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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 the Western Alps and the Eastern Alps, which uses the Splügen Pass (Italian: Passo dello Spluga) on the Swiss-Italian border, together with the Rhine to the north and Lake Como in the south as the defining features.
Map of the Aar basin. High Rhine. Aare. Limmat. Linth () . Lake Walen. Seeztal; Klöntal; Sernftal; Reuss. Lake Lucerne. Sarner Aa (Brünig Pass connects to the Aare ...
The Alps provide lowland Europe with drinking water, irrigation, and hydroelectric power. [66] Although the area is only about 11% of the surface area of Europe, the Alps provide up to 90% of water to lowland Europe, particularly to arid areas and during the summer months. Cities such as Milan depend on 80% of water from Alpine runoff.
Main chain of the Alps. The main chain of the Alps, also called the Alpine divide is the central line of mountains that forms the drainage divide of the range. Main chains of mountain ranges are traditionally designated in this way, and generally include the highest peaks of a range.
On the other hand, in the 1930s, when the current Italian 1:25.000 topographic map of the region was created, the Passo del Vannino, northwest of the Ofenhorn, was covered by the Lebendun glacier and was measured to be 2,754 m, while the much more recent Swisstopo map shows it to be bare and 2,717 m high.
For a list by height, see the list of mountains of the Alps. By descending to 1,500 m of prominence, this list includes all the Ultras of the Alps. Some famous peaks, such as the Matterhorn and Eiger , are not Ultras because they are connected to higher mountains by high cols and therefore do not achieve enough topographic prominence.
The Alps are often divided into Eastern, Central and Western Alps, even though the boundaries between these subdivisions are arbitrary.The division between the Eastern and Central Alps is approximately the line between St. Margrethen, Chur and Sondrio; the division between the Central and Western Alps is unclear (Pfiffner 2009, p. 25).
The eight Western Alps sections (1–8) according to the Partizione delle Alpi. In the Partizione delle Alpi (in English literally Partition of the Alps), adopted by the Italian Comitato Geografico Nazionale (National Geographic Committee) in 1926 following the IX Congresso Geografico Italiano (Italian Geographic Congress), the Alpine Range is divided into three main parts: Western, Central ...