  Volume independence in large $\Nc$ gauge theories may be viewed as a
generalized orbifold equivalence. The reduction to zero volume (or Eguchi-Kawai
reduction) is a special case of this equivalence. So is temperature
independence in confining phases. In pure Yang-Mills theory, the failure of
volume independence for sufficiently small volumes (at weak coupling) due to
spontaneous breaking of center symmetry, together with its validity above a
critical size, nicely illustrate the symmetry realization conditions which are
both necessary and sufficient for large $\Nc$ orbifold equivalence. The
existence of a minimal size below which volume independence fails also applies
to Yang-Mills theory with antisymmetric representation fermions [QCD(AS)].
However, in Yang-Mills theory with adjoint representation fermions [QCD(Adj)],
endowed with periodic boundary conditions, volume independence remains valid
down to arbitrarily small size. In sufficiently large volumes, QCD(Adj) and
QCD(AS) have a large $\Nc$ ``orientifold'' equivalence, provided charge
conjugation symmetry is unbroken in the latter theory. Therefore, via a
combined orbifold-orientifold mapping, a well-defined large $\Nc$ equivalence
exists between QCD(AS) in large, or infinite, volume and QCD(Adj) in
arbitrarily small volume. Since asymptotically free gauge theories, such as
QCD(Adj), are much easier to study (analytically or numerically) in small
volume, this equivalence should allow greater understanding of large $\Nc$ QCD
in infinite volume.
