Panhandle

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For other uses, see Panhandle (disambiguation).
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Locations of panhandles within U.S. states

A panhandle is an American informal geographic term for an elongated arm-like protrusion of a geo-political entity, such as a subnational entity or a sovereign state.

Contents

Term [edit]

The term "panhandle" derives from the analogous part of a cooking pan, and its use is generally confined to the United States. A term used elsewhere is salient, derived from military salients. While similar to a peninsula in shape, a panhandle is not surrounded by water on three sides and connected to a geographical mainland. Instead, it is delimited by a land border on at least two sides and extends out from the larger geographical body of the administrative unit.

The panhandle shape is the result of arbitrarily drawn international or subnational boundaries, although the location of some administrative borders takes into account other considerations such as economic ties or topography. In the United States, a protrusion with a less elongated shape is informally called a bootheel.

United States panhandles [edit]

State Largest city Population Area (sq. mi) Population density
(per sq. mi)
Alaska Juneau 72,954 35,138 2
Connecticut Stamford 220,209 96 2,294
Florida† Tallahassee 1,222,492 11,304 108
Idaho Coeur d'Alene 295,160 21,013 14
Maryland Frederick 469,376 2,194 214
Nebraska Scottsbluff 90,410 14,258 6
Oklahoma Guymon 28,751 5,687 5
Texas Amarillo 427,927 25,887 7
Eastern West Virginia Martinsburg 212,483 3,499 61
Northern West Virginia Wheeling 141,060 601 235

† This definition of the Florida panhandle includes the following counties: Bay, Calhoun, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Taylor, Wakulla, Walton, and Washington.

Panhandles outside the U.S. [edit]

 This section may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. (October 2010)

Outside the United States, the term is not in common usage, with the arguable exception of the nearby New Brunswick Panhandle. Nonetheless, the following territorial protrusions could be considered panhandles, or may be known as corridors. Such shapes can be a result of linguistic (or ethnic) lines or come about as the result of geographic features among other reasons. Notable examples include:

Africa [edit]

Americas [edit]

Asia [edit]

Europe [edit]

Historical [edit]

See also [edit]

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Look up panhandle in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

References [edit]

  1. ^ "Cook County Forest Preserve District Recreational Facilities". Users.rcn.com. Retrieved 2012-11-15. 
United States panhandles
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