§10. The Use of Articles with Geographic Names

The use of articles is based on tradition. Some cases might be accounted for historically:

• The use of articles with names of certain countries is due to foreign usage: the Senegal, the Tyrol

• Due to the ellipsis of a common noun which was formerly added:

The Sahara (desert) the Crimea (peninsula) the Baltic (sea)

The Pacific (ocean) the (river) Thames the Bedford (hotel)

X

1. Names of continents + when modified by attributes	Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, South America, North America north(ern), south(ern), east(ern), west(ern), central, minor, ancient, old, new, medieval, modern, industrial, Soviet
But! With other attributes the i.a. is used: Medvedev moved into a snowy St. Petersburg
2. Countries, states and provinces, cities, towns, villages	France, Great Britain, Brazil, Germany California, Kashmir, Brittany, Katanga Moscow, Oslo, Rome, Delhi Brighton, Hastings, Tartu, Appledorn Grasmere, Patterdale
3. Names of bays	Hudson Bay, Baffin Bay
4. Names of peninsulas - alone	Indo-China, Labrador, Taimir, Scandinavia, Kamchatka
5. Separate mountain peaks	Elbrus, Everest, Vesuvius, Mont Blanc
6. Separate islands	Cuba, Sicily, Haiti, Madagaskar, Cyprus, Newfoundland
7. Waterfalls	Niagara falls
8. Capes	Cape Canaveral, Cape Palmas, Cape Alava But! The Cape of Good Hope (it’s an of -phrase)

* * * * * * * * *

Memorize the pattern:

Lake Baikal Lake Ohio Lake Como Lake Superior Lake Ladoga; but ! the Lake of Geneva

+ such attributes

Ancient industrial old/new central medieval modern

Soviet Russia, Old England, Southern France, Ancient Greece

BUT!!!! The Far East the Middle West!!!!

THE

Aquanames Names of oceans Seas Straits Channels Canals Rivers Lakes (alone)	The Pacific ocean, the Atlantic ocean, the Indian ocean The Baltic (sea), the Mediterranean (sea), the Black Sea, the Adriatic (sea), the North Sea, the South Seas The Magellan Strait, the Bering straits, The Torres straits, the Kattegat, the Bosphorus, the Dardanelles, the Skagerrak The English Channel, The Suez Canal, the Panama Canal, the Kiel Canal The Volga, the Thames, the Nile, the Amazon, the Mississippi The Baikal, the Ontario, the Leman … or the Lake of Geneva (an of-phrase)
2. Names of deserts	The Sahara, the Gobi, the Kara-Kum
3. Names of mountain chains	The Rocky Mountains, the Andes, the Alps, the Pamirs
4. Groups of islands	The Philippines, the Azores, the Bahamas, the East Indies
5. Mountain passes	The Saint Gotthard Pass
6. Waterfalls	The Swallow Falls, the Horseshoe Falls, the American Falls
7. Peninsulas (if the noun peninsula is mentioned)	The Jutland Peninsula, the Kola Peninsula, the Balkan Peninsula
8. Poles	The North, the South Pole, the Arctic/ Antarctic (sea+land)