The Alps are Europe’s highest and most
extensive range. The mountains stretch
over 750 miles across the 8 Alpine
countries: Monaco, France, Switzerland,
Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria,
and Slovenia. They are home to
Europe’s highest peak, Mont Blanc,
standing at 15,781 feet.
The region has a strong cultural identity.
Traditional practices such as farming,
cheesemaking, and woodworking still
thrive in Alpine villages. However,
tourism is the dominant industry now.
The Alps are one of the most popular
tourist destinations in the world. The
stunning alpine scenery, with towering
peaks, deep valleys, and picturesque
lakes, attracts about 120 million visitors each year.
The Apennines stretch the length of the Italian
Peninsula. The eastern slopes down to the
Adriatic Sea are steep, while the western slopes
form foothills with picturesque Italian villages.
They are usually divided into three sectors:
northern, central, and southern and are described
as the “backbone” of Italy.
The Apennines feature some of Europe’s best
preserved forests and grasslands in protected
national parks. They are one of the last refuges
of the big European predators like the Italian
wolf and the Marsican brown bear.
Most of the mountains are green but the rocky
Corno Grande is the highest peak at 9,554 feet.
It holds one of Europe’s southernmost glaciers.
The Balkan Mountains are known locally as
Stara Planina. They begin at the border
between Bulgaria and Serbia and run 350
miles eastward across Bulgaria before
reaching the Black Sea. They reach their
highest point with Botev Peak at 7,795 feet.
The mountains form a natural barrier
between Bulgaria’s northern and southern
halves. The summit forms the watershed
between the drainage basins of the Black
Sea and the Aegean Sea. A prominent gap
in the mountains is formed by the narrow
Iskar Gorge, a few miles north of Bulgaria’s
capital, Sofia.
Some of the most striking landscapes are
included in the Central Balkan National
Park with steep cliffs, the highest waterfalls
in the Balkan Peninsula and lush vegetation. There are several important nature reserves which are home to large mammals like brown bears, wolves, boar, and deer.
The Carpathians form an arc across Central
Europe that is about 930 miles long. The range
stretches from the far eastern Czechia in the
northwest through Slovakia, Poland, Ukraine,
Romania (where the largest portion is), and
Serbia. They surround Transylvania in a large
semicircle and end on the Danube in Romania.
Gerlachovský štít is the highest peak at 8,709
feet and is part of the High Tatras in Slovakia.
Most of the range lacks the bold peaks,
snowfields, glaciers, and high waterfalls that are
common in the Alps.
The Carpathians provide habitat for the largest
European populations of brown bears, wolves,
chamois, and lynxes. They also contain over
one-third of all European plant species. The
mountains and their foothills also have many
thermal and mineral waters.
The Caucasus Mountains sit at the intersection
of Asia and Europe and are considered to be one
of the boundaries between the two continents.
The Caucasus Mountains include the Greater
Caucasus in the north and the Lesser Caucasus
in the south. The Greater Caucasus straddles the
border of Russia and Georgia between the Black
Sea and the Caspian Sea. The Lesser Caucasus
sits entirely in Asia in Turkey, Georgia, and
Azerbaijan.
The Greater Caucasus are home to Russia’s
Mount Elbrus, the highest peak in Europe at
18,510 feet. It is a dormant volcano with two
summits, both of which are dormant volcanic
domes. It is estimated that it last erupted around
the year 50 CE.
The western stretch of the mountains is wetter and heavily forested, with alpine meadows in the higher elevations. The mountains are drier in the east and mostly treeless.
The Dinaric Alps separate the Balkan
Peninsula from the Adriatic Sea. Despite
their name, these mountains are not
connected to the European Alps to the
north.
The Dinaric Mountains stretch about 400
miles from Italy in the northwest through
Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro,
Albania, and Kosovo in the southeast.
The Accursed Mountains are the highest
section, with Albania’s Maja Jezercë the
highest peak at 8,839 feet.
The Dinaric Alps are one of the most
rugged and extensive mountainous areas
of Europe. This mountain range features
rivers, limestone cliffs, and karst
landscapes. Ruins of ancient fortresses
dot the landscape and much remains
underpopulated.
The Pyrenees form a natural border between
France and Spain, with the microstate of Andorra
sandwiched in between. In Greek mythology,
Pyrene is a princess who gave her name to the
mountains.
The range extends about 310 miles and its
highest peak is Aneto on the Spanish side which
reaches 11,168 feet. Its northern side holds the
largest glacier in the Pyrenees, but it is shrinking
rapidly due to warming summer temperatures.
The Pyrenees are known for their “gaves” or
torrential rivers that often form high waterfalls.
Most of the Pyrenees’ foothills are on the
Spanish side, where they reach almost to the
Mediterranean coast. On the French side the
slopes of the main range descend abruptly and
there are no foothills except in the northeastern
corner.
The Scandinavian Mountains, or Scandes, run down
the Scandinavian peninsula. They form much of the
border between Norway and Sweden. The western
side of the mountains drops sharply into the North
Sea, forming Norway’s famous fjords. In the
northeast, the range curves into Finland and the
Arctic Circle.
The mountains are high for a range so young and
are very steep in places. Galdhøpiggen in southern
Norway is the highest peak at 8,100 feet. In addition
to the dramatic fjords, the mountains are known for
their Arctic climate, towering glaciers, and vast
tundra.
The combination of a northerly location and
moisture from the North Atlantic Ocean has caused
the formation of many ice fields and glaciers. The
mountains block westerly winds, creating a rain
shadow in Sweden that results in a more continental
climate than Norway's maritime climate.
The Scottish Highlands includes three mountain
ranges: the Northwest Highlands, Grampian
Mountains, and the Southern Uplands. They
dominate the landscape of Scotland, the
northernmost part of the island of Great Britain.
The mountains here are known as Munros,
named after a mountaineer who produced the
first list of them in 1891. "Munro bagging" is
the activity of climbing all the listed Munros.
With a summit of 4,413 feet, Ben Nevis is the
highest peak and is part of the Grampian
Mountains.
The region is rural and partly forested with
many areas of moorland - temperate upland
areas with low-growing shrubs and damp
grasses. The Gulf Stream makes the region
much warmer than other areas at similar high
latitudes, making it cool, damp, and temperate.
The Urals are a mountain range in central Russia.
They begin at the frigid coast of the Arctic Ocean
and run south to the Ural River and the border of
Kazakhstan. Like the Caucasus to their southwest,
the Urals form part of the traditional boundary
between the continents of Europe and Asia
In the north, the Polar Urals have exposed rock
with sharp ridges and mountain tundra. South of
these are the tallest peaks, including Mount
Narodnaya at 6,214 feet. Further south are the
Central Urals which are the lowest, with smooth
mountain tops. These and the Southern Urals
feature pine and birch forests.
The southern stretch is famous for its semi
precious stones and rare metals. The Ilmen Nature
Reserve was established there in 1920 and features
Russia’s largest geological museum. However, the
mineralogical reserve is mostly closed to the
general public.
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