Portal:Islands

Hațeg Island was a large offshore island in the Tethys Sea which existed during the Late Cretaceous period, probably from the Cenomanian to the Maastrichtian ages. It was situated in an area corresponding to the region around modern-day Hațeg, Hunedoara County, Romania. Maastrichtian fossils of small-sized dinosaurs have been found in the island's rocks. It was formed mainly by tectonic uplift during the early Alpine orogeny, caused by the collision of the African plate and Eurasian plate towards the end of the Cretaceous. There is no real present-day analog, but overall, the island of Hainan (off the coast of China) is perhaps closest as regards climate, geology and topography, though still not a particularly good match. The vegetation, for example, was of course entirely distinct from today, as was the fauna. Places like Louisiana and Mississippi and other parts of the American Deep South are an even closer climatic and ecological match with a subtropical climate, wet summer season, coverage by rivers, swamps, and deltas, however they are not islands.

The Hungarian paleontologist Franz Nopcsa theorized that "limited resources" found on the island commonly have an effect of "reducing the size of animals" over the generations, producing a localized form of dwarfism. Nopcsa's theory of insular dwarfism—also known as the island rule—is today widely accepted. (Full article...)

Puerto Rican cuisine consists of the cooking style and traditional dishes original to Puerto Rico. It has been primarily a fusion influenced by the ancestors of the Puerto Rican people: the indigenous Taínos, Spanish Criollos and sub-Saharan African slaves. As a territory of the United States, the culinary scene of Puerto Rico has also been moderately influenced by American cuisine. (Full article...)

• ... that the Hanta Road on Okinawa was used by both Ryukyuan armies and the U.S. Navy's Perry Expedition?
• ... that a law was signed so that the Solomon Islands delegation could return home from the 2020 Summer Olympics?
• ... that Micronations: The Lonely Planet Guide to Home-Made Nations features the Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands, the Kingdom of Lovely, and the Grand Duchy of Westarctica?
• ... that Mohawk Island is sometimes underwater?
• ... that Bengisu Avcı had to abandon her 45-kilometre (28-mile) swim across the Kaiwi Channel after being stung by jellyfish twelve hours in?
• ... that the Genoese admiral Simone Vignoso conquered the island of Chios and founded a joint-stock company to rule it?