We explain what the relief of Europe is like and the characteristics of its geographical regions. Also, its highest peaks.
What is the relief of Europe like?
The European continent, the western region of the large continental block that is Eurasia, is one of the smallest continents in the world with 10,530,751 km2 of surface. It extends from the Atlantic Ocean (west), Arctic Ocean (north) and Mediterranean Sea (south), to the mountain ranges of the Urals and Caucasus, the Caspian Sea, the Black Sea and the straits of the Bosphorus and Dardanelles (east). ), geographical elements that separate Europe from Asia.
However, the relief of Europe is relatively simple. Broadly speaking, It consists of a large central plain that covers 66% of the European territory without exceeding 200 meters in height, dotted with low mountains, some old and eroded, and others young and higher. Its highest points are Elbrus (5,633 meters above sea level), Mont Blanc (4,807 meters above sea level) and Mulhacén (3,478 meters above sea level).
The presence of the sea on the continent, on the other hand, is constant: Europe It has more than 43,000 km of coastline in which peninsulas abound (Jutland, Italy, Scandinavia, etc.), capes (Finisterre, Matapan, San Vicente, Norte, etc.), gulfs (Finland, León, Genoa, Venice, Vizcaya, etc.), straits (of Gibraltar, English Channel, Bosphorus, etc.) and fjords.
Things that can be classified into two: the coasts of the Baltic Sea and North Sea, and the Mediterranean coasts that separate Europe from North Africa. The latter have had a unique historical importance in the development of the ancient civilizations of the region.
The relief of Europe is usually organized around several large regions or physiographic groups, which are:
The European Great Plain. Free of elevations except for a few small ones in its interior, this geographical feature extends from the Pyrenees and the coasts of the North Atlantic Ocean, to the Ural Mountains in the east. It is relatively narrow in the western region (about 300 km), while to the north it widens, especially towards eastern Russia.
This immense plain is crossed by different rivers such as the Loire, the Rhine, the Vistula, the Northern Dvina, the Daugava, the Volga, the Don and the Dnieper, and is commonly divided into two subsets: the North European Plain and the Eastern European Plain, although this division responds more to a historical and cultural criterion than a geomorphological one.
- The North European Plain. Also known as the Central European Plain, it lies south of the North and Baltic Seas, both separated by the Jutland Peninsula. It does not exceed 200 meters in elevation, and is shared by the territories of Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Poland, the Czech Republic and some regions of England that were formerly part of the group.
- The Eastern European Plain. Also known as the Russian Plain, it extends over 4 million square kilometers with an average height of 170 meters above sea level. It covers the territory of Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, Moldova, Armenia and part of Kazakhstan.
The Hercynian and Caledonian massifs. These are some of the oldest structures in Europe, such as the shields in the west and north of the continent, which emerged during the Precambrian. Hard materials and rounded, eroded shapes abound in them. Some examples of these massifs are the French Central Massif, the Iberian Massif and the Scandinavian Shield.
The alpine arches. The Alps are a range of young mountains located in central Europe, among which are important elevations, such as Mont Blanc. It is usually divided into three regions:
- Western Alps ranging from the Mediterranean to Valais.
- The central Alps ranging from Valais to Graubünden.
- The Eastern Alps which cover the remaining mountain range, extending east and south, until reaching the Carpathians.
Eastern mountain ranges. This group covers two different independent mountain formations, each of which ends the European continent and serves as a boundary. We refer to:
- The Ural Mountains a long and low mountain range that acts as a natural border between Europe and Asia, extending about 2,500 km in a north-south direction, culminating in Mount Narodnaya (1,895 meters above sea level). The Urals are some of the oldest mountains on planet Earth, dating back to 250 to 300 million years ago.
- The Carpathian Mountains located in Eastern Europe and forming an arc of 1,600 km in length and 150 km in average width, is the second longest mountain range on the continent, after the Scandinavian Alps. The mountain range extends across the borders of Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia and part of Hungary. Its highest peak exceeds 2,600 meters high.
The Mediterranean plains. Interrupted by the Alps and the Iberian and French massif, these are narrow and very limited plains that border the European coast on the Mediterranean Sea. They have a presence in the Italian, Spanish, French, Greek and Portuguese region.
Island Europe. Given its maritime abundance, the European continent is home to large islands, such as Great Britain (more than 218,000 km2), Iceland (more than 103,000 km2), Ireland (with more than 84,000 km2), Sicily (more than 25,000 km2) and Sardinia (more than 24,000 km2), among others.
Continue with: Relief of Mexico
References
- “Relief of Europe” in Wikipedia.
- “Relief of Europe” in Enciclopedia.us.
- “Geography of Europe” in ICT Resources (Spain).
