Читать книгу The Circle of Knowledge: A Classified, Simplified, Visualized Book of Answers - Various - Страница 90
THE ATOLL FORM
OF ISLAND
ОглавлениеThe usual form of coral islands is that of a broken ring, numerous channels affording entrance into the lagoon. Such a group of islands is called an atoll, a Malay term, which has been adopted to designate these singular structures. The central lagoon enclosed by an atoll, is invariably shallow, seldom exceeding a few scores, or at most hundreds, of feet in depth; while the outer sea reaches a depth of thousands of feet at a short distance from the shore, showing that the atoll rests upon a submarine mountain.
Atolls are often clustered together in large numbers, forming extensive archipelagoes. Paumotu, or Low Archipelago, numbers eighty coral islands, nearly all of which are atolls; the Caroline, Gilbert and Marshall islands together contain eighty-four atolls, while the Laccadive and Maldive islands form two long double series of atolls extending eight hundred miles from north to south.
MAP SHOWING COMPARATIVE SIZE OF ISLANDS
(See next page for the Area, Population and Countries to which these islands belong).
ISLANDS OF WESTERN HEMISPHERE
Large illustration (404 kB)
MOST NOTED ISLANDS OF THE WORLD—WESTERN HEMISPHERE
| Name and Sovereignty | Area Square Miles | Popula- tion |
|---|---|---|
| Anticosti (to Britain) | 2,600 | 500 |
| Bahamas (to Britain) | 4,404 | 58,000 |
| Bermudas (to Britain) | 20 | 20,000 |
| Cape Breton (to Britain) | 3,120 | 100,000 |
| Cuba (Independent) | 44,164 | 2,155,000 |
| Dominica (to Britain) | 291 | 35,000 |
| Falkland (to Britain) | 5,500 | 3,250 |
| Feeji, or Feejee (to Britain) | 7,435 | 155,000 |
| Galapagos (to Ecuador) | 2,400 | 400 |
| Greenland (to Denmark) | 46,740 | 15,000 |
| Guadeloupe (to France) | 688 | 182,000 |
| Hawaiian See Sandwich. | ||
| Isla de Pinos (Isle of Pines) (to Spain) | 1,200 | 32,000 |
| Jamaica (to Britain) | 4,200 | 865,000 |
| Long Island (to U. S.) | 1,682 | 2,700,000 |
| Martinique (to France) | 378 | 180,000 |
| New Foundland (to Britain) | 42,734 | 218,000 |
| Porto Rico (to U. S.) | 3,604 | 1,120,000 |
| Prince Edward (to Britain) | 2,184 | 94,000 |
| Santo Domingo (Independent) | 28,250 | 2,700,000 |
| Sandwich or Hawaiian (to U. S.) | 6,449 | 192,000 |
| Staten Island (to U. S.) | 65 | 86,000 |
| Tahiti (to France) | 1,500 | 30,000 |
| Tierra del Fuego (to Argentina) | 18,500 | 1,700 |
| Trinidad (to Britain) | 1,750 | 350,000 |
| Vancouver (to Britain) | 15,937 | 55,000 |
MAP SHOWING COMPARATIVE SIZE OF ISLANDS
ISLANDS OF EASTERN HEMISPHERE
