Why are so many volcanoes located around the Ring of Fire?

The ring of fire is area around the Pacific Ocean where there are multiple convergent plate boundaries (subduction zones). For example, the Pacific oceanic plate is is being subducted beneath the North American Plate. Where subduction occurs, the subducted lithosphere melts and a series of stratovolcanoes form in an island arc system. These stratovolcanoes are found around the Pacific where subduction occurs e.g., the Japanese island arc system, the Phillipines, the volcanoes of Peru and Chile.