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The Alps is the name for one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east, through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west. The word "Alps" was taken via French from Latin Alpes (meaning "the Alps"), which may be influenced by the Latin words albus (white) or altus (high) or more likely a Latin rendering of a Celtic or Ligurian original. The highest mountain in the Alps is Mont Blanc, at 4,808 metres (15,774 ft), on the Italian-French border. All the main peaks of the Alps can be found in the list of mountains of the Alps and list of Alpine peaks by prominence.
SUBDIVISION The Eastern Alps are commonly subdivided according to the different lithology (rock composition) of the more central parts of the Alps and the groups at its northern and southern fringes: Flysch
zone (from the Wienerwald to Bregenzerwald). Geographically, the Jura
mountains do not belong to the Alps; geologically, however, they do.
The Western Alps are commonly subdivided with respect to geography: The Western Alps are commonly subdivided with respect to geography: Ligurian
Alps The geologic subdivision is different and makes no difference between the Western and Eastern Alps: Helveticum in the north, Penninicum and Austroalpine system in the centre and south of the Periadriatic seam the Southern Alpine system and parts of the Dinarides (see Alpine Geology). Pennine Alps The Pennine Alps (also: Valais Alps) are a mountain range in the western part of the Alps. They are located in Switzerland (Valais) and Italy (Piedmont and the Aosta Valley). The Col Ferret separates them from the Mont Blanc Massif; the Dora Baltea valley separates them from the Graian Alps; the Simplon Pass separates them from the Lepontine Alps; the Rhône valley separates them from the Bernese Alps. The Italian side is drained by the rivers Dora Baltea, Sesia and Toce, tributaries of the Po. The Swiss side is drained by the Rhône River. The Great St Bernard Tunnel, under the Great St Bernard Pass, leads from Martigny, Switzerland to Aosta. MAIN CHAIN The "main chain of the Alps" follows the watershed from the Mediterranean Sea to the Wienerwald, passing over many of the highest and most famous peaks in the Alps. From the Colle di Cadibona to Col de Tende it runs westwards, before turning to the north-west and then, near the Colle della 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 near Vienna. Principal Passes The
Alps do not form an impassable barrier; they have been traversed for
war and commerce, and later by pilgrims, students and tourists. Crossing
places by road, train or foot are called passes. These are depressions
in the mountains to which a valley leads from the plains and hilly pre-mountainous
zones. The Alps are a classic example of what happens when a temperate area at lower altitude gives way to higher elevation terrain. Elevations around the world which have cold climates similar to those found in polar areas have been called alpine. A rise from sea level into the upper regions of the atmosphere causes the temperature to decrease. The effect of mountain chains on prevailing winds is to carry warm air belonging to the lower region into an upper zone, where it expands in volume at the cost of a proportionate loss of heat, often accompanied by the precipitation of moisture in the form of snow or rain. GEOLOGY The Alps arose as a result of the pressure exerted on sediments of the Tethys Ocean basin as its Mesozoic and early Cenozoic strata were pushed against the stable Eurasian landmass by the northward-moving African landmass. Most of this occurred during the Oligocene and Miocene epochs. The pressure formed great recumbent folds, or nappes, that rose out of what had become the Tethys Sea and pushed northward, often breaking and sliding one over the other to form gigantic thrust faults. Crystalline rocks, which are exposed in the higher central regions, are the rocks forming Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn, and high peaks in the Pennine Alps and Hohe Tauern. The landscape seen today is mostly formed by glaciation during the past two million years. At least five ice ages have done much to change the region, scooping out the lakes and rounding off the limestone hills along the northern border. Glaciers have been retreating during the past 10,000 years, leaving large granite erratics scattered in the forests in the region. As the last ice age ended, it is believed that the climate changed so rapidly that the glaciers retreated back into the mountains in a span of about 200 to 300 years. POPULATION
In 2001, the total population of all the alpine area was about 12,295,000. Political and cultural history Little is known of the early dwellers in the Alps, save from the scanty accounts preserved by Roman and Greek historians and geographers. A few details have come down to us of the conquest of many of the Alpine tribes by Augustus. During the Second Punic War in 218 BC, The Carthaginian general Hannibal successfully crossed the alps along with an army numbering 38,000 infantry, 8,000 cavalry, and 37 war elephants.. This was one of the most celebrated achievements of any military force in ancient warfare[citation needed]. Much of the Alpine region was gradually settled by Germanic tribes (Langobards, Alemanni, Bavarii) from the 6th to the 13th centuries, the latest expansion corresponding to the Walser migrations. It is not until the final breakup of the Carolingian Empire in the 10th and 11th centuries that it becomes possible to trace out the local history of the Alps. HISTORY
OF THE ALPS Traces of transhumance appear in the neolithic. In the Bronze Age, the Alps formed the boundary of the Urnfield and Terramare cultures. The earliest historical accounts date to the Roman period, mostly due to Greco-Roman ethnography, with some epigraphic evidence due to the Raetians and the Lepontic Gauls. A few details have come down to us of the conquest of many of the Alpine tribes by Augustus, as well as Hannibal's battles across the Alps. The successive emigration and occupation of the Alpine region by the Alemanni from the 6th to the 8th centuries are, too, known only in outline. For "mainstream" history, the Frankish and later the Habsburg empire, the Alps had strategic importance as an obstacle, not as a landscape, and the Alpine passes have consequently had great significance militarily. It is not until the final breakup of the Carolingian Empire in the 10th and 11th centuries that it becomes possible to trace out the local history of different parts of the Alps, notably with the High Medieval Walser migrations. The Western Alps In the case of the Western Alps (minus the bit from the chain of Mont Blanc to the Simplon Pass, which followed the fortunes of the Valais), a prolonged struggle for control took place between the feudal lords of Savoy, the Dauphine and Provence. In 1349 the Dauphiné fell to France, while in 1388 the county of Nice passed from Provence to the house of Savoy, which also then held Piedmont as well as other lands on the Italian side of the Alps. The struggle henceforth was limited to France and the house of Savoy, but little by little France succeeded in pushing back the house of Savoy across the Alps, forcing it to become a purely Italian power. One
turning-point in the rivalry was the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), by which
France ceded to Savoy the Alpine districts of Exilles, Bardonneche (Bardonecchia),
Oulx, U.enestrelles, and Châtean Dauphin, while Savoy handed over
to France the valley of Barcelonnette, situated on the western slope
of the Alps and forming part of the county of Nice. The final act in
this long-continued struggle took place in 1860, when France obtained
by cession the rest of the county of Nice and also Savoy, thus remaining
sole ruler on the western slope of the Alps. In the Central Alps the chief event, on the northern side of the chain, is the gradual formation from 1291 to 1516 of the Swiss Confederacy, at least so far as regards the mountain Cantons, and with especial reference to the independent confederations of the Grisons and the Valais, which only became full members of the Confederation in 1803 and 1815 respectively. The attraction of the south was too strong for both the Forest Cantons and the Grisons, so that both tried to secure, and actually did secure, various bits of the Milanese. In the 15th century, the Forest Cantons won the Val Leventina as well as Bellinzona and the Val Blenio (though the Ossola Valley was held for a time only). Blenio was added to the Val Bregaglia (which had been given to the bishop of Coire in 960 by the emperor Otto I), along with the valleys of Mesocco and of Poschiavo. In 1512, the Swiss Confederation as a whole won the valleys of Locarno with Lugano, which, combined with the 15th century conquests by the Forest Cantons, were formed in 1803 into the new Canton of Ticino or Tessin. On the other hand, the Grisons won in 1512 the Valtellina, along with Bormio and Chiavenna, but in 1797 these regions were finally lost to it as well as to the Swiss Confederation, though the Grisons retained the valleys of Mesocco, Bregaglia and Poschiavo, while in 1762 it had bought the upper bit of the valley of Münster that lies on the southern slope of the Alps. The Valle Camonica, on italian side of the Alps, is one of the longest valley (about 90 km). Here develpt from the neolithic the ancient civilization of the Camunni, who left about 350.000 petroglyphs. THE
EASTERN ALPS It is true that they won Primiero quite early (1373), as well as (1517) the Ampezzo Valley and several towns to the south of Trento. In 1797 they obtained Venetia proper, in 1803 the secularized bishoprics of Trento and Brixen-Bressanone (as well as that of Salzburg, more to the north), besides the Valtellina region, and in 1815 the Bergamasque valleys, while the Milanese had belonged to them since 1535. But in 1859 they lost to the house of Savoy both the Milanese and the Bergamasca, and in 1866 Venetia proper also, so that the Trentino was then their chief possession on the southern slope of the Alps. The gain of the Milanese in 1859 by the future king of Italy (1861) meant that Italy then won the valley of Livigno (between the Upper Engadine and Bormio), which is the only important bit it holds on the non-Italian slope of the Alps, besides the county of Tenda (obtained in 1575, and not lost in 1860), with the heads of certain glens in the Maritime Alps, reserved in 1860 for reasons connected with hunting. Following World War I and the demise of Austria-Hungary, there were important territorial changes in the Eastern Alps. LANGUAGES The Alps are at the crossroads of the French, Italian, German and South Slavic linguistic areals. They also act as a linguistic refugium, preserving archaic dialects such as Rumantsch, Walser German or Romance Lombardic. Extinct languages known to have been spoken in the Alpine region include Rhaetic, Lepontic, Ligurian and Langobardic. As a result of the complicated history of the Alpine region, the native language and the national feelings of the inhabitants do not always correspond to the current international borders. The Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region, which was annexed by Italy after World War I, has a German-speaking majority in the northern province of Bolzano-Bozen; moreover, there are some French-speaking districts in the Italian Aosta Valley. In Switzerland, there are French-, German- and Italian-speaking regions, as well as some spots (in the Grisons) where the old Romance dialect of Romansch survives. In Austria, there is a great Slovenian-speaking population in the South-Eastern Alps, while the German-speaking population in Slovenia was expelled after World War II. SETTLEMENTS Statistics In 1997, Austria had over 12,000 sites where 70,000 farmers take care of about 500,000 cattle. Alpine pastures amount to a quarter of the farmland. Bavaria had 1,384 sites hosting 48,000 cattle, about half of them in Upper Bavaria and the other half in the Allgäu. In Switzerland, about 380,000 cattle including 130,000 milk cows as well as 200,000 sheep are in summer on high pastures. Milk from cows here is usually made into local cheese specialities, handmade using traditional methods and tools. Alpine pastures amount to 35 percent of Swiss farmland. Swiss
folklore Switzerland has always occupied a crossroads of Europe. While Switzerland has existed as an alliance and country since 1291, the Swiss as a culture and people existed well before this time. Before the Swiss, the region was occupied by Pagan and later Christian Germanic tribes which would become the Swiss. Before the Germanic peoples, the region was occupied by Roman and Gallo-Roman populations. Finally, before the Romans the Celtic Helvetii lived in what would become Switzerland. In addition to conquest, Switzerland has been a crossroad of Europe since at least the Roman Empire. Constant movement of cultures and ideas into Switzerland has created a rich and varied folklore tradition. GEOGRAPHY
OFTHE ALPS The Alps form a large mountain range dominating Central Europe, including parts of France, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, Slovenia and possibly Hungary (if one includes the Günser Gebirge or the Ödenburger Gebirge in the Alps). In some areas, such as the edge of the Po Basin, the edge of the range is unambiguous, but where the Alps border on other mountainous or hilly regions, the border may be harder to place. These neighbouring ranges include the Apennines, the Massif Central, the Jura, the Black Forest, the Böhmerwald, the Carpathians, and the mountains of the Balkan Peninsula. The boundary between the Apennines and the Alps is usually taken to be the Colle di Cadibona, at 435 m above sea level, above Savona on the Italian coast. The River Rhône forms a clear boundary between the tectonically-formed Alps from the largely volcanically-formed Massif Central. Working upstream, the River Rhône turns to the east near Lyon, and forms part of the boundary between the Alps and the Jura that ends at Lake Geneva. An area of flat ground reaches from there to Lake 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 the River Rhine, the Aar forms the border. The
Black Forest is separated from the Alps by the River Rhine and Lake
Constance, but exact delimitation is difficult in southern Germany,
where the land gently slopes up to meet the mountains (known in German
as the Schwäbisch-Bayerisches Alpenvorland, the "Swabian-Bavarian
pre-Alps"). East of Vienna, only the Marchfeld, a 30-km wide flood plain separates the easternmost Alps from the Lesser Carpathians. After Vienna, the Pannonian Basin, a large area of steppe, 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 in Slovenia, including the Bacher Gebirge, the Kamnik Alps and the Julian Alps (the last being shared with Italy). The town of Idrija may be taken as marking the dividing line between the Alps to the north and the Karst plateau to the south, which then leads on to the mountains of the Balkan Peninsula. The remainder of the southern edge of the Alps is clearly delimited by the basin of the River Po. 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" or foothills. This can sometimes lead to conflicting definitions, such as Mont 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 also not possible to define the Alps geologically, since the same orogenous events that created the Alps also created neighbouring ranges such as the Carpathians. See also Geology 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 Eaastern, Western and Southern Alps physiographic sections. CLIMATE The
position of the Alps in the centre European continent has profoundly
modified the climate of all the surrounding regions. The accumulation
of vast masses of snow, which have gradually been converted into permanent
glaciers, maintains a gradation of very different climates within the
narrow space that intervenes between the foot of the mountains and their
upper ridges; it cools the breezes that are wafted to the plains on
either side, but its most important function is to regulate the water
supply of the large region which is traversed by the streams of the
Alps. Nearly all the moisture that is precipitated during six or seven
months is stored in the form of snow, and is gradually diffused. On a rough estimate we may reckon that, of the space lying between the summits of the Alps and the low country on either side, one-quarter is available for cultivation, of which about one-half may be vineyards and grain fields, while the remainder produces forage and grass. About another quarter is utterly barren, consisting of snow fields, glaciers, bare rock, lakes and the beds of streams. There remains about one-half, which is divided between forest and pasture, and it is the produce of this half which mainly supports the relatively large population. For a quarter of the year the flocks and herds are fed on the upper pastures; but the true limit of the wealth of a district is the number of animals that can be supported during the long winter, and while one part of the population is engaged in tending the beasts and in making cheese and butter, the remainder is busy cutting hay and storing up winter food for the cattle. The larger villages are mostly in the mountain region, but in many parts of the Alps the villages stand in the subalpine region at heights varying from 1200 m to 1700 m above the sea, more rarely extending to about 1800 m. The most characteristic feature of this region is the prevalence of coniferous trees, which, where they have not been artificially kept down, form vast forests that cover a large part of the surface. These play a most important part in the natural economy of the country. They protect the valleys from destructive avalanches, and, retaining the superficial soil by their roots, they mitigate the destructive effects of heavy rains. In valleys where they have been rashly cut away, and the waters pour down the slopes unchecked, every tiny rivulet becomes a raging torrent, that carries off the grassy slopes and devastates the floor of the valley, covering the soil with gravel and debris. In the conifer forests of the Alps the prevailing species are the Norway Spruce and the Silver Fir; on siliceous soil the European Larch flourishes. The Scots Pine is chiefly found at a lower level and rarely forms forests. The Swiss Pine is found scattered at intervals throughout the Alps but is not common. The Mountain Pine is common at higher altitudes, often forming a distinct zone of Krummholz above the level of its congeners on the higher mountains. In the Northern Alps the pine forests rarely surpass the limit of 1800 m above the sea, but on the south side they commonly attain 2100 m, while European Larch, Swiss Pine and Mountain Pine often extend above that elevation. Alpine
Region of the Alps The region contains many shrubs: Three
species of rhododendron have masses of red or pink flowers; Glacial
Region of the Alps As on a mountain the snow does not lie in beds of uniform thickness, and some parts are more exposed to the sun and warm winds than others, we commonly find beds of snow alternating with exposed slopes covered with brilliant vegetation; and to the observer near at hand there is no appearance in the least corresponding to the term limit of perpetual snow, though the case is otherwise when a high mountain-chain is viewed from a distance. Similar conditions are repeated at many different points, so that the level at which large snow-beds show themselves along its flanks as approximately horizontal. But this holds good only so far as the conditions are similar. On the opposite sides of the same chain the exposure to the sun or to warm winds may cause a wide difference in the level of permanent snow; but in some cases the increased fall of snow on the side exposed to moist winds may more than compensate the increased influence of the sun's rays. Scenery typical of the glacial regions of the AlpsStill, even with these reservations, the so-called line of perpetual snow is not fixed. The occurrence of favourable meteorological conditions during several successive seasons may and does increase the extent of the snow-fields, and lower the limit of seemingly permanent snow; while an opposite state of things may cause the limit to rise higher on the flanks of the mountains. Hence all attempts to fix accurately the level of pernetual snow in the Alps are fallacious, and can at the best approach only to local accuracy for a particular district. In some parts of the Alps the limit may be set at about 2400 m above the sea, while in others it cannot be placed much below 2900 m. As very little snow can rest on rocks that lie at an angle exceeding 60°, and this is soon removed by the wind, some steep masses of rock remain bare even near the summits of the highest peaks, but as almost every spot offering the least hold for vegetation is covered with snow, few flowering plants are seen above 3350 m. There is reason to think, however, that it is the lack of soil rather than climatic conditions that checks the upward extension of the alpine flora. Increased direct effect of solar radiation compensates for the cold of the nights, and in the few spots where plants have been found in flower up to a height of 3650 m, nothing has indicated that the processes of vegetation were arrested by the severe cold which they must sometimes endure. The climate of the glacial region has often been compared to that of the polar regions, but they are widely different. Here, intense solar radiation by day, which raises the surface when dry to a temperature approaching 27°C (80°F), alternates with severe frost by night. There, the Sun, which never sets sends feeble rays that maintain a low equable temperature, rarely rising more than a few degrees above the freezing-point. Hence the upper region of the Alps sustains a far more varied and brilliant vegetation.
The evergreen oak is wild on the rocks about the Lake of Garda, and lemons are cultivated on a large scale, with partial protection in winter. The olive has been known to survive severe cold when of short duration, but it cannot be cultivated with success where frosts are prolonged, or where the mean winter temperature falls below 5.5°C (42°F); and to produce fruit it requires a heat of at least 24°C (75°F) during the day, continued through four or five months of the summer and autumn.
Exploration FLORA This region is not always marked by the presence of the characteristic trees. Human interference has nearly exterminated them in many areas, and, except for the beech forests of the Austrian Alps, forests of deciduous trees are rarely found. In many districts where such woods once existed, they have been replaced by the Scots pine and Norway spruce, which are less sensitive to the ravages of goats, who are the worst enemies of such trees. The mean annual temperature of this region differs little from that of the British Islands; but climatic conditions are widely different. In the Alps, snow usually stays for several months, until spring and summer, which are considerably warmer on average than those seasons in Britain. Above the forestry, there is often a band of short pine trees (Pinus mugo), which is in turn superseded by dwarf shrubs, typically Rhododendron ferrugineum (on acid soils) or Rhododendron hirsutum (on basic soils). Above this is the alpine meadow, and even higher, the vegetation becomes more and more sparse. At these higher altitudes, the plants tend to form isolated cushions. In the Alps, several species of flowering plants have been recorded above metres ( ft), including Ranunculus glacialis, Androsace alpina and Saxifraga biflora. References http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Alps
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