Editing The (section)

===Geographic usage===
An area in which the use or non-use of ''the'' is sometimes problematic is with [[toponym|geographic names]]:
*Notable natural landmarks – rivers, seas, mountain ranges, deserts, island groups ([[archipelago]]es), etc., are generally used with a "the" definite article (''the Rhine'', ''the North Sea'', ''the Alps'', ''the Sahara'', ''[[Hebrides|the Hebrides]]''). 
*Continents, individual islands, administrative units, and settlements mostly do not take a "the" article (''Europe'', ''[[Jura, Scotland|Jura]]'', ''Austria'' (but ''the Republic of Austria''), ''Scandinavia'', ''Yorkshire'' (but ''the County of York''), ''Madrid''). 
*Beginning with a common noun followed by ''of'' may take the article, as in ''[[Isle of Wight|the Isle of Wight]]'' or ''[[Isle of Portland|the Isle of Portland]]'' (compare ''Christmas Island''), same applies to names of institutions: ''Cambridge University'', but ''the University of Cambridge''.
*Some place names include an article, such as ''[[the Bronx]]'', ''[[The Oaks, New South Wales|The Oaks]]'', ''[[The Rock, New South Wales|The Rock]]'', ''[[The Birches, County Armagh|The Birches]]'', ''[[The Bog]]'', ''[[The Harrow, County Wexford|The Harrow]]'', ''[[The Rower]]'', ''[[The Swan, County Laois|The Swan]]'', ''[[The Valley, Anguilla|The Valley]]'', ''[[The Farrington]]'', ''[[The Quarter, Anguilla|The Quarter]]'', ''[[The Plains, Virginia|The Plains]]'', ''[[The Dalles, Oregon|The Dalles]]'', ''[[The Forks, Maine|The Forks]]'', ''[[The Village, East Kilbride|The Village]]'', ''[[The Village, Jersey City|The Village]]'' (NJ), ''[[The Village, Oklahoma|The Village]]'' (OK), ''[[The Villages, Florida|The Villages]]'', ''[[Castle Pines Village, Colorado|The Village at Castle Pines]]'', ''[[The Woodlands, Texas|The Woodlands]]'', ''[[The Pas]]'', ''[[Wells-next-the-Sea]]'', ''[[Vatican City|the Vatican]]'', ''[[Tiergarten (park)|the Tiergarten]]'', ''[[The Hyde]]'', ''[[West End of London|the West End]]'', ''[[East End of London|the East End]]'', ''[[The Hague]]'', or ''the City of London'' (but ''[[London]]''). Formerly e.g. ''[[Bath, Somerset|Bath]]'', ''[[Devizes]]'' or ''[[White Plains, New York|White Plains]]''.<ref>{{cite journal| url = https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2009/10/why-do-we-use-definite-articles-for-some-place-names-like-the-hague.html| title = Why is it called The Hague?| journal = Slate| date = 27 October 2009| last1 = Palmer| first1 = Brian}}</ref>
*Generally described singular names, ''the North Island'' (New Zealand) or ''the [[West Country]]'' (England), take an article.

[[Country|Countries]] and territorial regions are notably mixed, most exclude "the" but there are some that adhere to secondary rules:
* Derivations from collective common nouns such as "kingdom", "republic", "union", etc.: ''the Central African Republic'', ''the Dominican Republic'', ''the United States'', ''the United Kingdom'', ''the Soviet Union'', ''the United Arab Emirates'', including most country full names:<ref>{{cite web| url = https://style-guide.europa.eu/en/content/-/isg/topic?identifier=7.1.1-designations-and-abbreviations| title = Countries: Designations and abbreviations to use}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fao.org/countryprofiles/iso3list/en/|title=FAO Country Profiles|website=www.fao.org}}</ref> ''the Czech Republic'' (but ''Czechia''), ''the Russian Federation'' (but ''Russia''), ''the Principality of Monaco'' (but ''Monaco''), ''the State of Israel'' (but ''Israel'') and ''the Commonwealth of Australia'' (but ''Australia'').<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.cambridge.org/grammarandbeyond/newsletter/2011/11/using-the-with-the-names-of-countries| title = Using 'the' with the Names of Countries}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://style-guide.europa.eu/en/content/-/isg/topic?identifier=annex-a5-list-countries-territories-currencies| title = List of Countries, Territories and Currencies}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65aa8531698722000d374130/FCDO_Geographical_Names_Index_Jan2024.csv/preview| title = Country names| date = 25 March 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/geonames/| title = UNGEGN World Geographical Names}}</ref>
* Countries in a plural noun: ''[[Netherlands|the Netherlands]]'', ''[[Falkland Islands|the Falkland Islands]]'', ''[[Faroe Islands|the Faroe Islands]]'', ''[[Cayman Islands|the Cayman Islands]]'', ''[[Philippines|the Philippines]]'', ''[[Comoros|the Comoros]]'', ''[[Maldives|the Maldives]]'', ''[[Seychelles|the Seychelles]]'', ''[[Saint Vincent and the Grenadines]],'' and ''[[the Bahamas]]''.
*Singular derivations from "island" or "land" that hold administrative rights – ''[[Greenland]]'', ''[[England]]'', ''[[Christmas Island]]'' and ''[[Norfolk Island]]'' – do not take a "the" definite article. 
* Derivations from mountain ranges, rivers, deserts, etc., are sometimes used with an article, even for singular (''the Lebanon'', ''the Sudan'', ''the Yukon'', ''the Congo'').<ref>Swan, Michael ''How English Works'', p. 25</ref> This usage is in decline, [[The Gambia]] remains recommended whereas use of ''the Argentine'' for [[Argentina]] is considered old-fashioned. [[Ukraine]] is occasionally referred to as ''the Ukraine'', a usage that was common during the 20th century and during [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Soviet rule]], but this is considered incorrect and possibly offensive in modern usage.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2012-06-07 |title=Ukraine or the Ukraine: Why do some country names have 'the'? |language=en-GB |work=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-18233844 |access-date=2022-07-08}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Steinmetz |first=Katy |date=2014-03-05 |title=Ukraine, Not the Ukraine: The Significance of Three Little Letters |url=https://time.com/12597/the-ukraine-or-ukraine/ |access-date=2022-07-08 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Mellen |first=Ruby |date=2019-10-01 |title=It's Ukraine, not 'the' Ukraine. And Ukrainians want you to get it right. |language=en-US |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/10/01/its-ukraine-not-ukraine-ukrainians-want-you-get-it-right/ |access-date=2022-07-08 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> ''[[Sudan]]'' (but ''the Republic of the Sudan'') and ''[[South Sudan]]'' (but ''the Republic of South Sudan'') are written nowadays without the article.