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South China Sea

(Encyclopedia)South China Sea, western arm of the Pacific Ocean, c.1,000,000 sq mi (2,590,000 sq km), between the SE Asian mainland and Taiwan, the Philippines, and Borneo. It is connected with the East China Sea b...

Ryukyu Islands

(Encyclopedia)Ryukyu Islands rēo͞oˈkyo͞o [key], Jap. Ryukyu-retto or Nansei-shoto [southwest group], archipelago (1990 est. pop. 1,500,000), c.1,850 sq mi (4,790 sq km), SW Japan, in the W Pacific Ocean. The ch...

Orkney Islands

(Encyclopedia)Orkney Islands, archipelago and council area (1991 pop. 19,650), 376 sq mi (974 sq km), N Scotland, consisting of about 70 islands in the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, N of Scottish mainland acros...

Red Sea

(Encyclopedia)Red Sea, ancient Sinus Arabicus or Erythraean Sea, narrow sea, c.170,000 sq mi (440,300 sq km), c.1,450 mi (2,330 km) long and up to 225 mi ...

Channel Islands, California

(Encyclopedia)Channel Islands or Santa Barbara Islands sănˈtə bärˈbrə, –bərə [key], chain of eight rugged islands and many islets, extending c.150 mi (240 km) along the S Calif. coast from Point Conceptio...

East Siberian Sea

(Encyclopedia)East Siberian Sea, Rus. Vostochno-Sibirskoye More, part of the Arctic Ocean N of NE Siberia, Russia, bounded on the W by the New Siberian Islands and on the E by Wrangel Island. The Indigirka, Kolyma,...

sea

(Encyclopedia)sea, term used as synonymous with ocean, or a subdivision of an ocean (Caribbean Sea, Yellow Sea), or erroneously designating a large salt lake (Caspian Sea, Dead Sea, Aral Sea). ...

Åland Islands

(Encyclopedia)Åland Islands ōˈläntsûˈu̇rnä [key], archipelago, 581 sq mi (1,505 sq km), in the Baltic Sea between Sweden and Finland, at the entrance of the Gulf of Bothnia. Pol...

East China Sea

(Encyclopedia)East China Sea, arm of the Pacific Ocean, c.480,000 sq mi (1,243,200 sq km), bounded on the E by the Kyushu and Ryukyu islands, on the S by Taiwan, and on the W by China. It is connected with the Sout...

Ionian Islands

(Encyclopedia)Ionian Islands īōˈnēən [key], chain of islands, c.890 sq mi (2,310 sq km), W Greece, in the ...