Bay vs. Peninsula

Main Difference

The main difference between Bay and Peninsula is that the Bay is a body of water connected to an ocean or lake, formed by an indentation of the shoreline and Peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland

• Bay

  A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a type of smaller bay with a circular inlet and narrow entrance. A fjord is a particularly steep bay shaped by glacial activity.

  Bays can be the estuary of a river, such as the Chesapeake Bay, an estuary of the Susquehanna River. Bays may also be nested within each other; for example, James Bay is an arm of Hudson Bay in northeastern Canada. Some large bays, such as the Bay of Bengal and the Hudson Bay, have varied marine geology.

  The land surrounding a bay often reduces the strength of winds and blocks waves. Bays were significant in the history of human settlement because they provided a safe place for fishing. Later they were important in the development of sea trade as the safe anchorage they provide encouraged their selection as ports.

  The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea defines a bay as a well-marked indentation whose penetration is in such proportion to the width of its mouth as to contain land-locked waters and constitute more than a mere curvature of the coast. An indentation shall not, however, be regarded as a bay unless its area is as large as, or larger than, that of the semi-circle whose diameter is a line drawn across the mouth of that indentation.

• Peninsula

  A peninsula (Latin: paeninsula from paene “almost” and insula “island”) is a piece of land surrounded by water on the majority of its border, while being connected to a mainland from which it extends. Examples are the Upper and Lower peninsulas of the U.S. state of Michigan, the Scandinavian Peninsula and the Malay peninsula. The surrounding water is usually understood to be continuous, though not necessarily named as a single body of water. Peninsulas are not always named as such; one can also be a headland, cape, island promontory, bill, point, or spit. A point is generally considered a tapering piece of land projecting into a body of water that is less prominent than a cape. A river which courses through a very tight meander is also sometimes said to form a “peninsula” within the (almost closed) loop of water. In English, the plurals of peninsula are peninsulas and, less commonly, peninsulae.

• Peninsula (noun)

  a piece of land almost surrounded by water or projecting out into a body of water.