While similar to a peninsula in shape, a salient is not surrounded by water on three sides. Instead, it has a land border on at least two sides and extends out 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 extension of Oklahoma. Less common descriptors include chimney, or stovepipe (if protruding northward, as a chimney does from a roof, as with the northernmost extremity of West Virginia) and bootheel (if protruding southward, as the heel underneath a boot, such as the Missouri Bootheel).
Origin
The term salient is derived from military salients. The term "panhandle" derives from the analogous part of a cooking pan, and its use is generally confined to the United States.
The salient shape can be the result of arbitrarily drawn international or subnational boundaries, though the location of administrative borders can also take into account other considerations such as economic ties or topography.
Country-level salients
Africa
Far North Province within CameroonA map of the Congo Pedicle
Map of India showing the Seven Sister states in the northeast plus the smaller salient of Sikkim immediately to their west.The 14 provinces of Thailand forming the salient of Southern Thailand.
Location of Cuvette Department within the Republic of the Congo. The southwestern arm is Okoyo District. The Kimongo District salient, in Niari Department, can also be clearly seen in the country's southwest.Location of the Fatick Region within Senegal. Gossas Department is the northeastern arm.
Guayas Province, Ecuador. Balzar and El Empalme Cantons form the northern arm of the province.Venezuela's Barinas State. Andrés Eloy Blanco is the small western extension of the state, Arismendi is the larger eastern extremity. Páez, in Apure, lies immediately to the south of western Barinas.
Many people in the Pacific Northwest refer to the extreme northern section of Idaho's panhandle as "The Chimney", due to its resemblance to a chimney when viewed on maps.[citation needed]
Although Utah, like Nebraska, has a protrusion from its otherwise straight border, it is not usually considered a panhandle, as half of the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, the most populous region in the state and the home of the state's capital, is located in the region. Likewise, though New York has a southern protrusion that is more conspicuous than e.g. the Connecticut, Texas and Nebraska Panhandles, this is never considered a panhandle since it accommodates the most densely populated parts of the state. (In New York's case, its irregular shape leaves certain regions up for debate. From a different perspective, that region is part of the New York mainland while a western salient juts out.) Thus, the concept of a panhandle may not be purely geographic but may also have a demographic component.
Location of Nabatieh District within Nabatieh Governorate, Lebanon.Map of Gorno-Badakhshan within Tajikistan, showing the panhandle of Darvoz District in the west.South Sulawesi in Indonesia, with a panhandle of East Luwu Regency in the east
Location of Viken, Norway. The municipalities of Jevnaker and Lunner is connecting the former counties of Akershus and Buskerud. There is a discussion on what is the salient or "the wrong side", but Buskerud is mostly picked on as the salient of the county.Location of Newmarket (shown as red dot) within Suffolk, England
Location of Anetan District within NauruLocation of Timaru District within New Zealand's South Island. The Waitaki District is parallel with it, a little further south.