Tag:natural=cape

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Public-images-osm logo.svg natural = cape
Provincetown Spit Cape Cod.jpg
Description
A piece of elevated land sticking out into the sea or large lake. Show/edit corresponding data item.
Group: natural
Used on these elements
may be used on nodesshould not be used on waysshould not be used on areasshould not be used on relations (except multipolygon relations)
Useful combination
See also

natural=peninsula

Status: de facto

 Cape - a prominent piece of land sticking out into the sea or large lake. From the water side these tend to be points to circumnavigate and often serve as landmarks for orientation, from the land side capes are geographic extreme points sticking furthest out into the sea or a lake into a certain direction. This definition includes capes, heads, headlands and (water) promontories.

Sometimes natural=cape is interpreted to include a broader range of coastal land forms like peninsulas but as of October 2018 the overwhelming majority of capes mapped (>99%) refer to capes in the strict sense of coastal extreme points or prominent landmarks at the coast.

How to map

Add a node node and tag with natural=cape and name=*. Some mappers join the node to the coastline, others put it nearby.

Mapping caveats

This tag should not be used for:

  • peaks near the coast - use natural=peak.
  • cliffs near the coast - use natural=cliff.
  • named sections of a coast in general - use place=locality or tag the name on the coastline.
  • whole land areas extending into the water (usually called peninsulas) where the name applies to the whole area and not to a coastal extreme point or a prominent landmark at the coast - use natural=peninsula.
  • (thin) land bridges that connect two larger land masses - use natural=isthmus.

Tags to use in combination

See also

Possible tagging mistakes

If you know places with this tag, verify if it could be tagged with another tag.
Automated edits are strongly discouraged unless you really know what you are doing!
If you know places with this tag, verify if it could be tagged with another tag.
Automated edits are strongly discouraged unless you really know what you are doing!