Final answer:
The Atlantic Islands include São Tomé, Madeira Islands, and Canary Islands. These were key locations in the Portuguese empire for strategic expansion, trading routes, and sugar plantations, which were labor-intensive and utilized enslaved African labor.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Atlantic Islands referred to in the question are significant Atlantic Ocean outposts that were colonized by Portuguese mariners.
These islands played a strategic role in the expansion of the Portuguese empire and served as debarkation points for journeys to other parts of the world. São Tomé and Príncipe were discovered in the 1470s and became critical for their sugar plantations and usage of enslaved labor from Africa.
The Madeira Islands, located southwest of Portugal, became an important site for agriculture and a waypoint for ships navigating to Africa and the Americas. The Canary Islands, near the northwestern coast of Africa, were also critical to Portugal's Atlantic expansion.
Aside from their economic importance, these islands have unique geographical and ecological characteristics. For instance, the Azores archipelago possesses a temperate climate influenced by the Gulf Stream.