Aleutian Islands
The Aleutian Islands ( ə-LOO-shən; Russian: Алеутские острова, romanized: Aleutskiye ostrova; Aleut: Unangam Tanangin, "land of the Aleuts"; possibly from the Chukchi aliat, or "island")—also called the Aleut Islands, Aleutic Islands, or, before the Alaska Purchase in 1867, the Catherine Archipelago—are a chain of 14 main, larger volcanic islands and 55 smaller ones. Most of the islands belong to the U.S. state of Alaska, with the archipelago encompassing the Aleutians West Census Area and the Aleutians East Borough.