Peninsula

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Florida, an example of a peninsula, photo taken during STS-95
The Fennoscandian Peninsula in March 2002, photo taken by Spectroradiometer (MODIS), flying aboard NASA's Terra satellite

A peninsula (Latin: paeninsula from paene 'almost' and insula 'island') is a landform surrounded by water on most of its border while being connected to a mainland from which it extends.[1][2][3][4] The surrounding water is usually understood to be continuous, though not necessarily named as a body of water. A river which courses through a very tight meander is also sometimes said to form a "peninsula" within the (almost closed) loop of water.

There is no precise definition distinguishing peninsulas from less prominent extensions, and extensions conventionally considered peninsulas are not always named as such; they can also be referred to as a headland, cape, island promontory, bill, point, fork, or spit.[5] A point is generally considered a piece of land projecting into a body of water that is less prominent than a cape.[6] The area of peninsulas can range from tiny to very large.

In English, the plural forms of peninsula are peninsulas or “sular”

Manifestations[edit]

A form of the peninsula is the headland[7] and the particularly narrow spit[8] that has been washed up . If a peninsula is located in an inland body of water (lake, river) it is also referred to as an "inland peninsula".

Notable peninsulas[edit]

Europe

Africa

Asia

Australia

Americas

Antarctica

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Word Histories and Mysteries: From Abracadabra to Zeus. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2004. p. 216. ISBN 978-0547350271. OCLC 55746553.
  2. ^ "pen·in·su·la". American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  3. ^ "Definition of peninsula". Cambridge Dictionaries Online. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  4. ^ "Definition of peninsula". Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  5. ^ "List of peninsulas". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  6. ^ "Fourah Point / Fourah Point, Northern, Sierra Leone, Africa". travelingluck.com. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  7. ^ "Headland Landforms". Retrieved 2021-03-13.
  8. ^ heart; Working, When He Is Not; Life, He Is Probably Exploring the Secrets of (2019-06-07). "What is a Spit Landform in Geography? How are Spits Formed and 7 Most Famous Spits on Our Planet". Earth Eclipse. Retrieved 2021-03-13.