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Society Islands

(Encyclopedia)Society Islands, island group (2002 pop. 214,445), South Pacific, a part of French Polynesia. The group comprises the Windward Islands and the Leeward Islands (total land area c.650 sq mi/1,680 sq km)...

Sunda Islands

(Encyclopedia)Sunda Islands sŭnˈdə [key], mainly in Indonesia, between the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean, comprising the western part of the Malay Archipelago. It includes two main groups: the Greater Sun...

Falkland Islands

(Encyclopedia)Falkland Islands fôkˈlənd [key], Span. Islas Malvinas, group of islands (2015 est. pop. 3,000), 4,618 sq mi (11,961 sq km), S Atlantic, c.300 mi (480 km) E of the Strait of Magellan. The islands ar...

Aran Islands

(Encyclopedia)Aran Islands ărˈən [key], 18 sq mi (47 sq km), Co. Galway, W Republic of Ireland, in Galway Bay. The three islands are Inishmore (the largest), Inisheer, and Inishmaan. The islands are barren; farm...

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...

Schenck v. United States

(Encyclopedia)Schenck v. United States, case decided in 1919 by the U.S. Supreme Court. During World War I, Charles T. Schenck produced a pamphlet maintaining that the military draft was illegal, and was convicted ...

Vitu Islands

(Encyclopedia)Vitu Islands vēˈto͞o [key], volcanic group, 37 sq mi (96 sq km), in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of Papua New Guinea. Garove and Unea are the largest islands. The group is the chief copra center ...

Marine Corps, United States

(Encyclopedia)Marine Corps, United States, military corps that forms a separate service within the U.S. Dept. of the Navy. The commandant of the Marine Corps is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. During conflic...

Paracel Islands

(Encyclopedia)Paracel Islands päräsĕlˈ [key], Chin. Xisha, group of low coral islands and reefs in the South China Sea, c.175 mi (280 km) SE of Hainan island. They are rich in guano and are underlain by oil dep...

Aleutian Islands

(Encyclopedia)Aleutian Islands əlo͞oˈshən [key], chain of rugged, volcanic islands curving c.1,200 mi (1,900 km) west from the tip of the Alaska Peninsula and approaching Russia's Komandorski Islands. A partial...