Geographical and place names with the definite article

You use the definite article with the following types of geographical or place names:

Groups of islands, for example: the British Isles, the Hawaiian Islands.

Sometimes there are alternatives; for example, you can say 'the Orkney Islands' or 'the Orkneys'.

Mountain ranges and groups of hills, for example: the Alps, the Himalayas.

Sometimes there are alternatives; for example, you can say 'the Rocky Mountains' or 'the Rookies'.

Geographical regions, for example: the Midlands, the Middle East, the Punjab, the Crimea, the Dordogne, the South of England.

Note that these are different from political and administrative regions.

Deserts, for example: the Sahara, the Gobi Desert.

Rivers, streams and canals, for example: the Thames, the Mississippi, the Nile, the Panama Canal. With rivers you can include 'river' as part of the name: the River Severn.

Seas and oceans, for example: the Indian Ocean, the North Sea.

Sometimes there are alternatives with or without 'sea' or 'ocean'; for example, you can say 'the Atlantic' or 'the Atlantic Ocean', 'the Mediterranean' or 'the Mediterranean Sea'.

Other sea features. Other features of seas and coastlines usually have the definite article, for example: the English Channel, the Straits of Dover, the Gulf of Mexico (for bays see below).

WARNING: On maps the definite article is usually not shown.