GEOGRAPHY TERMS

The planet Earth has a lot of beautiful wonders but the question is, what do we call them?

Isthmus: is a narrow strip of land that joins two large land areas. It’s a Greek word which means ‘neck’. North America and South America are joined together by the Isthmus of Panama thus accessible by land.

Savanna: is a grass land containing scattered trees and bushes. This is a characteristic of tropical America and tropical Africa. The largest Savanna can be found in Australia.

Canyon: is a deep ravine between cliffs, often carved into a landscape by a river. Rivers cause erosion that cuts into the Earth, making the Canyon wider and deeper and often with steep sides. At first river can cause a pathway, but due to erosion, over a period of time, it can become deeper and steeper and a Canyon is formed.

Equinox: its called when nights and days are equal in length. Equinox came from the Latin word ‘aequi’ which means equal and ‘nox’ which means night.

Monsoon: is the wind system of the Indian Ocean and Southern Asia that changes its direction from season to season. Etymologically monsoon came from the Arabic word ‘mausim’ which means season. It is characterized by the rainy summer season from April to September.

Continental Shelf: is a relatively shallow ocean floor bordering a continent. They have underwater plains on the border which descend to deep waters.

Peninsula: is a point of land reaching out into the sea. It may be connected to the mainland by a narrow strip of land. Its from the Latin words ‘paene’ which means almost and ‘insula’ means island.

Strait: is a narrow strip of water that connects two larger bodies of water. A strait brings a lots of convenience, especially to the sailors like the Strait of Gibraltar which allows ships easily from the Atlantic Ocean to Mediterranean Sea.

Delta: is a fan shaped plain at the mouth of the river. The delta at the mouth of the river has a roughly triangular shape, formed by precipitation of the river mud when the river water meets the tidal sea water.

Lagoon: is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by barrier islands or reefs. There are two kinds- either formed by a sandbank or by reefs. As the sandbank or reefs build up,a wall will be created, forming a shallow pond separated from the sea.