Capitalizing geographic names
A geographic name meets the definition of a proper noun; it represents a unique entity in the category of person, place or thing. Therefore, geographic names are capitalized.
Geographic names that fall in the category of a proper noun include countries, cities, towns, counties, continents, islands, streets, buildings, parks, airports, peninsulas, bodies of water, monuments, forests, canyons, dams, mountains, and regions when they name a specific location by a proper name.
Hoover Dam
Persian Gulf
the Bay Area
Cook County
Bryce Canyon
Los Angeles International Airport
Ventura Freeway
Mississippi River
New York State
Lincoln Memorial
Blue Ridge Mountains
Petrified Forest
Make certain the noun meets the requirements for being a proper noun. Do not confuse a proper noun naming a specific geographic location with the name of a place described by common nouns in general reference. Do not capitalize geographic locations when used in general reference.
the state of New York NOT the State of New York
Montgomery Street BUT the street
Stone Mountain Park BUT the park
A geographic reference is not capitalized in the plural form when used in compound expressions.
Atlantic Ocean
Pacific Ocean
BUT
Atlantic and Pacific oceans
Mississippi River
Missouri River
BUT
Mississippi and Missouri rivers
Some geographic areas are capitalized because they have a clear association with a particular place. Only capitalize these when the context is not ambiguous.
the West Coast
The Outer Banks
the Keys
the Big Apple
the Windy City
NOTE: Only capitalize the word city when it is part of the name of the city or part of the nickname of that city.
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