Peninsulars
Jutting out from land into water, peninsulas are easily recognisable. They tend to be longer and narrower than capes or headlands. They vary in size and can be seen at continental and regional scales. They also exist as local features and can comprise a very slender strip of land just a few kilometres across.

Many peninsulas are not created as such, but are simply elevated parts of the Earth's crust which, because the sea embays the surrounding area, form a limb which sticks out. They may be part of a mountain chain or upland.

Locally, peninsulas can be formed by erosion. Wave action on a section of coast can wear away and remove soft rock. Harder, often jagged looking outcrops of rock are more gradually eroded and protrude. If the headland is long and narrow it is called a peninsula.

Large continental-scale peninsulas include the Arabian Peninsula and the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal). These have more irregular shapes and though not very elongated they are joined to a larger land mass by a slightly narrower neck. Other large peninsulas include the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, the Florida Peninsula in the USA, the Péninsule d'Ungava in Canada.



The Florida Peninsula seen from space.

Links
Florida
Peninsule d'Ungava
Malaysia