Cape (geography)

Cape Cod and the islands off the Massachusetts coast, from space

Cape Cornwall, England

Cape Tisan in Mersin Province, Turkey

In geography, a cape is a headland or a promontory of large size extending into a body of water, usually the sea.^[1] A cape usually represents a marked change in trend of the coastline. Their proximity to the coastline makes them prone to natural forms of erosion, mainly tidal actions. This results in capes having a relatively short geologic lifespan. Capes can be formed by glaciers, volcanoes, and changes in sea level. Erosion plays a large role in each of these methods of formation.

List of some well-known capes

Africa

• Eritrea–Sudan
  • Ras Kasar
• Ghana
  • Cape Coast
• Liberia
  • Cape Mesurado - The Cape on which Monrovia is located.
  • Cape Palmas- Southernmost point in Liberia
  • Grand Cape Mount
• Mauritania
  • Cape Blanc
• Morocco
  • Cape Juby
  • Cape Three Forks
• Senegal
  • Cap-Vert- Westernmost point in Mainland Africa, site of Senegalese capital Dakar
• Somalia
  • Cape Guardafui- Easternmost point in mainland Africa
• South Africa
  • Cape Agulhas- Southernmost point in mainland Africa
  • Cape of Good Hope
• Tunisia
  • Cap Bon
  • Ras Ben Sakka-Northernmost point in mainland Africa
• Boto

Asia

• India
  • Cape Comorin
• Philippines
  • Cape Engaño
• Russia
  • Cape Chelyuskin (Northern tip of mainland Asia)
  • Cape Dezhnev - Easternmost point in mainland Asia
• Turkey
  • Cape Baba (Western tip of mainland Asia)
• Vietnam
  • Mũi Né

Europe

• Albania
  • Cape of Gjuhëz, Karaburun Peninsula
  • Cape of Rodon
• Bulgaria
  • Cape Emine
  • Cape Kaliakra
• Cyprus
  • Cape Greco
• France
  • Cap Gris Nez
  • Pointe du Raz
• Germany
  • Cape Arkona
• Greece
  • Cape Matapan, also known as Cape Tainaron (Southern tip of mainland Europe, on Peloponnesus Peninsula)
• Latvia
  • Cape Kolka
• Norway
  • Cape Nordkinn (Northern tip of mainland Europe)
  • North Cape
• Portugal
  • Cabo da Roca (Western tip of mainland Europe)
  • Cabo de São Vicente / Sagres Point (Southwestern tip of mainland Europe)
• Spain
  • Cape Finisterre
• Turkey
  • Sarayburnu, İstanbul, the easternmost point of the historical city. Separates the Golden Horn Bay from the Sea of Marmara.
• United Kingdom
  • Cape Cornwall, Cornwall
  • Cape Wrath, Scotland

North America

• Canada
  • Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia
  • Cape Chidley, Newfoundland and Labrador / Nunavut
  • Cape Columbia, Nunavut (Canada's northernmost point)
  • Cap Diamant, Quebec City
  • Cape Race, Newfoundland and Labrador
  • Cape Spear, Newfoundland and Labrador (Canada's easternmost point)
  • Murchison Promontory, Nunavut (Northern tip of mainland America)
• Greenland
  • Cape Farewell (Greenland's southernmost point)
  • Cape Morris Jesup- Northernmost point of mainland Greenland.
• Mexico
  • Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur
• United States
  • Cape Ann, Massachusetts
  • Cape Canaveral, Florida
  • Cape Charles, Virginia
  • Cape Cod, Massachusetts
  • Cape Coral, Florida
  • Cape Fear, North Carolina
  • Cape Flattery, Washington (Farthest northwest point of the contiguous, lower 48 states)
  • Cape Girardeau, Missouri
    • Capes on the Mississippi River
  • Cape Hatteras, North Carolina
  • Cape Henlopen, Delaware
  • Cape Henry, Virginia
  • Cape Lookout, North Carolina
  • Cape May, New Jersey
  • Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska
  • Cape San Blas, Florida
  • Cape Sable, Florida- Southernmost point in the mainland United States

Oceania

• Australia
  • Cape Byron
  • Cape Leeuwin
  • Cape York
  • South East Cape
• New Zealand
  • Cape Egmont
  • Cape Foulwind
  • Cape Kidnappers
  • Cape Reinga
  • East Cape
  • North Cape

South America

• Argentina
  • Cape Virgenes
• Chile
  • Cape Froward
  • Cape Horn
• Venezuela
  • Cape San Román (Paraguaná Peninsula's northernmost point)

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Capes (geography).

Coastal geography
Landforms	Anchialine pool Archipelago Atoll Avulsion Ayre Barrier island Bay Baymouth bar Bight Bodden Brackish marsh Cape Channel Cliff Coast Coastal plain Coastal waterfall Continental margin Continental shelf Coral reef Cove Dune cliff-top Estuary Firth Fjard Fjord Freshwater marsh Fundus Gat Geo Gulf Gut Headland Inlet Intertidal wetland Island Islet Isthmus Lagoon Machair Marine terrace Mega delta Mouth bar Mudflat Natural arch Peninsula Reef Regressive delta Ria River delta Salt marsh Shoal Shore Skerry Sound Spit Stack Strait Strand plain Submarine canyon Tidal island Tidal marsh Tide pool Tied island Tombolo Windwatt
Beaches	Beach cusps Beach evolution Coastal morphodynamics Beach ridge Beachrock Pocket beach Raised beach Recession Shell beach Shingle beach Storm beach Wash margin
Processes	Blowhole Cliffed coast Coastal biogeomorphology Coastal erosion Concordant coastline Current Cuspate foreland Discordant coastline Emergent coastline Feeder bluff Fetch Flat coast Graded shoreline Headlands and bays Ingression coast Large-scale coastal behaviour Longshore drift Marine regression Marine transgression Raised shoreline Rip current Rocky shore Sea cave Sea foam Shoal Steep coast Submergent coastline Surf break Surf zone Surge channel Swash Undertow Volcanic arc Wave-cut platform Wave shoaling Wind wave Wrack zone
Management	Accretion Coastal management Integrated coastal zone management Submersion
Related	Bulkhead line Grain size boulder clay cobble granule pebble sand shingle silt Intertidal zone Littoral zone Physical oceanography Region of freshwater influence
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