''[[Image:MerguiArchipelagoMap.png|thumb|The [[Mergui Archipelago]]]]
[[Image:Saaristo.png|thumb|The [[Archipelago Sea]], situated between the [[Gulf of Bothnia]] and the [[Gulf of Finland]], the largest archipelago in the world by the number of islands.]]
An '''archipelago''' is a chain or cluster of islands. The word ''archipelago'' literally means "chief [[sea]]", from [[Greek language|Greek]] ''arkhon'' (''arkhi''-) ("leader") and ''pelagos'' ("sea"). In [[classical antiquity|antiquity]], the '''Archipelago''' (Greek: Αρхιπέλαγος) was the proper name for the [[Aegean Sea]] and, later, usage shifted to refer to the [[Aegean Islands]] (since the sea is remarkable for its large number of islands). It is now used to generally refer to any island group or, sometimes, to a sea containing a large number of scattered islands like the Aegea.

Archipelagoes are usually found in the open sea; less commonly, a large [[land mass]] may neighbor them. Archipelagoes are often [[volcano|volcanic]], forming along [[mid-ocean ridge]]s or [[Hotspot (geology)|hotspots]], but there are many other processes involved in their construction, including [[erosion]] and [[Deposition (sediment)|deposition]].

The four largest modern states that are mainly archipelagos are [[Japan]], the [[Philippines]], [[New Zealand]] and [[Indonesia]] (the world's largest archipelagic state according to the CIA World Factbook) [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/id.html].

The largest archipelago in the world by size is in [[Northern Canada]], situated in the [[Arctic Ocean]].

==See also==
{{Wiktionary}}
*[[Island arc]]
*[[Geography]]
*[[Earth science]]
*[[Geomorphology]]
*[[Landform|List of landforms]]
*[[Plate tectonics]]
*[[Island nation]]
*[[The World (archipelago)|The World]]
* Lists of islands: see [[List of archipelagos]] and [[List of islands]]

[[Category:Archipelagoes| ]]
''

[[ar:أرخبيل]]
[[an:Archipielago]]
[[ba:Архипелаг]]
[[bcl:Arkipelago]]
[[bs:Arhipelag]]
[[br:Enezeg]]
[[bg:Архипелаг]]
[[ca:Arxipèlag]]
[[cs:Souostroví]]
[[da:Arkipelag]]
[[de:Archipel]]
[[et:Saarestik]]
[[el:Αρχιπέλαγος]]
[[es:Archipiélago]]
[[eo:Arkipelago]]
[[eu:Uhartedi]]
[[fr:Archipel]]
[[gl:Arquipélago]]
[[ko:군도]]
[[hr:Otočje]]
[[io:Archipelago]]
[[id:Kepulauan]]
[[is:Eyjaklasi]]
[[it:Arcipelago]]
[[he:ארכיפלג]]
[[csb:Òstrowina]]
[[sw:Funguvisiwa]]
[[ku:Komgirav]]
[[lt:Salynas]]
[[jbo:plugri]]
[[mk:Архипелаг]]
[[nl:Archipel]]
[[ja:列島]]
[[no:Arkipelag]]
[[nds:Archipel]]
[[pl:Archipelag]]
[[pt:Arquipélago]]
[[ru:Архипелаг]]
[[scn:Arcipèlacu]]
[[simple:Archipelago]]
[[sk:Súostrovie]]
[[sl:Arhipelag]]
[[sr:Архипелаг]]
[[sh:Arhipelag]]
[[fi:Saaristo]]
[[sv:Ögrupp]]
[[tl:Kapuluan]]
[[vi:Quần đảo]]
[[uk:Архіпелаг]]
[[ur:مجموعہ الجزائر]]
[[vec:Arcipełago]]
[[cbk-zam:Arquipelago]]
[[zh:群島]]