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The Countries of the World: Islands

The naming of the Sandwich Islands by Cook conveyed a graceful compliment to Lord Sandwich, First Lord of the Admiralty. The Philippine Islands, discovered by Magellan in 1521, were named after Philip II. of Spain; and the Caroline Islands discovered by Lopez de Villalobos in 1543, after Charles V., Emperor of Germany and first King of Spain. وو Papua is a Portuguese term for "frizzled," in allusion to the enormous frizzled heads of hair worn by the natives; Java is a native Malay word signifying "the land of nutmegs; " Sumatra, a corruption of Trimatara, means "the happy land"; while Borneo comes from the Sanskrit bhurni, "land."