Partizione delle Alpi
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The (
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
for "Partition of the Alps", german: Einteilung der Alpen, french: Partition des Alpes) is a classification of the
mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...
s of the
Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...
, that is primarily used in Italian literature, but also in France and Switzerland. It was devised in 1926. This classification system entails a division of the main arc of the Alps into the ' (Western Alps), ' (Central Alps) and ' (Eastern Alps).


Structure

The basic structure is based on the three main divisions ( it, parti, german: Teile). These were further subdivided into 26 ''sezioni'' ("sections") and 112 ''gruppi'' ("groups"). * The ' ("Western Alps", german: Westalpen, french: Alpes Occidentales) in this classification run from the '' Bocchetta di Altare/Colle di Cadibona'', usually accepted as the boundary between the Alps and the
Apennines The Apennines or Apennine Mountains (; grc-gre, links=no, Ἀπέννινα ὄρη or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; la, Appenninus or  – a singular with plural meaning;''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which wou ...
, to the ''
Col Ferret The Col Ferret (or ''Grand Col Ferret'') is an Alpine pass between the canton of Valais and the Aosta Valley ( ). It is crossed by the route of the Tour du Mont Blanc. Close to it stands the ''Petit Col Ferret'', at an elevation of , which separa ...
'' (just west of the
Great Saint Bernard it, Colle del Gran San Bernardogerman: Grosser Sankt Bernhard , photo = Great St Bernard Pass.jpg , photo_caption = View of the pass and hospice from Great St Bernard Lake with Mont Vélan in background , elevation_m = 2469 , elevation_ref = ...
) between the
Aosta Valley , Valdostan or Valdotainian it, Valdostano (man) it, Valdostana (woman)french: Valdôtain (man)french: Valdôtaine (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = Official languages , population_blank1 = Italian French ...
and
Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 ...
(upper Rhone valley). Its highest peak is
Mont Blanc Mont Blanc (french: Mont Blanc ; it, Monte Bianco , both meaning "white mountain") is the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe, rising above sea level. It is the second-most prominent mountain in Europe, after Mount Elbrus, and i ...
''()'' (4,810 m). *: The boundary between the western and central arc of the Alps is the line
Ivrea Ivrea (; pms, Ivrèja ; ; lat, Eporedia) is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. Situated on the road leading to the Aosta Valley (part of the medieval Via Francigena), it stradd ...
 – Aosta Valley – Italian
Val Ferret Val Ferret is the name shared by two valleys separated by the Col Ferret, a pass on the border between Italy and Switzerland. The valleys lie southeast of Mont Blanc Massif. The Swiss valley drains northeast towards Orsières and on into the Rh ...
 – Col Ferret – Swiss
Val Ferret Val Ferret is the name shared by two valleys separated by the Col Ferret, a pass on the border between Italy and Switzerland. The valleys lie southeast of Mont Blanc Massif. The Swiss valley drains northeast towards Orsières and on into the Rh ...
 – Martigny-Ville in the knee of Valais – eastern end of
Lake Geneva , image = Lake Geneva by Sentinel-2.jpg , caption = Satellite image , image_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = Switzerland, France , coords = , lake_type = Glacial lak ...
near
Montreux Montreux (, , ; frp, Montrolx) is a Swiss municipality and town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps. It belongs to the district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, and has a population of approximat ...
/
Vevey Vevey (; frp, Vevê; german: label=former German, Vivis) is a town in Switzerland in the canton of Vaud, on the north shore of Lake Geneva, near Lausanne. The German name Vivis is no longer commonly used. It was the seat of the district of ...
* The ' ("Central Alps", german: Zentralalpen, french: Alpes Central) run from the Col Ferret to the
Brenner Pass The Brenner Pass (german: link=no, Brennerpass , shortly ; it, Passo del Brennero ) is a mountain pass through the Alps which forms the border between Italy and Austria. It is one of the principal passes of the Eastern Alpine range and has ...
(). Their highest summit is
Monte Rosa : , other_name = Monte Rosa massif , translation = Mount Rose , photo = Dufourspitze (Monte Rosa) and Monte Rosa Glacier as seen from Gornergrat, Wallis, Switzerland, 2012 August.jpg , photo_caption = Central Mon ...
(4,611 m). *: The eastern section is bounded by the line of the
Adige The Adige (; german: Etsch ; vec, Àdexe ; rm, Adisch ; lld, Adesc; la, Athesis; grc, Ἄθεσις, Áthesis, or , ''Átagis'') is the second-longest river in Italy, after the Po. It rises near the Reschen Pass in the Vinschgau in the prov ...
valley (near
Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...
,
Vallagarina Lagarina Valley ( it, Vallagarina, german: Lagertal) is a valley in northern Italy, used to define the lower mountain course of the Adige River. It is mostly included in the province of Trentino, with the lower section being part of the provinc ...
, Adige valley i.e.S. to
Bolzano Bolzano ( or ; german: Bozen, (formerly ); bar, Bozn; lld, Balsan or ) is the capital city of the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third la ...
) – valley of the
Eisack The Eisack (german: Eisack, ; it, Isarco ; Latin: ''Isarus'' or ''Isarcus'') is a river in Northern Italy, the second largest river in South Tyrol. Its source is near the Brenner Pass, at an altitude of about 1990 m above sea level. The river draw ...
(
Eisacktal Eisack Valley ( it, Valle Isarco ; german: Eisacktal) is a district ( it, comprensorio; german: Bezirksgemeinschaft) in South Tyrol, Italy. It comprises the middle part of the valley of the Eisack, from Franzensfeste in the north to Waidbruck in t ...
to
Franzensfeste Franzensfeste (; it, Fortezza ) is a ''comune'' in South Tyrol in northern Italy. It is named after the large Franzensfeste Fortress erected from 1833 to 1838 and Franzensfeste station is also known as an important railway hub. Geography Fra ...
, upper
Wipptal The Wipp Valley (german: Wipptal) is an Alpine valley in Tyrol, Austria and in South Tyrol, Italy, running between Innsbruck and Franzensfeste. The Brenner Pass (1,374 m) at the Austro-Italian border divides it into the northern, Austrian Lower ...
valley) – Brenner – valley of the Sill (lower Wipptal) –
Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...
 –
Lower Inn Valley The Lower Inn Valley (german: Unterinntal) is that part of the Inntal valley through which the Inn river flows from a point a few kilometres west of Innsbruck near its confluence with the Melach downstream to a few kilometres before Rosenheim. ...
as far as
Rosenheim Rosenheim is a city in Bavaria, Germany. It is an independent city located in the centre of the district of Rosenheim (Upper Bavaria), and is also the seat of its administration. It is located on the west bank of the Inn at the confluence of the ...
* The ''Alpi Orientali'' ("Eastern Alps", german: Ostalpen, french: Alpes Orientales) run from the Brenner as far as
Rijeka Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...
(ital. Fiume), including Istrien and Gorski kotar. The
Großglockner The Grossglockner (german: Großglockner ; or just ''Glockner'') is, at 3,798 metres above the Adriatic (12,461 ft), the highest mountain in Austria and the highest mountain in the Alps east of the Brenner Pass. It is part of the larger Glock ...
(3,798 m) is the highest peak of the Eastern Alps. The term "Central Alps" should not be confused with the
Central Alps The Alps form a large mountain range dominating Central Europe, including parts of Italy, France, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Slovenia, Germany and possibly Hungary (if one includes the Kőszeg Mountains). This article describes the del ...
within the north-to-south division of the Eastern Alps.


History and reception

This classification of the Alps was compiled in 1926 on the occasion of the IXth '' Congresso Geografico Italiano'' and published in the ''Nomi e limiti delle grandi parti del Sistema Alpino'' ("Names and Boundaries of the Major Elements of the Alpine System"). The system covered the entirety of the Alps and not just that part of the Alps that lay on Italian soil. In spite of that, the classification is focussed on Italy, because it does not employ the usual bipartite division, and in general the subdivisions usually used in other countries were ignored. It was seen as flawed because it included regions that, according to research, were not part of the Alps. The following have been cited by Marazzi as basic shortcomings and inconsistencies: * the inclusion of the
Massif des Maures The Massif des Maures (, "plateau of the Moors") is a small mountain range in southeastern France. It is located in the department of Var, near Fraxinet and between Hyères and Fréjus. Its highest point, at ''Signal de la Sauvette'', is high. ...
, which does not belong to the Alpine system either tectonically or geologically
Raoul Blanchard Raoul Blanchard (4 September 1877 – 24 March 1965) was a French geographer. He taught at the University of Grenoble from 1906 and devoted most of his research to Alpine and Canadian geography. Early life The son of an inspector of the Departm ...
: ''Les Alpes Occidentales.'' 7 vols., Arthaud, Paris, 1938–56.
* the
Monts de Vaucluse The Vaucluse Mountains (French: ''Monts de Vaucluse'') are a mountain range of the French Prealps located in the departement of Vaucluse, between the Luberon Massif and Mont Ventoux Mont Ventoux (; oc, Ventor, label= Provençal ) is a mountai ...
, Montagne de Lure and the
Luberon Massif The Luberon ( or ; Provençal: ''Leberon'' or ''Leberoun'' ) is a massif in central Provence in Southern France, part of the French Prealps. It has a maximum elevation of and an area of about . It is composed of three mountain ranges (from wes ...
were not counted as pre-alps of the
Dauphiné The Dauphiné (, ) is a former province in Southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was originally the Dauphiné of Viennois. In the 12th centu ...
in French literature, but as part of
Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...
, because they lay within that region. Moreover, the Provence Alps also include the "Prealps of Digne" ''(Préalpes de Digne)'', that were placed under ''Prealpi di Provenza'' (
Provence Prealps The Provence Alps and Prealps (''Alpes et Préalpes de Provence'' in French) are a mountain range in the south-western part of the Alps, located in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (France). Provence Alps and Prealps encompass the south-western area o ...
, french: Préalpes de Provence) * in the ''Prealpi svizzere'' (
Swiss Prealps The Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps (german: Schweizer Alpen, french: Alpes suisses, it, Alpi svizzere, rm, Alps svizras), represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swis ...
) more northerly regions are included that, according to Swiss geographic literature, do not belong to the Alpine region, but to the Central Plateau, as part of the northern Alpine Foreland * the ''Alpi Noriche'' (
Noric Alps Noric may refer to: *Noricum, an ancient region * Noric Alps *Noric language * Noric race *Noric steel *the Taurisci The Taurisci were a federation of Celtic tribes who dwelt in today's Carinthia and northern Slovenia (Carniola) before the coming ...
) cover far too large an area in comparison with the groups given in Austrian literature (rather excessively the
Tux Alps The Tux Alps (german: Tuxer Alpen) or Tux Prealps (''Tuxer Voralpen'') are a sub-group of the Austrian Central Alps, which in turn form part of the Eastern Alps within Central Europe. They are located entirely within the Austrian federal state of ...
, the whole
Tauern The word ''Tauern'' () is German and originally meant 'high mountain pass' in the Austrian Central Alps, referring to the many bridleways and passes of the parallel side valleys of the River Salzach that cut into the mountain ranges. From the Mi ...
, the Alps of
Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...
and
Carinthia Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German language, German. Its regional dialects belong to t ...
are incorporated into the Noric Alps) * the ''Alpi bavaresi'' (
Bavarian Alps The Bavarian Alps (german: Bayerische Alpen) is a collective name for several mountain ranges of the Northern Limestone Alps within the German state of Bavaria. Geography The term in its wider sense refers to that part of the Eastern Alps that ...
), the ''Alpi salisburghesi'' ( Salzburg Alps) and the ''Alpi austriache'' (
Austrian Alps The Central Eastern Alps (german: Zentralalpen or Zentrale Ostalpen), also referred to as Austrian Central Alps (german: Österreichische Zentralalpen) or just Central Alps, comprise the main chain of the Eastern Alps in Austria and the adjacent ...
) are based on archaic concepts, the terms are used entirely differently in the German-speaking region * the inclusion of the
Karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...
in a broad sense and
Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; ist, Eîstria; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian, Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; formerly in Latin and in Ancient Greek) is the larges ...
in the Alpine system, which, today, are considered part of the
Dinaric Alps The Dinaric Alps (), also Dinarides, are a mountain range in Southern and Southcentral Europe, separating the continental Balkan Peninsula from the Adriatic Sea. They stretch from Italy in the northwest through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herz ...
More up to date versions of this system are found in standard works like the ''Dictionnaire encyclopédique des Alpes'' (2006) or ''Il Grande Dizionario Enciclopedico delle Alpi'' (2007).


Sections and groups of the three Alpine divisions


Table notes


Footnotes


See also

*
Alpine Club classification of the Eastern Alps The Alpine Club classification of the Eastern Alps (german: Alpenvereinseinteilung der Ostalpen, AVE) is a common division of the Eastern Alps into 75 mountain ranges, based on the Moriggl Classification (ME) first published in 1924 by the German a ...
, Moriggl, 1924, 1984 revision. *
SOIUSA Alps by SOIUSA. SOIUSA (an acronym for - English: ''International Standardized Mountain Subdivision of the Alps-ISMSA'') is a proposal for a new classification system of the Alps from the geographic and toponomastic point of view. It was designe ...
, an unofficial Italian proposal from 2005


References

{{reflist


Literature

* Comitato Geografico Nazionale Italiano (ed.): ''Nomi e limiti delle grandi parti del Sistema alpino.'' In ''L'Universo''. Anno Vili, no. 9, Firenze, 1926. * G. Bertoglio, G. De Simoni: ''Partizione delle Alpi (in 220 gruppi).'' Tipografia Alzani, Pinerolo, 1980. * AA. VV.: ''Guida dei monti d'Italia.'' 60 vols., TCI-CAI, Milan, 1936–97. Alps !