River Medina in the context of "Ria"

The Isle of Wight (/waɪt/ WYTE) is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and skerries, is also a ceremonial county. The county is bordered by Hampshire across the Solent strait to the north, and is otherwise surrounded by the English Channel. Its largest settlement is Ryde, and the administrative centre is Newport.

The Isle of Wight has a land area of 380 km (150 sq mi) and had a population of 140,794 in 2022, making it the largest and second-most populous English island. The island is largely rural, with the largest settlements primarily on the coast. These include Ryde in the north-east, Shanklin and Sandown in the south-east, and the large villages of Totland and Freshwater in the west. Newport is located inland at the point at which the River Medina broadens into its estuary, and Cowes and East Cowes flank the estuary on the northern coast. For local government purposes the island is a unitary authority area. It was historically part of Hampshire.

Newport is the county town of the Isle of Wight, an island county off the south coast of England. The town is slightly north of the centre of the island, located in the civil parish of Newport and Carisbrooke. It has a quay at the head of the navigable section of the River Medina, which flows northwards to Cowes and the Solent. The 2021 census recorded a population of 25,407.

Cowes (/kaʊz/) is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked by the Cowes Floating Bridge, a chain ferry.

Cowes has a population of 14,370 according to the 2021 Census.

East Cowes is a town and civil parish in the north of the Isle of Wight, on the east bank of the River Medina, next to its west bank neighbour Cowes. It has a population of 8,428 according to the 2021 Census.

The two towns are connected by the Cowes Floating Bridge, a chain ferry operated by the Isle of Wight Council.

The River Solent is a now-extinct river which during the Pleistocene would have flowed around the area which is now the coastlines of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight in England.

The Cowes Floating Bridge is a vehicular chain ferry that crosses the River Medina on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England. The ferry crosses the tidal river from East Cowes to Cowes, and remains the only way to cross the River Medina between the towns without taking a ten-mile trip via Newport.

The ferry currently used is named No. 6, the sixth to be owned by the Isle of Wight Council, and ninth in total. It was built in 2017, and can carry up to 20 cars.