Panhandle

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

Contents 1 Term 2 United States panhandles 3 Panhandles outside the U.S. 3.1 Africa 3.2 Americas 3.3 Asia 3.4 Europe 3.5 Historical 4 See also 5 References

Term

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

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	29,112	5,687	5
Texas	Amarillo	190,695	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.

• The six northwest Cook County, Illinois townships, outside of Chicago.^[1]
• The Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway was often called the Panhandle, as it crossed the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia.
• The San Francisco Panhandle, California

Panhandles outside the U.S.

Outside the United States, the term is not in common usage, with the arguable exception of the nearby New Brunswick Panhandle. Nonetheless, some people would describe the following characteristic territorial protrusions elsewhere as a corridor or an arm extending into an administratively different territory. Such shapes of territory can be a result of linguistic (or ethnic) lines, in addition to geographic features and other reasons. France considers panhandles as perfect spots to construct nuclear powerstations, for obvious reasons. Notable examples include:

Africa Far North Province, Cameroon Congo Pedicle, Katanga, Democratic Republic of the Congo Caprivi Strip, Namibia Casamance, Senegal Wadi Halfa Salient, Sudan Americas Misiones, Argentina Buenos Aires, Argentina Triângulo Mineiro, Minas Gerais, Brazil Tatshenshini-Alsek Park, British Columbia, Canada New Brunswick Panhandle, Canada Amazonas and Guainía Departments, Colombia Petén, Guatemala Tamaulipas, Mexico Asia Wakhan Corridor, Afghanistan Teknaf, Bangladesh Tanintharyi Region, Burma (Myanmar) Parrot's Beak, Cambodia Louroujina Salient, Cyprus Seven Sister States, India Sikkim, India Finger of the Galilee, Israel Batken, Kyrgyzstan

North Hamgyŏng, South Hamgyŏng, and Ryanggang, together comprise the "panhandle" of North Korea Karakoram, Pakistan Al-Malikiyah, Syria Sughd, Tajikistan Southern Thailand, Thailand Hatay Province, Turkey Europe Tyrol and Vorarlberg together comprise the western "panhandle" of Austria Neum, Bosnia and Herzegovina Cheb District, Czech Republic Šluknov Hook, Czech Republic Enontekiö, Finland Charleville-Mézières, France Western Thrace, Greece Donegal, Republic of Ireland Monaghan, Republic of Ireland Province of Trieste, Italy Limburg, the Netherlands Northern Norway, Norway Gmina Bogatynia, Poland Canton of Geneva, Switzerland Canton of Schaffhausen, Switzerland Bernina, Inn, Lugano and Mendrisio, Porrentruy Districts, Switzerland Budjak, Ukraine Dacorum district, United Kingdom

Historical

• Polish Corridor, Second Polish Republic (1919-1939)

See also

• Bootheel
• Border irregularities of the United States
• Border
• Corridor (disambiguation)
• Enclave and exclave
• Fergana Valley (triple junction of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan)
• Gerrymandering
• Chicken's Neck (disambiguation)
• Political geography
• Salients, re-entrants and pockets
• The Thumb

References

United States panhandles Alaska • Connecticut • Florida • Idaho • Maryland • Nebraska • Oklahoma • Texas • Eastern West Virginia • Northern West Virginia