群島(ぐんとう)

群島(ぐんとう) means archipelago - a group or cluster of islands.

WORD FORMATION:
群(ぐん) (group, cluster) + 島(とう) (island) = island group

JAPANESE ARCHIPELAGOS:

• 小笠原(おがさわら)群島(ぐんとう): Ogasawara Islands
• 伊豆(いず)諸島(しょとう): Izu Islands
• 沖縄(おきなわ)群島(ぐんとう): Okinawa archipelago

SIMILAR TERMS:

• 諸島(しょとう): islands, archipelago (common in place names)
• 列島(れっとう): island chain (linear arrangement)
• 島々(しまじま): islands (poetic/general)

NUANCE:

• 群島(ぐんとう): cluster of islands (geographic term)
• 列島(れっとう): chain of islands in a line (日本(にほん)列島(れっとう): Japanese archipelago)
• 諸島(しょとう): various islands (often interchangeable with 群島(ぐんとう))

COMMON EXPRESSIONS:

• 群島(ぐんとう)を巡(めぐ)る: to tour an archipelago
• 群島(ぐんとう)国家(こっか): archipelago nation (like Japan, Philippines)