North Atlantic Archipelago
Overview
The North Atlantic Archipelago is an island group in Earth’s North Atlantic Ocean, situated off the north west coast of continental Europe. It is within this archipelago that most of the Earthly events of our narratives take place.
Facts and Figures
Previous or Alternative Name(s)
Although more commonly known and referred to as the British Isles, this term, with its implied subtext of Ireland being merely a subordinate part of a Greater Britain, is controversial particularly on the island of Ireland itself. Some would prefer it be called (the Archipelago of) Britain and Ireland but, as a term which completely removes all suggestion of geopolitical disunity from the name of this single geographical entity, we prefer the term North Atlantic Archipelago.
Physical Geography
The archipelago consists of two main islands, Ireland and (Great) Britain (not to be confused with geopolitical or cultural entities with similar names), several sub-archipelagos (which include the Scilly Islands, the Hebrides, the Shetland Islands and the Orkney Islands) and thousands of other individual islands. The Chanel Islands, because of their cultural and political links with the United Kingdom, are sometimes, incorrectly, counted in this number but, geographically speaking, they are actually an outcrop of the French (European) mainland.
Included Locations
Geopolitical Entities
- Republic of Ireland - An autonomous nation state occupying most of the island of Ireland.
- Isle of Mann - A self-governing nation which is, officially, a “British Crown Dependency”, occupying the island of the same name located mid-way between the main islands of Ireland and Britain.
- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland - An autonomous nation state which occupies the remainder of the archipelago and which, itself, is divided into four sub-nations: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
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