GIN - Global Islands Network Island Links Directory - the number one source of information on Islands and Island issues


	REGIONAL LINKS DIRECTORY

	Welcome to the GIN regional links directory. The regional directory is categorised under nine major geographic regions. Each region contains a list of websites specifically relating to the chosen region. All websites listed here have been individually chosen based on their quality of content and appropriateness to the specific region they represent. All links contained within this directory are regularly checked to ensure they are currently available and do not lead to broken or missing links. If you do happen to come across a broken link please let us know - email our webmaster describing the offending link and we promise to attend to it at our earliest opportunity.

	ANTARCTIC The world's coldest and most inaccessible region consists of an ice-covered continent, Antarctica, centred on the South Pole and surrounding this, the vast Southern Ocean, which is largely covered by floating pack ice. The Antarctic is much colder than the Arctic and its only inhabitants are visiting scientists. Various nations claim different parts of the Antarctic mainland. In 1959, twelve nations signed the Antarctic Treaty and agreed that Antarctica should be used for peaceful purposes only.

	ARCTIC The Arctic is an ocean more or less surrounded by land - just the opposite of the Antarctic, which is a huge land mass surrounded by water. The Arctic region generally refers to a rather large land area round the North Pole but the ocean is nearly five times as large as the Mediterranean and is covered with drifting ice which is sometimes 30m thick. Between Greenland and the Canadian mainland is Baffin Island, together with many smaller islands.

	BALTIC An inland sea of northern Europe, the Baltic is nearly 1,600km in length. It lies between Sweden on the west, Finland and the former USSR on the east, and Poland and Germany on the south. It has three main gulfs - the Gulf of Bothnia, the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Riga. Navigation in the Baltic has never been easy. The Danish channels and many of the harbours are too shallow for larger ships and wide areas are regularly frozen over for two months of the winter.


	CARIBBEAN Amphibian Conservation in the Caribbean Association of Caribbean Media Workers Association of Caribbean States Association of Caribbean Universities & Research Institutes Association of Caribbean University, Research & Institutional Libraries Association of Marine Laboratories of the Caribbean Bats of the Northern Lesser Antilles BirdLife Caribbean Programme Caribbean Agricultural Research & Development Institute [CARDI] Caribbean Agricultural Science & Technology Network System [PROCICARIBE] Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism Caribbean Amerindian Centrelink Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce Caribbean Association of National Telecommunication Organizations Caribbean Banana Exporters Association Caribbean Centre for Development Administration [CARICAD] Caribbean Centre for Monetary Studies Caribbean Coastal Data Centre Caribbean Coastal Marine Productivity Program [CARICOMP] Caribbean Coastal Scenarios Caribbean Coastal Studies Caribbean Coastline Change & Management Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre Caribbean Community Secretariat [CARICOM] Caribbean Conference of Churches Caribbean Conservation Association Caribbean Conservation Corporation Caribbean Council Caribbean Council for Science and Technology Caribbean Development Bank Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency Caribbean Disaster Information Network Caribbean Disaster Mitigation Project Caribbean Ecotourism - Cangonet Caribbean Electric Utility Services Corporation Caribbean Energy Information System Caribbean Environmental Health Institute Caribbean Environmental Reporters' Network Caribbean Epidemiology Centre Caribbean Export Development Agency Caribbean Fishery Management Council Caribbean Fishes Specialist Group Caribbean Forest Conservation Association Caribbean Geology and Tectonics Caribbean Home Page Caribbean Hotel Association Caribbean Hurricane Network Caribbean Information Portal on Renewable Energy Caribbean Institute for Meteorology & Hydrology Caribbean Islands National Wildlife Refuge Caribbean Journal of Science Caribbean Knowledge Management Centre Caribbean Marine Protected Areas Database Caribbean Marine Protected Areas Network and Forum Caribbean Maritime Institute Caribbean Media Corporation Caribbean Media Exchange on Sustainable Tourism Caribbean Media Network Caribbean Medical Association Caribbean Natural Resources Institute Caribbean Network for Integrated Rural Development Caribbean News Caribbean Planning for Adaptation to Global Climate Change Caribbean Policy Development Centre Caribbean Recycling Foundation Caribbean Regional Center of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture Caribbean Regional Environmental Programme Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery Caribbean Regional Sustainable Tourism Development Programme Caribbean Renewable Energy Development Programme Caribbean Research Centre Caribbean Risk Management Initiative Caribbean Shipping Association Caribbean Site Directory Caribbean Studies Association Caribbean Sustainable Economic Development Network Caribbean Tourism Organization Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association Caribbean Weather Centre Caribseek Central American Commission on Environment & Development Clean Islands International Eastern Caribbean Cetacean Network Eastern Caribbean Coalition for Environmental Awareness ECLAC Caribbean Development & Co-operation Committee Eco Travels in the Caribbean Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean [ECLAC] Environmental Protection in the Caribbean EuroCaribbean - Island Cooperation Sustainable Energy Forum Flora of the Greater Antilles Flora of the West Indies GeoCaribe Green Antilles Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute Institute of Caribbean Studies Integrating Watershed & Coastal Area Management in Caribbean SIDS Inter-American Biodiversity Information Network Inter-American Development Bank International Strategy for Disaster Reduction in Latin America and the Caribbean IOCARIBE: IOC Sub-commission for the Caribbean and adjacent regions Island Connoisseur - The Caribbean Super Site Island Resources Foundation Island Seeker Island Systems IUCN SSC Iguana Specialist Group Latin America Bureau Latin American Network Information Centre Museums Association of the Caribbean OAS IDSD for Caribbean SIDS OECS Environment and Sustainable Development Unit OneCaribbean Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States Orrin's Caribbean Index Pan American Health Organization Participatory Planning in the Caribbean Periferia [Architecture & Urban Design in the Caribbean] Perry Institute for Marine Science Plants of the Eastern Caribbean Regional Disaster Information Center Latin America and the Caribbean ScubaMom's Gateway to Caribbean Vacation Information Society for Caribbean Studies (UK) Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds Southern Caribbean Cetacean Network Support Caribbean Bananas The Panos Institute Caribbean Turtles in the Caribbean Overseas Territories UNEP Caribbean Environment Programme UNESCO CSI Caribbean University of the Virgin Islands Eastern Caribbean Center University of the West Indies [Cave Hill Campus] University of the West Indies [Mona Campus] University of the West Indies [St Augustine Campus] UWI Centre for Caribbean Land and Environmental Appraisal Research UWI Centre for Marine Sciences UWI Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies UWI Seismic Research Unit UWI Sustainable Economic Development Unit for SIDS Virtual Institute of Caribbean Studies Water Centre for the Humid Tropics of Latin America and the Caribbean West Indian Amphibians & Reptiles [CARIBHERP] West Indian Breeding Seabird Atlas West Indian Whistling Duck and Wetlands Conservation Project White Water to Blue Water Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network Wider Caribbean Solid Waste and Recycling Alliance

	INDIAN OCEAN This is the third largest ocean in the world - after the Pacific and Atlantic oceans - and covers an area of 73,555,715sq km. The Indian Ocean is bordered by Africa on the west, India on the north and Australia on the east, but to the south there is open sea as far as the Antarctic. The southern half of the Indian Ocean has no large islands except Madagascar. Those in the northern half include Sri Lanka and Socotra besides many smaller ones.

	MEDITERRANEAN The Mediterranean Sea is almost landlocked, being joined with the open Atlantic Ocean only by the narrow Strait of Gibraltar. It lies between Europe and Africa and is more than 3,220km long. The north side of the Mediterranean is broken up by the Adriatic and Aegean seas as well as by the peninsulas of Italy and Greece. Most of the islands are in the northern part of the sea. In 1869 the Suez Canal was opened, thus making the Mediterranean the shortest sea route between Europe and the East.

	NORTH ATLANTIC The northern half of the world's second largest ocean is rich in islands, varied coastline and tributary seas. On the west are the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Hudson Bay and Baffin Bay. To the east are the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. As well as purely oceanic islands there are those which rise from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, including the Azores. Other islands such as The Canaries and Madeira rise from Africa's continental margins.

	PACIFIC The Pacific is the largest and deepest of all the oceans with an area of 165 million square kilometres, an area greater than that of all the world's lands put together. At its greatest width the Pacific measures 17,220km. It extends from the Bering Straits of the Arctic Circle, to Cape Adare, Antarctica, a distance of 15,450km. There are very few islands in the eastern Pacific. Its northern and western borders are fringed with chains of islands including The Aleutians, The Kurils and the Ryukus. The Inner Pacific islands are divided into three main groups - Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia.

	SOUTH EAST ASIA Southeast Asia is the name for the peninsular area of the Asian continent that lies between India and China, and stretches south along a chain of islands towards Australia. The countries of mainland Southeast Asia are Malaysia, Burma, Vietnam, Laos, Kampuchea, Thailand and Singapore. Further south lies insular (island) Southeast Asia. This is made up of thousands of islands containing the countries of the Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia and East Timor.