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Alderney

(Encyclopedia)Alderney ōrēnyēˈ [key], anc. Riduna, island, c. 3 sq mi (7.7 sq km), in the English Channel, northernmost of the larger Channel Islands. It is separated from the Frenc...

Croatoan

(Encyclopedia)Croatoan, unexplained letters found (1590) carved on a tree on Roanoke Island off North Carolina by Gov. John White when he returned to the colony from England and discovered the colonists gone. White...

Valentia

(Encyclopedia)Valentia or Valencia vəlĕnˈshēə [key], island (1991 pop. 680), c.7 mi (11.3 km) long and 2 mi (3.2 km) wide, off the coast of Co. Kerry, SW Republic of Ireland. Its slate, once famous, is no long...

Belle Isle, Strait of

(Encyclopedia)Belle Isle, Strait of bĕlīlˈ [key], c.35 mi (60 km) long and from 10 to 15 mi (16–24 km) wide, between the island of Newfoundland and Labrador-Ungava peninsula, Canada. The northern entrance to t...

Awaji-shima

(Encyclopedia)Awaji-shima äwäˈjē-shēˈmä [key], island, 32 mi (52 km) long and from 3 to 17 mi (4.8–27 km) wide, Hyogo prefecture, Japan, in the Inland Sea. Sumoto, on Osaka Bay, is the chief city and port....

Oléron

(Encyclopedia)Oléron ôlārôNˈ [key], island (1990 pop. 18,453), 68 sq mi (176 sq km), Charente-Maritime dept., W France, in the Bay of Biscay. It is an oystering, farming, and ranching area and a summer vacatio...

Parakrama Bahu I

(Encyclopedia)Parakrama Bahu I päräkˈrəmə bäˈro͞o [key], fl. 12th cent., Sinhalese king of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka; 1153–86). He was the first to unite the island under one rule after Chola invaders were dr...

Als

(Encyclopedia)Als äls [key], Ger. Alsen, island, 121 sq mi (313 sq km), Sønderjylland co., S Denmark, in the Lille Bælt, separated from the mainland by the narrow Alensund. Sønderborg (partly situated on the ma...

Batan Islands

(Encyclopedia)Batan Islands bätänˈ [key], island group, 76 sq mi (197 sq km), northernmost of the Philippine islands. They include the islands of Itbayat, Batan, Sabtang, and a number of islets, and comprise the...

Bonaire

(Encyclopedia)Bonaire bônĕrˈ [key], island (1990 est. pop. 11,000), 112 sq mi (290 sq km), a special municipality of the Netherlands, in the West Indies off the coast of Venezuela. It was formerly part of the Ne...