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Macaronesia

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Macaronesia is a modern collective name for several groups of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean near Europe and Northern Africa belonging to three countries: Portugal, Spain, and Cape Verde.

The name (which is often misspelt "Macronesia" and also confused with Micronesia comes from the Greek for "fortunate islands", a term used by Ancient Greek geographers for islands to the west of the Straits of Gibraltar.

Macaronesia consists of four archipelagos:

Europe (politically):

Africa (politically):

The islands of Macaronesia are volcanic in origin, and are thought to be the product of several geologic hotspots.

For more information see the wikipedia article om Macaronesia.



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