Peninsula

A peninsula (Latin: paeninsula from paene "almost" and insula "island") is a landform surrounded by water on the majority 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 single body of water. Peninsulas are not always named as such; one can also be referred to as a headland, cape, island promontory, bill, point, fork, or spit.[5] A point is generally considered a tapering piece of land projecting into a body of water that is less prominent than a cape.[6] A river which courses through a very tight meander is also sometimes said to form a "peninsula" within the (almost closed) loop of water. In English, the plural versions of peninsula are peninsulas and, less commonly, peninsulae.

"Peninsular" redirects here. For the Spanish caste, see Peninsulars. For other uses, see Peninsula (disambiguation).

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

See also

References
  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.
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