The Macaronesia reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Macaronesia

Macaronesia is a modern invented collective name for several groups of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean near Europe and North Africa. It comes from Greek for "blessed islands", a name used by ancient geographers for islands to the West of the Straits of Gibraltar.

Though Iceland is a volcanic island astride the mid-Atlantic ridge as well, it is not consedired part of Macaronesia.

In terms of biogeography these isolated islands have been unique. Much of their endemic biota is seriously endangered or extinct.

Macaronesia consists of five archipelagos:

• Azores, Portugal
• Canaries, Spain
• Cape Verde
• Madeira, Portugal
• Savage Isles (Ilhas Selvagens), Portugal The Ilhas Selvagens lie between Madeira and the Canaries.
  • Bibliography of the Ilhas Selvagens

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