marshall Islands are one of only four atoll based nations in the entire world. Austronesian settlers reached the Marshall Islands as early as the 2nd millennium BC and introduced Southeas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maldives
The Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, and historically known as the Maldive Islands, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in South Asia located in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is southwest of Sri Lanka and India, about from the Asian continent's mainland. The Maldives' chain of Atolls of the Maldives, 26 atolls stretches across the equator from Atolls of the Maldives#Ihavandhippolhu, Ihavandhippolhu Atoll in the north to Addu Atoll in the south. The Maldives is the smallest List of sovereign states and dependent territories in Asia, country in Asia. Its land area is only , but this is spread over roughly of the sea, making it one of the world's most spatially dispersed sovereign states. With a population of 515,132 in the 2022 census, it is the second List of Asian countries by population, least populous country in Asia and the List of countries and dependencies by area, ninth-smallest country by area, but also one of the List of countries and depend ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maldivian Language
Maldivian, also known by its Endonym and exonym, endonym Dhivehi (, ''Dhivēhī'', ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, primarily spoken by the Maldivians, Maldivian people native to the South Asian archipelagic state of the Maldives; as well as the neighbouring Minicoy, Minicoy Island within Lakshadweep, a union territory of India. The Maldivian language has four notable dialects. The standard dialect is that of the capital city of Malé. The greatest dialectal variation exists in the southern atolls of Huvadhu Atoll, Huvadhu, Addu Atoll, Addu and Fuvahmulah. Each of these atolls has its own distinct dialect often thought to be interconnected with each other while being widely different from the dialect spoken in the northern atolls. The southern dialects are so distinct that those only speaking northern dialects cannot understand them. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barrier Reef
A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Coral belongs to the class Anthozoa in the animal phylum Cnidaria, which includes sea anemones and jellyfish. Unlike sea anemones, corals secrete hard carbonate exoskeletons that support and protect the coral. Most reefs grow best in warm, shallow, clear, sunny and agitated water. Coral reefs first appeared 485 million years ago, at the dawn of the Early Ordovician, displacing the microbial and sponge reefs of the Cambrian. Sometimes called ''rainforests of the sea'', shallow coral reefs form some of Earth's most diverse ecosystems. They occupy less than 0.1% of the world's ocean area, about half the area of France, yet they provide a home for at least 25% of all marine species, including fish, mollusks, worms, crustaceans, echinoderms, sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coral Sea Islands
The Coral Sea Islands Territory is an States and territories of Australia#External territories, external territory of Australia which comprises a group of small and mostly uninhabited tropical islands and reefs in the Coral Sea, north-east of Queensland, Australia. The only inhabited island is Willis Island. The territory covers , most of which is ocean, extending east and south from the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef and includes Heralds Beacon Island, Osprey Reef, the Willis Group and fifteen other reef/island groups. Cato Reef#Cato Island, Cato Island is the highest point in the Territory.Geoscience AustraliaCoral Sea Islands History and status The Coral Sea Islands were first charted in 1803. In the 1870s and 1880s the islands were mined for guano but the absence of a reliable supply of fresh water prevented long-term habitation. The Coral Sea Islands became an Australian external territory in 1969 by the ''Coral Sea Islands Act'' and extended in 1997 to include ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tuvalu
Tuvalu ( ) is an island country in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean, about midway between Hawaii and Australia. It lies east-northeast of the Santa Cruz Islands (which belong to the Solomon Islands), northeast of Vanuatu, southeast of Nauru, south of Kiribati, west of Tokelau, northwest of Samoa and Wallis and Futuna, and north of Fiji. Tuvalu is composed of three reef islands and six atolls spread out between the latitude of 5th parallel south, 5° and 10th parallel south, 10° south and between the longitude of 176th meridian east, 176° and 180th meridian, 180°. They lie west of the International Date Line. The 2022 census determined that Tuvalu had a population of 10,643, making it List of countries and dependencies by population, the second-least populous country in the world, behind Vatican City. Tuvalu's total land area is . The first inhabitants of Tuvalu were Polynesians arriving as part of the History of the Polynesian people, migration of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kiribati
Kiribati, officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the central Pacific Ocean. Its permanent population is over 119,000 as of the 2020 census, and more than half live on Tarawa. The state comprises list of islands of Kiribati, 32 atolls and one remote raised coral atoll, raised coral island, Banaba. Its total land area is dispersed over of ocean. The islands' spread straddles the equator and the 180th meridian. The International Date Line goes around Kiribati and swings far to the east, almost reaching 150th meridian west, 150°W. This brings Kiribati's easternmost islands, the southern Line Islands south of Hawaii, into the same day as the Gilbert Islands and places them in the most advanced time zone on Earth: UTC+14:00, UTC+14. Kiribati gained its independence from the United Kingdom, becoming a sovereign state in 1979. The capital, South Tarawa, now the most populated area, consists of a number of islets, connect ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chagos Archipelago
The Chagos Archipelago (, ) or Chagos Islands (formerly , and later the Oil Islands) is a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 islands in the Indian Ocean about south of the Maldives archipelago. This chain of islands is the southernmost archipelago of the Chagos–Laccadive Ridge, a long submarine mountain range in the Indian Ocean. In its north are the Salomon Islands, Nelsons Island and Peros Banhos; towards its south-west are the Three Brothers, Chagos, Three Brothers, Eagle Islands, Egmont Islands and Danger Island, Great Chagos Bank, Danger Island; southeast of these is Diego Garcia, by far the largest island. All are low-lying atolls, save for a few extremely small instances, set around lagoons. From 1715 to 1810, the Chagos Islands were part of France's List of French possessions and colonies, Indian Ocean possessions, administered through Isle de France (Mauritius), Isle de Francewhich was a French colonial empire, colony of France (later renamed as Mauritius). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seychelles
Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (; Seychellois Creole: ), is an island country and archipelagic state consisting of 155 islands (as per the Constitution) in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, Victoria, Seychelles, Victoria, is east of mainland Africa. Nearby island countries and territories include the Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, and the French Fifth Republic, French overseas departments and regions of France, overseas departments of Mayotte and Réunion to the south; and the Chagos Archipelago to the east. Seychelles is the list of African countries by area, smallest country in Africa as well as the list of African countries by population, least populated sovereign African country, with an estimated population of 100,600 in 2022. Seychelles was uninhabited prior to being encountered by Europeans in the 16th century. It faced competing French and British interests until it came under full British control in the early 19th century. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Outer Islands (Seychelles)
The Outer Islands or Coralline Seychelles (archipelago) is a collective term for those islands of the Seychelles that are not on the shallow Seychelles Bank (Seychelles Plateau) which defines the location of the granitic Inner Islands archipelago to the east. The local Seychellois Creole name for the outer islands is ', while the French name is '. They are all of coral formation, and in the western Indian Ocean. History Until 2008, the islands were outside the administrative and electoral Districts of Seychelles. In 2008 the shrimp farm closed on Coëtivy Island which caused a wave of job-seekers coming to Mahé, Seychelles, Mahé. The ministry of tourism was granted a free hand on these islands in order to address the unrest of the population, and declared it a district. It formed the Islands Development Company (IDC) to control the islands, and prepared a program called ''1 hotel 1 island''. Each island in the group should be leased to a hotel, which will in turn built severa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lakshadweep
Lakshadweep () is a union territory of India. It is an archipelago of 36 islands divided into three island subgroups: the Amindivi Islands in the north, the Laccadive Islands (separated from Amindivi roughly by the 11th parallel north), and the atoll of Minicoy to the south of the Nine Degree Channel. The islands are located between the Arabian Sea to the west and the Laccadive Sea to the east, about off the Malabar Coast of mainland India. The islands occupy a total land area of approximately with a population of 64,473 as per the 2011 Census of India, 2011 census across the ten inhabited islands. There is a long coastline with a lagoon area of , territorial waters of and an exclusive economic zone of . Lakshadweep is the northernmost island group of the exposed undersea mountain range, the Chagos-Laccadive Ridge, Chagos-Lakshadweep Ridge. The entire union territory is administered as a List of districts in India, single Indian district, district with Kavaratti as its capi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
