Archipelago vs Island
Island and Archipelago are two words that have to be understood clearly with difference between them. An island is a piece of land that is covered on all sides by water. An archipelago on the other hand is a group of islands. The Hawaiian archipelago and the Caribbean archipelago are two of the best examples of archipelago.
Trinidad and Tobago are the southern most islands of the Caribbean archipelago. Hence it is understood that an island is a part of an archipelago and therefore it can be said that an island is a subset of archipelago.
It is interesting to note that islands are usually formed of large masses of land. It is said that 16 of world’s largest islands constitute an area larger than the area occupied by the whole of the continent of Europe. There are also a large number of smaller islands too in this world.
It is important to know that islands are of four important varieties, namely, continental islands, oceanic islands, tectonic islands and coral islands. Continental islands are formed straight from continental shelf like the British Isles. Oceanic islands rise straight from the depths of the ocean like the St. Helena. Tectonic islands are formed by the movement of the crust of the earth like the Barbados in the Caribbean whereas Coral islands are the results of the actions of the minute organisms of the sea called coral polyps.
As a matter of fact archipelagos are laden with a number of breath-taking beaches and water parks. This is due to the fact that it is a collection and conglomeration of many islands, each an abode of beaches and beach resorts. Hence it can be said that archipelagos are the repositories of picturesque beauty and serenity of the highest order.
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