# Does a canal cutting across an isthmus make an island?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-canal-cutting-across-an-isthmus-make-an-island/959682>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 17, 2022, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-canal-cutting-across-an-isthmus-make-an-island/959682 "2022-02-17T17:37:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![3AxisCtrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/ecd19e/32.png) [@3AxisCtrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3AxisCtrl)\
**Post date:** [February 19, 2022, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-canal-cutting-across-an-isthmus-make-an-island/959682/21 "2022-02-19T03:19:38Z")

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> [@ThisOneGuy](#):
>
> It’s not a very big lake:

It’s more like a decent-sized pond - but gains lots of style points by draining into two different oceans.

And it does that with style: The water that flows out to the east ends up in the Pacific Ocean (via Snake and Columbia Rivers); the water that flows west goes to the Atlantic (via Madison, Missouri and Mississippi Rivers).

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**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\
**Post date:** [February 19, 2022, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-canal-cutting-across-an-isthmus-make-an-island/959682/22 "2022-02-19T19:21:23Z")

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The connected waters flow coast to coast. _Natural_ streams, mind you, per the definition of island. That means everything north (or south? I dunno) of those streams is the world’s biggest island. Eat your heart out, Greenland.

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