Panhandle

Encyclopedia : P : PA : PAN : Panhandle

This is about the geographical term; when used as a verb, panhandle means to approach strangers and beg for money.

A panhandle is an informal geographic term for an elongated tail-like protrusion of a geo-political entity, such as a subnational entity or a sovereign state. The term derives from the analogous part of a cooking pan and its use is generally confined to the United States. A panhandle is similar to a peninsula in shape, but unlike a peninsula it is not surrounded by water on three sides and connected to a geographical mainland. Instead, a panhandle is delimited by a land border on at least one side 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.

Panhandles in the United States:

Alaska Panhandle
Connecticut Panhandle
Florida Panhandle
Idaho Panhandle
Maryland Panhandle
Nebraska Panhandle
North Carolina Panhandle
Oklahoma Panhandle
Texas Panhandle (possible origin of the use of this term)
Eastern Panhandle and Northern Panhandle in West Virginia
*The Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway was often called the Panhandle, as it crossed the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia.
San Francisco, (California) Panhandle
Southeastern Jefferson County, Arkansas

Panhandles outside the United States

Outside of the United States, the term is not in common usage, with the arguable exception of the nearby New Brunswick Panhandle. Nonetheless, some English speakers will describe the following characteristic territorial protrusions elsewhere as a corridor, a panhandle, a handlebar, a tail or an arm extending into an administratively different territory:

Wakhan Corridor, Afghanistan
Misiones, Argentina
Triângulo Mineiro, Brazil
Maroua, Cameroon
Petén, Guatemala
Seven Sister States, India
Batken, Kyrgyzstan
Tenasserim, Myanmar
Caprivi Strip, Namibia
Limburg, the Netherlands
Congo Pedicle, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Polish Corridor, Poland
North Hamgyŏng, South Hamgyŏng, and Ryanggang, together comprise the "panhandle" of North Korea.

Panhandle

Panhandles outside the United States

See also