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Macaronesia is a modern collective name for several groups of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean near Europe and North Africa belonging to three countries: Portugal, Spain, and Cape Verde. The name comes from the Greek for "fortunate islands", a term used by Ancient Greek geographers for islands to the west of the Straits of Gibraltar. Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... For other uses, see Atlantic (disambiguation) The Atlantic Ocean is Earths second-largest ocean, covering approximately one-fifth of its surface. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ...  Northern Africa (UN subregion)  geographic, including above North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan Africa. ... In the Fortunate Isles, also called the Isles (or Islands) of the Blessed (μακαρων νησοι makarôn nêsoi), heroes and other favored mortals in Greek mythology and Celtic mythology were received by the gods into a blissful paradise. ... Note: This article contains special characters. ... A geographer is a crazy psycho whose area of study is geocrap, the pseudoscientific study of Earths physical environment and human habitat and the study of boring students to death. ... The Strait of Gibraltar as seen from space. ...

Macaronesia consists of five archipelagos: The Mergui Archipelago 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. ...

• Azores (Portugal)
• Madeira (Portugal)
• Savage Islands (Portugal)
• Canary Islands (Spain)
• Cape Verde (Cape Verde)

The islands of Macaronesia are volcanic in origin, and are thought to be the product of several geologic hotspots. Motto (Portuguese for Rather die free than in peace subjugated) Anthem  (national)  (local) Capital Ponta Delgada1 Angra do Heroísmo2 Horta3 Largest city Ponta Delgada Official languages Portuguese Government Autonomous region  -  President Carlos César Establishment  -  Settled 1439   -  Autonomy 1976  Area  -  Total 2,333 km² (n/a) 911 sq mi... For other uses, see Madeira (disambiguation). ... Savage Island is also the former name of Niue in the Pacific Ocean. ... Anthem: Arrorró Capital Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Santa Cruz de Tenerife Official language(s) Spanish Area  â€“ Total  â€“ % of Spain Ranked 13th  7,447 km²  1. ... Cleveland Volcano in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska photographed from the International Space Station For other uses, see Volcano (disambiguation). ... In geology, a hotspot is a location on the Earths surface that has experienced active volcanism for a long period of time. ...

The climate of the Macaronesian islands ranges from subtropical to tropical. The Portuguese archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira have a generally cooler climate and higher rainfall than the Canaries and Cape Verde. The subtropics are the zones of the Earth immediately north and south of the tropic zone, which is bounded by the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, at latitude 23. ... A noontime scene from the Philippines on a day when the Sun is almost directly overhead. ... Motto (Portuguese for Rather die free than in peace subjugated) Anthem  (national)  (local) Capital Ponta Delgada1 Angra do Heroísmo2 Horta3 Largest city Ponta Delgada Official languages Portuguese Government Autonomous region  -  President Carlos César Establishment  -  Settled 1439   -  Autonomy 1976  Area  -  Total 2,333 km² (n/a) 911 sq mi... For other uses, see Madeira (disambiguation). ... Missing image image:ccaa-canary. ...

The islands have a unique biogeography, and are home to several distinct plant and animal communities. None of the Macaronesian islands were part of a continent, so the native plants and animals reached the islands via long-distance dispersal. Laurel-leaved forests, called laurisilva, once covered most of the Azores, Madeira, and parts of the Canaries between 400-1200 m altitude (the eastern Canaries and Cape Verde being too dry). These forests resemble the ancient forests that covered the Mediterranean basin and northwestern Africa before cooling and drying of the ice ages. Trees of the genera Apollonias (Lauraceae), Clethra (Clethraceae), Dracaena (Ruscaceae), Ocotea (Lauraceae), Persea (Lauraceae), and Picconia (Oleaceae), which are found in the Macaronesian laurel forests, are also known from fossils to have lived around the Mediterranean before the ice ages. Biogeography is the science which deals with patterns of species distribution and the processes that result in such patterns. ... Laurel forest is a subtropical or mild temperate forest, found in areas with high humidity and relatively stable and mild temperatures. ... Laurisilva on in the National Park Garajonay on La Gomera Laurisilva on La Palma Laurisilva is a type of humid subtropical laurel forest found on several of the Macaronesian islands of the north Atlantic, namely the Azores, Madeira Islands, and the Canary Islands. ... The Mediterranean Sea is an intercontinental sea positioned between Europe to the north, Africa to the south and Asia to the east, covering an approximate area of 2. ... Variations in CO2, temperature and dust from the Vostok ice core over the last 400 000 years For the animated movie, see Ice Age (movie). ... species For other uses of Apollonias, see Apollonias (disambiguation) Apollonias is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae. ... Genera Many; see text The Lauraceae or Laurel family comprises a group of flowering plants included in the order Laurales. ... Species Between 30-70; see text. ... Species Between 30-70; see text. ... Species See text. ... Genera Aspidistra Beaucarnea Comosperma Convallaria Danae Dasylirion Dracaena Eriospermum Liriope Maianthemum Nolina Ophiopogon Polygonatum Ruscus Sansevieria Xeronema Ruscaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Asparagales. ... species 200+; see text Ocotea is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae. ... Genera Many; see text The Lauraceae or Laurel family comprises a group of flowering plants included in the order Laurales. ... Species Many, including: - Avocado - Redbay - Viñátigo - Lingue - Swampbay Persea is a genus of about 150 species of evergreen trees belonging to the laurel family, Lauraceae. ... Genera Many; see text The Lauraceae or Laurel family comprises a group of flowering plants included in the order Laurales. ... Species See text Picconia (Picconia) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Oleaceae. ... Genera Abeliophyllum- Chionanthus- Fringetree Comoranthus- Dimetra- Fontanesia- Forestieria- Swamp-privet Forsythia- Forsythia Fraxinus- Ash Haenianthus- Hesperelaea- Jasminum- Jasmine Ligustrum- Privet Menodora- Myxopyrum- Nestegis- Noronhia- Notelaea- Nyctanthes- Olea- Olive Osmanthus- Osmanthus Phillyrea- Mock-privet Picconia- Priogymnanthus- Schrebera- Syringa- Lilac Oleaceae, the olive family, is a plant family containing 24 extant genera...

Felling of the forests for timber and firewood, clearing vegetation for grazing and agriculture, and the introduction of exotic plants and animals by humans has displaced much of the native vegetation. The laurisilva has been reduced to small pockets. As a result, many of the endemic biota of the islands are seriously endangered or extinct. It has been suggested that Biota (taxonomy) be merged into this article or section. ...

The jumping spider genus Macaroeris is named after Macaronesia. Diversity 553 genera, 5025 species Genera See List of Salticidae genera The jumping spider family (Salticidae) contains more than 500 described genera and over 5,000 species, making it the largest family of spiders with about 13% of all species (Peng , 2002). ... Species see text Macaroeris is a spider genus of the Salticidae family (jumping spiders). ...