The Use of Articles with Geographical/Topographical Features.

With place names the use of articles is fixed; some have the definite article and some have no article. There are some hints:

a) plural nouns have the: the Bahamas, the Pennines

b) constructions made up of two nouns separated by of tend to have the: the Strait of Dover.

1. THE is used:

1) with cardinal points and regions: the North /South/West/East, The Middle East, the west of England, the Balkans, the Lake District, the Prairies, the Mongolian Stepps.

2) with a few countries that have plural nouns as their names: the Netherlands, the Philippines.

3) with a few countries where the is optional: (the) Sudan, (the) Lebanon, (the) Yemen, (the) Gambia.

4) with the countries: the Argentine (or Argentina), the Vatican.

5) with the countries whose names include the words kingdom, republic, state, union: the United Kingdom, the United States of America, the Republic of Ireland, the Soviet Union.

This is the same with abbreviated alternatives: the UK, the USA, the USSR, etc.

6) with oceans, seas, rivers, canals: the Atlantic (Ocean), the Mediterranean (Sea), the Danube (River), the Panama Canal.

7) with deserts: the Sahara(Desert), the Gobi (Desert), the Kara-Kum (Desert).

8) with mountain ranges: the Rockies, the Himalayas, the Carpathians, the Alps, the Grampian Hills.

9) with groups of islands: the British Isles, the Channel Islands.

10) with other sea features: the Gulf Stream, the English Channel, the Bosporus, the Strait of Gibraltar, etc.

2. No article is used:

1) with names of continents, most countries, cities, towns and villages: Asia, Europe, Germany, Manchester, Tonbridge, Singleton.

NOTE: a) the City (of London), the Hague (the is a fixed part of the place name);

b) the is used to pick out a particular " version" of something: The Paris of my youth no longer exists. This isn't the London I used to know.

2) with geographical areas and administrative regions of countries: Central Asia, Inner London, North (South) Carolina, Upper Austria, Bavaria, Quebec.

3) with lakes, individual mountains, islands and bays: Lake Geneva, Lake Baikal, Lake Ontario (but: the Lake of Geneva, the Ontario, the Great Salt Lake); Everest, Mont Blanc, Kilimanjaro, Ararat (but: the Matterhorn, the Eiger); Easter Island, Malter, Cyprus, Haiti (but: the Isle of Capri, the Isle of Man.); San Francisco Bay (but the Bay of Biscay).