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A salient, panhandle, or bootheel is an elongated protrusion of a geopolitical entity, such as a subnational entity or a sovereign state.
While similar to a peninsula in shape, a salient is most often not surrounded by water on three sides. Instead, it has a land border on at least two sides and extends from the larger geographical body of the administrative unit.
In American English, the term panhandle is often used to describe a relatively long and narrow salient, such as the westernmost extensions of Florida and Oklahoma, or the northernmost portion of Idaho. Another term is bootheel, used for the Missouri Bootheel and New Mexico Bootheel areas.
Origin
editThe term salient is derived from military salients. The term "panhandle" derives from the analogous part of a frying pan, and its use is generally confined to North America.
The salient shape can be the result of arbitrarily drawn international or subnational boundaries, which serve to separate culturally unified peoples.[1] These occurred, for instance, during European colonialisation when colonial powers competed for Africa and the Western Hemisphere, after which post-colonial borders became based on colonial divisions.[2] In many cases these salients correspond to routes of expansion or bases for such expansion, as in Namibia and Mozambique.[3] Other modern salients originally served to provide barriers against other colonial powers, as with Britain against Tsarist Russia in Central Asia.[1]
Salients may also arise when a national government shifts territory between subnational entities for internal political reasons, as with West Virginia's eastern panhandle during the Civil War.[4] This also occurred with peripheral Tibetan-inhabited regions in Maoist China, which were split between provinces and from the Tibet Autonomous Region.[5]
The location of administrative borders can also take into account other considerations such as economic ties,[6] strategic needs,[7] history or topography. Even in these situations, however, salients frequently fail to follow clear and logical criteria, as seen with the partition of India and the resultant northeastern salient. Upon partition numerous majority-Muslim areas remained within Hindu India, and some non-Muslim-majority areas within the exclave of East Pakistan.[8]
Country-level salients
editAfrica
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Asia
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| Salient | Country |
|---|---|
| Wakhan Corridor |  Afghanistan
|
| Chittagong |  Bangladesh
|
| Rangpur | |
| Sylhet | |
| Western Belait District |  Brunei
|
| Myanmar Panhandle (Kayin State, Mon State and Tanintharyi Region) |  Burma
|
| Puta-O District | |
| Maungdaw District | |
| Mong Yawng Township | |
| Parrot's Beak |  Cambodia
|
| Yadong County (Tibet Autonomous Region) |  China
|
| Seven Sister States (largest and most populous in the world) |  India
|
| Sikkim | |
| West Timor |  Indonesia
|
| Jerusalem corridor |  Israel
|
| Galilee panhandle | |
| Mafraq Governorate |  Jordan
|
| Mangystau Region |  Kazakhstan
|
| Batken |  Kyrgyzstan
|
| Phongsaly Province |  Laos
|
| Tfail Salient |  Lebanon
|
| North Hamgyŏng, South Hamgyŏng and Ryanggang |  North Korea
|
| Primorsky Krai |  Russia
|
| Sughd |  Tajikistan
|
| Southern Thailand |  Thailand
|
| Aralık, Iğdır Province |  Turkey
|
| Hatay Province | |
| Tashkent Region |  Uzbekistan
|
| Fergana and Andijan Regions | |
| Namangan | |
| Tashkent City | |
| Jizzakh Region | |
| Sirdaryo Region | |
| Surxondaryo Region | |
| Tây Ninh Province |  Vietnam
|
Europe
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South America
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| Salient | Country |
|---|---|
| Misiones |  Argentina
|
| Leticia Trapeze |  Colombia
|
| Southeast Guainía Department | |
| Yavaraté, Vaupés Department | |
| Petén Department |  Guatemala
|
| Tumbes Region |  Peru
|
| Amazonas |  Venezuela
|
North America
editSubnational salients
editThe following locations are salients in First-level administrative subdivisions of nations.
Africa
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South America
edit.svg)
| Salient | Country |
|---|---|
| Southern Buenos Aires Province | Argentina
|
| Luis Calvo, Chuquisaca Department |  Bolivia
|
| Sud Cinti, Chuquisaca Department | |
| Whale Coast, Bahia |  Brazil
|
| Alto Parnaíba, Balsas, and Tasso Fragoso, southernmost Maranhão | |
| Northern Mato Grosso | |
| Ponta do Abunã in northwest Rondônia | |
| Triângulo Mineiro, Minas Gerais | |
| Arauco Province, Bío Bío Region |  Chile
|
| San Antonio Province, Valparaíso Region | |
| Urabá region, Antioquia Department | Colombia
|
| Unguía and Acandí in northernmost Chocó Department | |
| Santander Department northern tip | |
| Santa Rosa and Piamonte in southeastern Cauca Department | |
| Cotacachi Canton, Imbabura Province |  Ecuador
|
| Eastern Tena Canton, Napo Province | |
| Balzar and El Empalme Cantons, Guayas Province | |
| Northern East Berbice-Corentyne |  Guyana
|
| Caravelí Province, Arequipa Region | Peru
|
| Northern Tapanahony, Sipaliwini District |  Suriname
|
| Páez, Apure | Venezuela
|
| Western Andrés Eloy Blanco Municipality, Barinas | |
| Arismendi Municipality, Barinas |
North and Central America
edit| Salient | Country |
|---|---|
| Toronto (East York, Etobicoke, Old Toronto, York) |  Canada
|
| Northwestern British Columbia | |
| Middle Côte-Nord, Quebec | |
| Western Puntarenas Province |  Costa Rica
|
| Guamá, Santiago de Cuba Province |  Cuba
|
| Southern Hato Mayor Province |  Dominican Republic
|
| Southern Samaná Province | |
| Southern San Miguel Department |  El Salvador
|
| Norte, Jalisco |  Mexico
|
| Eastern Tabasco | |
| Southeastern Zacatecas | |
| Southern Zacatecas | |
| Chiriquí Grande District, Bocas del Toro Province |  Panama
|
| Southern Chimán District, Panamá Province | |
| Mariato District, Veraguas Province | |
| Alaska |  United States
|
| Connecticut | |
| Florida[a] | |
| Idaho | |
| Maryland[b] | |
| Nebraska | |
| Oklahoma | |
| Texas | |
| Eastern West Virginia | |
| Missouri Bootheel | |
| Northern West Virginia | |
| New Mexico Bootheel | |
| Trans-Pecos | |
| The Thumb |
Asia
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Europe
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Oceania
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| Salient | Country |
|---|---|
| Northeastern Nadroga-Navosa Province, Western Division |  Fiji
|
| Southern Anetan District |  Nauru
|
| Rangitaiki River Valley, Bay of Plenty Region |  New Zealand
|
| Hunter River Valley, Otago region | |
| Upper Rangitata Valley, Timaru District | |
| Upper Waitaki Valley, Waitaki District | |
| Northeastern West New Britain Province |  Papua New Guinea
|
See also
edit- Bootheel
- Border irregularities of the United States
- Border
- Chicken's Neck (disambiguation)
- Corridor (disambiguation)
- Enclave and exclave
- Fergana Valley (triple junction of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan)
- Gerrymandering
- Political geography
- Salients, re-entrants and pockets
- The Thumb
Notes
edit- ^ This definition includes the following counties: Bay, Calhoun, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Taylor, Wakulla, Walton, and Washington.
- ^ This definition includes the following counties: Allegany, Frederick, Garrett, and Washington
- ^ Encompassing, in order of increasing distance from the main body of the oblast, Kusinsky District, Zlatoust Urban Okrug, Satkinsky District, Tryokhgorny Urban Okrug, Katav-Ivanovsky District, Ust-Katav Urban Okrug and Ashinsky District.
References
edit- ^ a b Jacobs, Frank (December 5, 2011). "A Few Salient Points". New York Times.
- ^ Lowitt, Richard (2006). American Outback: The Oklahoma Panhandle in the Twentieth Century. Texas Tech University Press. pp. xvii, xviii. ISBN 9780896725584.
- ^ Weigert, Hans W. (1957). Principles of Political Geography. New York City: Appleton-Century-Crofts. pp. 73–75.
- ^ Hubbard, Bill (2008). "Chapter Five: The Evolution of the Territories and States". American Boundaries: The Nation, the States, the Rectangular Survey. University of Chicago Press. p. 167. ISBN 9780226355931.
- ^ Sautman, Barry (2006). "Tibet and the (Mis)-Representation of Cultural Genocide". In Sautman, Barry (ed.). Cultural Genocide and Asian State Peripheries. New York City: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 207. ISBN 1403975744.
- ^ Mellor, Roy E. H. (1989). National, State and Territory: A Political Geography. London: Routledge. p. 70. ISBN 9780415022873.
- ^ Pounds, Norman John Greville (1972). Political geography (2nd ed.). New York City: McGraw-Hill (published 1963). p. 271. ISBN 9780070505667.
- ^ Ali Tayyeb (1966). Pakistan; A Political Geography. London: Oxford University Press. p. 89.
- ^ "San Isidro". Google Maps. Google LLC. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
Further reading
edit- Robert Reid (4 April 2016). "America's Panhandles, Ranked From 1 to 10". National Geographic. Retrieved 2019-05-16.