Macronesia

Macaronesia – archipelagos (five) lying in the North Atlantic Ocean near Northern Africa and Southwest Europe.

            --not part of a continent

            --islands of volcanic origin

            --subtropical to tropical climate

Independent

Cape Verde Islands (once owned by Portugal ) (Republic of Cape Verde)

 

Portugal

Azores (autonomous region of Portugal)

Madeira Islands (autonomous region of Portugal)

            --Including Desertas Islands (autonomous region of Madeira)

               and Porto Santo Island (easternmost and northernmost of Madeira)

Savage Islands (between Canary Islands and Madeira)

Spain

Canary Islands (European Union’s outermost region)

Southern Ocean

60 degrees south latitude in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current- surrounds the continent of Antarctica

In 2000, the International Hydrographic Organization, whose membership includes the United States, named a fifth ocean called the “Southern Ocean”.
Atlantic OceanArctic OceanIndian OceanPacific OceanSouthern Ocean (fourth largest ahead of the Arctic Ocean)

“In general, National Geographic recognizes the Southern Ocean as a scientific term and not a oceanographic feature.”
Cindy Aitken, spokeswoman for National Geographic Society¹
¹St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 5, 2011, by Elizabeth Hollandeholland@post-dispatch.com

Accepted by:
American Meteorological Association
Australia
International Hydrographic Organization
Rand McNally (all products contain the Southern Ocean)
The World Almanac and Book of Facts, 2011 Edition