The Outer Hebrides or Western Isles (Scottish Gaelic: Na h-Eileanan Siar or Na h-Eileanan an Iar or Na h-Innse Gall (“islands of the strangers”); Scots: Waster Isles), sometimes known as the Long Isle/Long Island (Scottish Gaelic: An t-Eilean Fada), is an island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland. The islands are geographically coextensive with Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. They form part of the archipelago of the Hebrides, separated from the Scottish mainland and from the Inner Hebrides by the waters of the Minch, the Little Minch, and the Sea of the Hebrides. Scottish Gaelic is the predominant spoken language, although in a few areas English speakers form a majority. read more…
Auvergne (Occitan: Auvèrnhe or Auvèrnha) is a cultural region in central France. Since 2016, Auvergne is not an administrative unit of France, but it is generally regarded as similar to the land area of the Province of Auvergne, which was dissolved in 1790, and the larger administrative region of Auvergne, which existed from 1956-2015. The region is home to a chain of volcanoes known collectively as the “chaîne des Puys“. The last confirmed eruption was around 4040 BCE. The volcanoes began forming some 70,000 years ago, and most have eroded, leaving plugs of hardened magma that form rounded hilltops known as puys. read more…
Leinster (Irish: Laighin or Cúige Laighean) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ireland, the historic “fifths” of Leinster and Meath gradually merged, mainly due to the impact of the Pale, which straddled both, thereby forming the present-day province of Leinster. The ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial purposes. In later centuries, local government legislation has prompted further sub-division of the historic counties. read more…
The Caribbean is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean) and the surrounding coasts. The region is southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and the North American mainland, east of Central America, and north of South America. read more…
