1. Physical Features Vocabulary
Map & Globe Skills 4 & 6

2. Physical Features Vocabulary
Archipelago
Basin
Example: Philippines
A chain of islands or set of islands grouped together.
Example: Congo River Basin
A long low lying area that is usually surrounded by hills or mountains; usually around a river

3. Physical Features Vocabulary
An man-made waterway with a purpose
Example: Suez Canal
Bay
Canal
An area of an ocean, sea, or lake that extends into the land that is smaller than a gulf.
Example: San Francisco Bay

4. Physical Features Vocabulary
Canyon
Channel
A deep and narrow valley often with a river on its floor.
Example: Grand Canyon
A wide strait between a continent and an island
Example: English Channel

5. Physical Features Vocabulary
Coast
Coral Reef
Area of land that meets a large body of water
Example: Gold Coast
Underwater limestone and coral deposits
Example: Great Barrier Reef

6. Physical Features Vocabulary
Delta
Desert
The often triangular-shaped alluvial deposition area at the mouth of a river.
Example: Yellow River Delta
A dry area that receives so little rain that few plants or animals can survive there
Example: Sahara Desert

7. Physical Features Vocabulary
Gulf
Island
A large part of the ocean that extends into the land and is larger than a bay.
Example: Gulf of Guinea
A body of land surrounded on all sides by water.
Example: Australia

8. Physical Features Vocabulary
Isthmus
Lake
Narrow strip of land with water on both sides
Example: Isthmus of Panama
A body of freshwater that is completely surrounded by land
Example: Lake Victoria

9. Physical Features Vocabulary
Mountain
Ocean
Land that rises many feet into the air and is higher than a hill or surrounding area.
Example: Mt. Kilimanjaro
A large area of saltwater
Example: Atlantic Ocean

10. Physical Features Vocabulary
Peninsula
Plain
A piece of land that extends out into the water and is almost completely surrounded by water.
Example: Arabian Peninsula
Large area of flat or gently rolling land.
Example: Great European Plain

11. Physical Features Vocabulary
Plateau
Range
Large area of level land that is higher than the land surrounding it.
Example: Deccan Plateau
A chain of mountains forming a single system
Example: Himalayan Range

12. Physical Features Vocabulary
Part of an ocean that has been identified as a individual body of water; or a saltwater lake
Example: Mediterranean Sea, Dead Sea
River
Sea
A large amount of flowing fresh water to a lake or ocean.
Example: Amazon River

13. Physical Features Vocabulary
Strait
Valley
A narrow body of water that connects two larger bodies of water.
Example: Strait of Gibraltar
An area of land that is lower than the surrounding land.
Example: Great Rift Valley

14. Physical Features Vocabulary
Volcano
Mountains with gas & magma trapped inside that often erupts
Example: Eyjafjallajokull in Iceland
“AY-yah-fyah-lah-YOH-kuul.”