ENCYCLOPEDIC ENTRY

ENCYCLOPEDIC ENTRY

peninsula

peninsula

A peninsula is a piece of land that is almost entirely surrounded by water but is connected to the mainland on one side

Grades

6 - 12+

Subjects

Earth Science, Geology, Geography, Physical Geography

















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Morgan Stanley

A peninsula is a piece of land that is almost entirely surrounded by water but is connected to the mainland on one side.

Peninsulas can be very small, sometimes only large enough for a single lighthouse, for instance. Lighthouses often sit on peninsulas near rocky coastlines to warn sailors that they are getting close to land.

Peninsulas can also be very large. Most of the U.S. state of Florida is a peninsula that separates the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.

Peninsulas are found on every continent. In North America, the narrow peninsula of Baja California, in Mexico, separates the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortez, also called the Gulf of California. In Europe, the nations of Portugal and Spain make up the Iberian Peninsula. The so-called Horn of Africa, which juts into the Arabian Sea on central Africas east coast, is a huge peninsula. The nations of North Korea and South Korea make up the Korean Peninsula in eastern Asia. In Australia, the Cape York Peninsula is only 160 kilometers (99 miles) from the island of New Guinea. The Antarctic Peninsula seems to point to the tip of South America, several hundred kilometers (miles) away.

Fast Fact

Continental Peninsula
Not all peninsulas are skinny little bits of land. Europe (the whole thing!) is sometimes considered a large peninsula extending off the single continent of Eurasia.

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Writers
Kim Rutledge
Melissa McDaniel
Santani Teng
Hilary Hall
Tara Ramroop
Erin Sprout
Jeff Hunt
Diane Boudreau
Hilary Costa
Illustrators
Mary Crooks, National Geographic Society
Tim Gunther
Editors
Jeannie Evers, Emdash Editing, Emdash Editing
Kara West
Educator Reviewer
Nancy Wynne
Producer
National Geographic Society
other
Last Updated

October 19, 2023

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