Macaronesia is a collection of four volcanic archipelagos off the coasts of the continents of Africa and Europe. It is a geographic area of ​​islands in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean at the west and northwest of Portugal and Spain. Macaronesia means “Blessed Islands, the word comes from the Greek. Macaronesia consists of the island groups of the Azores (Portugal), Madeira (Portugal), Canary Islands (Spain) and the country of Cape Verde.

Despite the distance between the islands, they have important similarities. The island groups are of volcanic origin. A number of islands lie above a volcanic hotspot. This is a place where mantle plume reaches the surface of the earth and supplies the magma. The Cape Verde islands, with the still active volcano Fogo, are also above such a hotspot.

Azores is an archipelago consisting of 9 inhabited and 8 uninhabited islands

The Portuguese archipelago of Madeira consists of Madeira, Porto Santo and the more southern islands of Ilhas Desertas and Ilhas Selvagens.

The Canary Islands are an autonomous region of Spain and consist of 13 islands.

Cape Verde has been an independent country since 1975 and is an old Portuguese colony consisting of 12 islands (9 inhabited).

More Info: www.capeverdeislands.org