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Geographic Terms
Archipelago
Definition: A chain of islands or set of islands grouped together.
Examples: The Aleutian Islands in Alaska and the Caribbean Islands.
Bay
Definition: Any wide indentation of the land; larger than a cove but smaller than a gulf.
Examples: Hudson Bay in Canada, Chesapeake Bay near Virginia.
Continent
Definition: a large landmass above water on the earth’s surface.
Examples: North America, South America.
Delta
Definition: The often triangular-shaped alluvial deposition area at the mouth of a river.
Examples: The mouth of the Mississippi River is an alluvial delta.
Desert
Definition: An area with little precipitation or where evaporation exceeds precipitation, and thus
includes sparse vegetation.
Examples: The southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico are desert regions.
Glacier
Definition: a large, long-lasting mass of ice that moves because of gravity.
Example: Most of Greenland is covered in glaciers.
Gulf
Definition: A large inlet of water surrounded by land; usually surrounded on three sides by land.
Examples: The Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of California.
Island
Definition: A body of land surrounded on all sides by water.
Examples: Hawaii, Cuba, Bermuda, Jamaica.
http://geography.about.com/od/geographyglossary/Geography_Glossary.htm
http://www.physicalgeography.net/glossary.html
Isthmus
Definition: A narrow strip of land that is bordered on two sides by water and connects two larger
land masses.
Examples: The Isthmus of Panama connects North and South America.
Lake
Definition: Any accumulation of water surrounded by land, often of a considerable size; larger
than a pond, but smaller than an inland sea.
Examples: The five Great Lakes bordering the U.S. and Canada, Great Salt Lake.
Mountain
Definition: a land mass that projects well above its surroundings; higher than a hill
Examples: Rocky Mountains, Appalachian Mountains, Coastal Ranges, Sierra-Nevada
Mountains.
Ocean
Definition: The largest bodies of water on the planet. There are five oceans that are all
connected as one world ocean.
Examples: Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic, Indian, and Southern Oceans.
Peninsula
Definition: a piece of land surrounded by water on 3 sides
Examples: Baja California and Florida are peninsulas.
River
Definition: A river is a large stream that flows over land. It is often a perennial (year-round)
water body and usually flows in a specific channel, with a considerable volume of water.
Examples: The world's shortest river, the D River, in Oregon, is only 120 feet long and connects
Devil's Lake directly to the Pacific Ocean. The longest river in North America is the Mississippi
River.
Volcano
Definition: Formed when magma, gasses and water from the lower part of the crust or mantle
collect in underground chambers and eventually erupt and pour out of cracks in the earth’s
surface.
Examples: The Hawaiian Islands were created by volcanoes. Washington is home to Mt. St.
Helens, a dormant volcano.
http://geography.about.com/od/geographyglossary/Geography_Glossary.htm
http://www.physicalgeography.net/glossary.html