| GEOGRAPHICAL FORM | DESCRIPTION | MORE INFO |
| archipelago | group of islands found close together in the sea | The Philippines in Asia is an archipelago. Other examples of archipelagos are the Lakshadweep Islands in the Arabian Sea and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal. |
| bay | part of sea filling wide-mouthed opening of the land | The largest bay in the world is the Bay of Bengal. It has a shoreline of about 3620 km from south-eastern Sri Lanka to Pagoda Point in Myanmar. It measures 2745 km across its mouth. |
| beach | sloping, sandy or pebbly, shore of a body of water | There are several famous beaches in Florida, USA. An example is Daytona Beach. |
| cape | land jutting out into the sea | Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, Kanya Kumari (formerly Cape Comorin) in India, and Cape Kennedy (formerly Cape Canavarel) in USA are examples.
The Atlantic and Pacific Oceans meet at Cape Horn. |
| delta | triangular patch of deposited silt at the mouth of a river formed by its diverging branches | The largest delta is formed by the Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers in West Bengal (India) and Bangla Desh. It covers an area of 76800 km. |
| desert | dry barren land that receives little or no rainfall | The largest desert in the world is the Sahara desert in Northern Africa. It is hot and sandy. The Gobi desert in Asia is rocky. |
| estuary | mouth of a large river affected by tides | Estuary and delta are the two kinds of river mouths. Rivers that do not carry much silt flow as one continuous stream into the sea. The mouth of such a river is affected by tides and is called an estuary. |
| glacier | river of ice moving downward very slowly | The world's longest glacier is the Lambert Glacier discovered in the Australian Antarctic territory. It is 64 km wide. With its upper section known as the Mellor Glacier, it measures at least 400 km in length. |
| gulf | large area of sea partly surrounded by land | The Gulf of Mexico is the largest gulf in the world. It has a shoreline of 4990 km from Cape Sable (Florida) to Cabo Calochie (Mexico).
The Gulf of Bothnia lies between Sweden and Finland. |
| harbor | port protected naturally or artificially to provide shelter for ships | New York Harbor is the largest harbor in the world. |
| iceberg | thick mass of floating ice in the sea | An iceberg is a huge piece of freshwater ice that breaks off from a snow-formed glacier or ice shelf and floats in open water. |
| island | piece of land surrounded by water | The world's largest island is Greenland (Australia is considered a continent). Greenland is thrice the size of Borneo (the second largest island in the world) and nine times as big as Honshu (the largest island of Japan).
Japan, New Zealand and Sri Lanka are examples of island countries. |
| isthmus | narrow strip of land joining two larger land masses | The Isthmus of Panama connects the continents of North America and South America. |
| oasis | fertile area in desert where there is water | An oasis is sometimes found in a desert because of a spring or pool of water. People find it convenient to live and trees find it easier to grow near an oasis. |
| peninsula | piece of land almost surrounded by water (but joined to mainland on one side) | The southern part of India is a peninsula. It is surrounded on three sides by the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal. The world's largest peninsula is Arabia with an area of about 3237000 sq. km. |
| plain | low, flat or almost level land | Low flat land along a coast is referred to as a coastal plain. |
| plateau | extensive stretch of elevated, level land | A plateau or tableland is a large stretch of land that is flat and located at an altitude. |
| strait | narrow strip of water connecting two large bodies of water or seas | The Straits of Magellan are at the southern tip of South America.
The longest strait in the world is the Strait of Malacca (about 615 km) between West Malaysia and Sumatra.
The Palk Strait connects the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal. It divides India and Sri Lanka. |
| tributary | small river flowing into a bigger main river | In India, the Jamuna and the Chambal are tributaries of the River Ganga whereas the Beas and the Sutlej are tributaries of the River Indus. |
| valley | low land between hills or mountains | Valleys may be broad or narrow. Valleys through which rivers or streams flow are referred to as river valleys. |
