Shoreline

A shore or a shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In physical oceanography, a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past and present, while the beach is at the edge of the shore, representing the intertidal zone where there is one. In contrast to a coast, a shore can border any body of water, while the coast must border an ocean; in that sense a coast is a type of shore; however, coast often refers to an area far wider than the shore, often streaching miles into the interior.

Shores are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape, as well as by water induced erosion, such as waves. The geological composition of rock and soil dictates the type of shore which is created.

Riviera is an Italian word for "shoreline", ultimately derived from Latin ripa ("riverbank"). It came to be applied as a proper name to the coast of the Ligurian Sea, in the form riviera ligure, then shortened to riviera. Historically, the Ligurian Riviera extended from Capo Corvo (Punta Bianca) south of Genoa, north and west into what is now French territory past Monoco and sometimes as far as Marseilles. Now it is divided into the Italian Riviera and the French Riviera. Although the French use the term "Riviera" to refer to the Italian Riviera, and call the French portion the "Côte d'Azur".

As a result of the fame of the Ligurian rivieras, the term came into English to refer to any shoreline, especially one that is sunny, topographically diverse and popular with tourists. Such places using the term include the Australian Riviera in Queensland and the Turkish Riviera along the Aegean Sea.

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