The word isthmus comes from Latin roots, specifically from the word “isthmus”, which in turn derives from the ancient Greek “ἰσθμός”. This term is commonly used in geography, where it is understood or called isthmus to the strip, strip or narrow piece of land, which joins two larger extensions of land, which generally said extensions are surrounded by water, minus the sector where the isthmus is located, which can link islands, continents, a peninsula to the mainland, or an island to the mainland.
The best known isthmus are the Isthmus of Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean, and which is a central knot in the geography of the American countries, and has had considerable importance in the history of the American continent. And another of them is Suez linking Africa with Asia; both considered of great military and commercial strategic value, since due to their nature as isthmus they lend themselves to making channels of great importance for navigation and therefore for trade. As well as those previously exposed, there are other relevant isthmus around the world, for example in Europe there is the Isthmus of Corinth, specifically in the Mediterranean Sea, which connects the Peloponnese peninsula with the rest of Greece, or also the Isthmus of Bolbs, which connects Gibraltar with the mainland of Spain; in Asia is the Isthmus of Kra, located in Southeast Asia, which connects the Malay Peninsula with the continent of Asia; then, on the American continent are isthmus such as Madison and Seattle, Washington in the United States,in Venezuela is the isthmus of Los Médanos, which links Venezuela and Paraguaná in the Falcón state. Among many other isthmus located around the world on different continents.
On the other hand, in the anatomy the isthmus of the fauces is called the groove or opening limited by the soft palate, between the mouth and the pharynx. And finally there is the isthmus of the brain, this is the lower and middle part of the brain, where the brain, the cerebellum and the bulb meet.
