Geographical names and place names with the definite article

Names of oceans (a), seas (b), straits (c), channels (d), canals (e), rivers (f), and lakes (g):

a) the Pacific (ocean), the Atlantic (ocean);

b) the Baltic (sea), the Mediterranean (sea);

c) the Magellan Strait, the Bering Straits;

d) the English Channel;

e) the Kiel Canal, the Suez Canal, the Panama Canal;

f) the Thames, the Nile, the Amazon, the Mississippi;

g) the Leman, the Baikal, the Ontario.

Note. When names of lakes are preceded by the noun lake (which is of­ten the case), no article is used: Lake Baikal, Lake Ohio, Lake Superior, Lake Ladoga.

Names of deserts: the Sahara, the Gobi, the Kara-Kum,

Mountain ranges and groups of hills: the Rocky Mountains, the Andes, the Alps, the Himalayas.

I have never climbed in the Alps in winter.

Groups of islands: the Philippines, the Azores, the Bahamas, the Canaries, the Hebrides, the Bermudas.

It was his custom to spend his holidays in the Scilly Isles.

Cardinal points: the North, the South, the West, the East.

Note. In the expressions from East to West, from North to South no article is used.

Names for special points on the globe: the North Pole, the Southern Hemisphere.

Geographical regions: the Midlands, the Middle East, the Crimea, the South of England, the Caucasus, the Ruhr, the Transvaal, the Riviera.

The home-ownership rate in the South East of England is higher than in the North.

Names of territories consisting of a word combination in which the last word is a common noun: the Lake District, the Yorkshire forests, the Virgin Lands.