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TheAlps form a large mountain range dominatingCentral Europe, including parts ofItaly,France,Switzerland,Liechtenstein,Austria,Slovenia,Slovakia,Germany andHungary.
This article describes thedelimitation of the Alps as a whole and of subdivisions of the range, follows the course of the main chain of the Alps and discusses the lakes and glaciers found in the region.
In some areas, such as the edge of thePo Basin, the edge of the Alps is unambiguous, but where the Alps border on other mountainous or hilly regions, the border may be harder to place. These neighbouring ranges include theApennines, theMassif Central, theJura, theBlack Forest, theBohemian Forest, theCarpathians, and the mountains of theBalkan Peninsula.
The boundary between the Apennines and the Alps is usually taken to be theColle di Cadibona, at 435 m above sea level, aboveSavona on the Italian coast.
TheRhône forms a clear boundary between thetectonically-formed Alps and the largelyvolcanically-formed Massif Central. Moving upstream, the Rhône turns to the east nearLyon, and passes to the south of the Jura range before reachingLake Geneva. An area of flat ground reaches from there toLake Neuchâtel, continuing the border, with the Jura to the north-west and the Alps to the south east. From Lake Neuchâtel to its confluence with theRhine, theAare forms the border.
The Black Forest is separated from the Alps by the Rhine andLake Constance, but exact delimitation is difficult in southern Germany, where the land gently slopes up to meet the mountains (known in German as theSchwäbisch-Bayerisches Alpenvorland, the "Swabian-Bavarian pre-Alps").
In Austria, theDanube runs to the north of the Alps, separating it from the majority of the Bohemian Forest, although some small areas, such as theDunkelsteiner Wald south of theWachau, belong geologically to the Bohemian Forest despite being south of theDanube. TheVienna Woods nearVienna forms the north-eastern corner of the Alps, and here the Danube passes at its closest to the Alps (seeViennese Basin).[1] East of Vienna, only theMarchfeld, a 30-km wideflood plain separates the easternmost Alps from theLesser Carpathians. After Vienna, thePannonian Basin, a large area ofsteppe, meets the edge of the Alps, clearly delimiting the eastern limit of the Alps.
The south-easternmost extension of the Alps is to be found inSlovenia, includingPohorje, theKamnik Alps and theJulian Alps (the last being shared with Italy). The town ofIdrija may be taken as marking the dividing line between the Alps to the north and thekarst plateau to the south, which then leads on to the mountains of the Balkan Peninsula.[1] The remainder of the southern edge of the Alps is clearly delimited by the basin of thePo.
This delimitation of the Alps is, however, largely subjective and open to argument. In particular, some people restrict the use of the term "Alps" to the higher mountains in the centre of the range, relegating the surrounding hills and mountains to the status of "pre-Alps" orfoothills. This can sometimes lead to conflicting definitions, such asMont Ventoux being considered to lie outside the Alps (there are no comparably sized mountains around it, and it is at a considerable distance from the main chain of the Alps).
It is not possible to define the Alps geologically, since the sameorogenous events that created the Alps also created neighbouring ranges such as the Carpathians (see alsogeology of the Alps). The Alps are a distinct physiographic province of the larger Alpine System physiographic division, but the Alps are composed of three distinct physiographic sections, the Eastern, Western and Southern Alps.
While smaller groups within the Alps may be easily defined by the passes on either side, defining larger units can be problematic. A traditional divide exists between theWestern Alps and theEastern Alps, which uses theSplügen Pass (Italian:Passo dello Spluga) on the Swiss-Italian border, together with theRhine to the north andLake Como in the south as the defining features. While the Splügen Pass is neither the lowest nor the most important pass in the Alps, it is approximately halfway along the main chain, and makes a convenient boundary.
TheEastern Alps are commonly subdivided according to the differentlithology (rock composition) of the more central parts of the Alps and the groups at its northern and southern fringes:
The border between the Central Eastern Alps and the Southern Limestone Alps is thePeriadriatic Seam. The Northern Limestone Alps are separated from the Central Eastern Alps by theGrauwacken Zone.
However, the geologic subdivision, based ontectonics, suggests a different system:
TheWestern Alps are commonly subdivided into the following:
Within the Eastern Alps, the most widely used subdivision is theAlpine Club's 1984 classification, which divides the region into about seventy small areas.
The "main chain of the Alps" follows the watershed from the Mediterranean to theWienerwald, passing over many of the highest and most famous peaks in the Alps. The most important passes and peaks which it crosses are given below (mountains are indented, passes unindented). From the Colle di Cadibona toCol de Tende it runs westwards, before turning to the north-west and then, near the Colle de la Maddalena, to the north. Upon reaching the Swiss border, the line of the main chain heads approximately east-north-east, a heading it follows until its end nearVienna.
Some of the highest peaks in the Alps, however, fall to one side or other of the main chain. These include:
For more detailed lists of passes, please see the articles about individual areas of the Alps.
Severalglaciers are located in the Alps, the longest of which is thealetsch Glacier in theBernese Alps. They may be found in all of the higher groups of mountains from theDauphiné Alps in France to theHohe Tauern in central Austria, and the main ascent routes on many of the highest mountains pass over glaciers.
Very few large lakes are found within the body of the Alps, but a number are situated around the edge, particularly in areas formerly covered by glacier tongues. These includeLake Geneva on the northern side of the alps, on the French/Swiss border,Lago Maggiore,Lake Como andLake Garda on the southern side of the Alps in Italy/Switzerland, and the lakes of Switzerland, southern Germany and the AustrianSalzkammergut in the north.
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The maindrainage basins of the Alps are those of theRhine, theRhone, theDanube and thePo. These have as main tributaries:
Other important rivers draining the Alps include theVar,Adige andPiave.
Thetriple watershed Rhine-Rhone-Po is south ofFurka Pass near the summit of theWitenwasserenstock, at46°31′N8°27′E / 46.517°N 8.450°E /46.517; 8.450; the triple watershed Rhine-Po-Danube is atLunghin Pass,Grisons (46°25′N9°39′E / 46.417°N 9.650°E /46.417; 9.650, 2645 m);the triple watershed Po-Danube-Adige is at the Swiss-Italian border, near the summit ofMonte Forcola south ofVal Müstair, at46°34′N10°22′E / 46.567°N 10.367°E /46.567; 10.367.