Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a
mountainous region, elevated mountainous
plateau or high
hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is usually reserved for ranges of low
mountains. However, the two terms are sometimes interchangeable.
Highlands internationally
Probably the best-known area officially or unofficially referred to as ''highlands'' in the
Anglosphere
The Anglosphere is a group of English-speaking world, English-speaking nations that share historical and cultural ties with England, and which today maintain close political, diplomatic and military co-operation. While the nations included in d ...
is the
Scottish Highlands in
northern Scotland, the mountainous region north and west of the
Highland Boundary Fault. The
Highland
Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...
council area is a
local government area in the Scottish Highlands and Britain's largest local government area. Other highland or upland areas reaching 400-500 m or higher in the United Kingdom include the
Southern Uplands in Scotland, the
Pennines
The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of uplands running between three regions of Northern England: North West England on the west, North East England and Yorkshire and the Humber on the east. Commo ...
,
North York Moors
The North York Moors is an upland area in north-eastern Yorkshire, England. It contains one of the largest expanses of Calluna, heather moorland in the United Kingdom. The area was designated as a national parks of England and Wales, National P ...
,
Dartmoor and
Exmoor in
England, and the
Cambrian Mountains
The Cambrian Mountains ( cy, Mynyddoedd Cambria, in a narrower sense: ''Elenydd'') are a series of mountain ranges in Wales.
The term ''Cambrian Mountains'' used to apply to most of the upland of Wales. Since the 1950s, its application has becom ...
in
Wales.
Many countries and regions also have areas referred to as ''highlands''. These include parts of
Afghanistan,
Tibet,
Ethiopia,
Canada,
Kenya,
Eritrea
Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...
,
Yemen,
Ghana,
Nigeria,
Papua New Guinea,
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
,
Turkey and
Cantabria.
Synonymous terms used in other countries include ''high country'', used in
New Zealand,
New South Wales,
Victoria,
Tasmania and Southern Queensland in
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 ...
, and parts of the
United States (notably
Western North Carolina),
highveld, used in
South Africa and ''
Roof of the World'', used for
Tibet.
.
The
central Afghan highlands
The central Afghan highlands, or the Afghan Highlands (Dari/ fa, افغانستان کوهستانی; ps, غرنی افغانستان), is a geographic region of Afghanistan. Stretching from the Sabzak Pass near Herat in the west to the Little P ...
are in the center of
Afghanistan, mostly located between 2,000 and 3,000 m above sea level. They have a very cold winter, and a short and cool summer. These highlands have mountain pastures during summer (''sardsīr''), watered by many small streams and rivers. There are also pastures available during winter in the neighboring warm lowlands (''garmsīr''), which makes the region ideal for seasonal
transhumance.
The highlands in Australia are often above the elevation of 500 m. These areas often receive snowfall in winter. Most of the highlands lead up to large alpine or sub-alpine mountainous regions such as the
Australian Alps,
Snowy Mountains
The Snowy Mountains, known informally as "The Snowies", is an IBRA subregion in southern New South Wales, Australia, and is the tallest mountain range in mainland Australia, being part of the continent's Great Dividing Range cordillera system ...
,
Great Dividing Range
The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills, that runs rough ...
,
Northern Tablelands and
Blue Mountains. The most mountainous region of
Tasmania is the
Central Highlands area, which covers most of the central-western parts of the state. Many of these areas are highly elevated alpine regions.
The
Ozarks cover nearly 120,000 km
2 (47,000
sq. mi.), making it the most extensive highland region between the Appalachians and Rockies. This region contains some of the oldest rocks in North America.
The spine of the mountains stretches across the island of New Guinea, forming the densely populated highlands of
Papua New Guinea, and the
Highland Papua,
Indonesia.
.
The
Central Highlands of Sri Lanka are rain forests, where the elevation reaches 2,500 m (8,200 ft) above sea level. The
Sri Lanka montane rain forests
The Sri Lanka montane rain forests is an ecoregion found above 1,000 m in the central highlands of Sri Lanka. Owing to their rich biodiversity, this region is considered to be a Biodiversity hotspot, super-hotspot within endemic hotspots of globa ...
represent the montane and submontane moist forests above 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in the central highlands and in the
Knuckles mountain range. Half of Sri Lanka's endemic flowering plants and 51 percent of the endemic vertebrates are restricted to this ecoregion.
The
highlands of Iceland cover about 40% of the country and are mostly inhospitable to humans. They are generally considered to be any land above 500 m.
The mountainous natural region of the
Thai highlands
The Thai highlands or Hills of northern Thailand is a mountainous natural region in the north of Thailand. Its mountain ranges are part of the system of hills extending through Laos, Burma, and China and linking to the Himalayas, of which they may ...
is found in Northern Thailand.
The
Cameron Highlands is a highland area and
hill station
A hill station is a town located at a higher elevation than the nearby plain or valley. The term was used mostly in colonial Asia (particularly in India), but also in Africa (albeit rarely), for towns founded by European colonialists as refuges ...
in Northern Malaysia.
The
Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park Highland or the Tengger volcanic complex covers an area of 5,250 hectares at an altitude of about 2,100 meters (6,900 feet).
This plateau contains the highest volcano on the
Indonesia island of Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's most ...
, namely
Mount Semeru
The Semeru ( jv, ꦱꦼꦩꦺꦫꦸ), or Mount Semeru ( jv, ꦒꦸꦤꦸꦁꦱꦼꦩꦺꦫꦸ (Pegon:, Gunung Semeru), is an active volcano located in East Java, Indonesia. It is located in a subduction zone, where the Indo-Australian plate ...
(3,676 meters (12,060 feet)), four lakes and 50 rivers. Its name is taken from the Tengger tribe. The Bromo volcano explosion created the caldera that occurred 45,000 years ago. Within the Tengger volcanic complex forms conditions where new volcanic calderas form between larger and older calderas. It has five volcanoes within the Tengger Caldera namely
Mount Bromo (2,329 m),
Mount Batok
Mount Batok is a cinder cone located in East Java, Indonesia. This volcano has an elevation of meters above sea level, above sea level, and is located between four regencies: Probolinggo Regency, Pasuruan Regency, Lumajang Regency, and Malang Re ...
(2,470 m), Mount Kursi (2,581 m), Mount Watangan (2,661 m), and Mount Widodaren (2,650 m). Mount Batok is the only peak that is no longer active, and is covered with casuarina (Indonesian: cypress) trees. Mount Widodaren is located beside Mount Batok.
The five volcanoes within the caldera are surrounded by a vast area of sand called the Tengger Sand Sea, which in turn is surrounded by a steep crater wall of the larger Tengger Caldera with height differences of about 200–600 meters (660–1,970 ft). Other mountains around the Tengger caldera are: Mount Pananjakan (2,770 m), Mount Cemorolawang (2,227 m), Mount Lingker (2,278 m), Mount Pundak Lembu (2,635 m), Mount Jantur (2,705 m), Mount Ider-ider (2,527 m) and Mount Mungal (2,480 m). The peak of Mount Pananjakan is the most popular place to watch the entire volcanic complex of Tengger.
.
Shillong in
India in the state of
Meghalaya is a hill station that is surrounded by highlands. Officers of the
British Raj referred to Shillong as "The Scotland of the East".
Other planets
Highland continents—or
terrae—are areas of topographically unstable
terrain, with high peaks and valleys. They resemble highlands on
Earth, but the term is applied to much larger areas on other planets. They can be found on
Venus,
Mercury
Mercury commonly refers to:
* Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun
* Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg
* Mercury (mythology), a Roman god
Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to:
Companies
* Merc ...
,
Mars and
the Moon.
See also
*
Planum
In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...
*
Highlander (disambiguation)
Highlander may refer to:
Regional cultures
* Gorals (lit. ''Highlanders''), a culture in southern Poland and northern Slovakia
* Hill people, who live in hills and mountains
* Merina people, an ethnic group from the central plateau of Madagascar
...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Highland
Landforms