Headland

For other uses, see Headland (disambiguation).

Cliffs at Beachy Head, England

A headland (or simply head) is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends out into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape. Headlands are characterized by high, breaking waves, rocky shores, intense erosion, and steep sea cliffs.

Headlands and bays are often found on the same coastline. A bay is surrounded by land on three sides, whereas a headland is surrounded by water on three sides. Headlands and bays form on discordant coastlines, where bands of rock of alternating resistance run perpendicular to the coast. Bays form where weak (less resistant) rocks (such as sands and clays) are eroded, leaving bands of stronger (more resistant) rocks (such as chalk, limestone, granite) forming a headland, or peninsula. Through the deposition of sediment within the bay and the erosion of the headlands, coastlines eventually straighten out then start the same process all over again.

List of notable headlands

Africa

Cape Malabata, Morocco

• Cap-Vert, Senegal
• Cape Agulhas, South Africa, Africa's southernmost point
• Cape Blanc, Mauritania
• Cape Bojador, Western Sahara
• Cape Correntes, Mozambique
• Cape Delgado, Mozambique
• Cape of Good Hope, South Africa
• Cape Juby, Morocco
• Cape Malabata, Morocco
• Ras ben Sakka, Tunisia, Africa's northernmost point

Asia

• Cape Dezhnev, Russia
• Cape Engano, Philippines
• Indira Point, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India
• Kanyakumari or Cape Comorin, Tamil Nadu, India

Europe

Land's End, England

• Beachy Head, England
• Cabo da Roca, Portugal, the western tip of mainland Europe
• Cabo de São Vicente/Sagres, Portugal, the southwestern tip of mainland Europe
• Cap Gris Nez, France
• Cape Arkona, Germany
• Cape Emine, Bulgaria
• Cape Enniberg, Faroe Islands
• Cape Finisterre, Spain
• Cape Greco, Cyprus
• Cape Kaliakra, Bulgaria
• Cape Tainaron, Greece, the southern tip of mainland Europe
• Cape Wrath, Scotland
• Gibraltar
• Land's End, Cornwall, England
• North Cape, Norway, the northern tip of mainland Europe
• Pointe du Raz, France
• St Bees Head, UK, the most westerly point of northern England
• Great Orme, Wales

North America

Canada

• Cape Chidley, Newfoundland and Labrador/Nunavut
• Cape Columbia, Nunavut, Canada's northernmost point
• Cape Freels, Newfoundland and Labrador
• Cape Norman, Newfoundland and Labrador
• Cape Spear, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada's easternmost point
• Cape Tormentine, New Brunswick

Greenland

• Cape Farewell, Greenland's southernmost point

Mexico

• Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico

United States

Hanauma Bay and Koko Crater at Koko Head, Oahu, USA

• Cape Canaveral, Florida
• Cape Charles, Virginia
• Cape Cod, Massachusetts
• Cape Fear, North Carolina
• Cape Hatteras, North Carolina
• Cape Henlopen, Delaware
• Cape Henry, Virginia
• Cape May, New Jersey
• Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska
• Cascade Head, Oregon
• Diamond Head, Hawaii
• Heceta Head, Oregon
• Koko Head, Hawaii
• Marin Headlands, California
• Mount Mitchill, New Jersey
• North Shore, Lake Superior, Minnesota
• Point Reyes, California

Oceania

Australia

South West Cape, Tasmania

• Cape Leeuwin, Western Australia
• Cape York, Queensland
• South East Cape, Tasmania
• South West Cape, Tasmania

New Zealand

• Cape Egmont
• Cape Foulwind
• Cape Reinga
• East Cape
• North Cape
• Young Nick's Head

South America

• Cape Froward, Chile
• Cape Horn, Chile, South America's southernmost point
• Cape Virgenes, Argentina

See also

• Cape (geography)
• Headlands and bays