Foothills or piedmont are

geographically Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an

upland Upland or Uplands may refer to: Geography *Hill, an area of higher land, generally *Highland, an area of higher land divided into low and high points *Upland and lowland, conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level *I ...

area. They are a transition zone between plains and low relief hills and the adjacent topographically higher mountains, hills, and uplands. Frequently foothills consist of alluvial fans, coalesced alluvial fans, and dissected plateaus.

Description

Foothills primarily border mountains, especially those which are reached through low ridges that increase in size closer and closer to the mountain, but can also border uplands and higher hills.

Examples

Areas where foothills exist, or areas commonly referred to as the foothills, include the: *

Sierra Nevada foothills :''See Sierra Nevada for general information about the mountain range in the United States.'' The ecology of the Sierra Nevada, located in the U.S. states of California and Nevada, is diverse and complex: the plants and animals are a significant ...

of California, USA *

Foothills of the San Gabriel Valley The Foothills of the San Gabriel Valley are the foothills and hills in the San Gabriel Valley of eastern Los Angeles County, California. They include the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, and independent low mountain ranges of hills, in the ...

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...

, California, USA * Rocky Mountain Foothills in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada * Silesian Foothills in Silesia, Poland * Sivalik Hills along the Himalayas in the Indian subcontinent *

Catalina Foothills Catalina Foothills is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located north of Tucson in Pima County, Arizona, United States. Situated in the southern foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains, Catalina Foothills had a po ...

near Tucson, Arizona, USA * Appalachian foothills in Western North Carolina and Northwestern South Carolina, USA *

Margalla The Margalla Hills () are a hill range within the Margalla Hills National Park on the northern edge of Islamabad Capital Territory, Pakistan, just south of Haripur District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. They are part of the Himalayan foothills. The M ...

hills near the Himalayas in Pakistan *The Duars, Chos and Terai on the foothills of Himalayas (India) *The foothills around Boise in Idaho, USA *'The foothills' of the

Dandenong Ranges The Dandenong Ranges (commonly just The Dandenongs) are a set of low mountain ranges, rising to 633 metres at Mount Dandenong, approximately east of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The ranges consist mostly of rolling hills, steeply weathere ...

in Melbourne,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Generally the area from

Ferntree Gully Ferntree Gully is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, at the foothills of the Dandenong Ranges, 30 km south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne City Centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Kn ...

/ Boronia/ The Basin through to Belgrave. *'The foothills' of the Blue Mountains in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Australia. *The foothills of the Southern Alps in Mid-Canterbury, New Zealand. *The Judean Foothills between the Judean Mountains and Mediterranean Coastline in Israel.

Synonyms

Another word for a foothill region is "piedmont", derived from "foot of the mount" in Romance languages. The Piedmont region of Italy lies in the foothills of the Alps, and several other foothills in other parts of the world are called "piedmont", and include: *The piedmont of the United States which consists of the eastern foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Ecosystems of piedmonts (foothills) are often known as submontane zones, relating to the higher montane ecosystems.

References

{{Portal bar, Mountains Hills Slope landforms