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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.
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.
The Alps form part of a Cenozoic orogenic belt of mountain chains, called the Alpide belt, that stretches through southern Europe and Asia from the Atlantic all the way to the Himalayas. This belt of mountain chains was formed during the Alpine orogeny. A gap in these mountain chains in central Europe separates the Alps from the Carpathians to
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 conquest of the Alps by British tourists was achieved along with their domestication and with the passionate participation of local, regional and national élites, be they political, economic or cultural. Leslie Stephen, in a best-selling book first published in 1871, defined the Alps as "the Playground of Europe". The book highlights the ...
Articles relating to the Alps, the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, [a] [1] stretching approximately 1,200 km (750 mi) across eight countries in Western, Central and Southern Europe called the Alpine countries of which measured by Population are Germany, France, Italy, Austria Switzerland, Slovenia ...
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The Western Alps are higher, but their central chain is shorter and much curved; they are located in France, Italy, and Switzerland. Piz Bernina (4,049 metres) is the highest peak of the Eastern Alps while the highest peak of the Western Alps is Mont Blanc (4,810.45 metres).