The West Eifel (german: Westeifel) refers to that part of the Eifel mountains in Germany that is centred on the town of Prüm and reaches as far as the border with

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

. It is not geographically precisely defined however, overlapping by about 60% with the Schnee Eifel), whilst

geologically Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other E ...

its northern half is part of the

Vulkaneifel Vulkaneifel () is a district (''Kreis'') in the northwest of the state Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the least densely populated district in the state and the fourth most sparsely populated district in Germany. The administrative centre of ...

and its southern half part of the South Eifel. The grassy summits are somewhat higher than those of the Vulkan Eifel, but are generally more rounded and less rugged. Geographically and topologically it can be divided into three regions: *

Schneifel The Schneifel is a range of low mountains, up to , in the western part of the Eifel in Germany, near the Belgian border. It runs from Brandscheid near Prüm in a northeasterly direction to Ormont. The name Schneifel has nothing to do with the G ...

(Schwarzer Mann 697 m), a ridge near the Belgian border *

Belgian Eifel The Belgian Eifel (german: belgische Eifel, Luxembourgish: ''Belscher Äifel'') in the German-speaking part of Belgium generally refers to the southern part of the German-speaking community which forms the Canton of Sankt Vith (German: ''Kanton S ...

(not a uniformly used term) * Islek (in the southwest), up to the German-Luxembourg border. The region is only sparsely populated in the north (~Schneifel), but is crossed by Autobahn 60 (to

Malmedy Malmedy (; german: Malmünd, ; wa, Måmdiy) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On January 1, 2018, Malmedy had a total population of 12,654. The total area is 99.96 km2 which gives a populati ...

). It is heavily wooded and

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

is of some importance (see

Bleialf Bleialf is a municipality in the district of Bitburg-Prüm, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany. Geography Bleialf lies in the North Eifel Nature Park North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposi ...

). In the southern parts—in the valley of the Prüm and its

tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainag ...

—there is greater settlement and a degree of non-local traffic on the South Eifel Holiday Route (''Ferienstraße Südeifel'') and the Eifel-Ardennes Green Road (''Grüne Straße Eifel-Ardennen''). The area is part of the German-Luxembourg Nature Park.

Literature and external links

* ''Deutsche Generalkarte'' 1:200.000, Blatt 12 (Germany: General Map, Sheet 12)
Mineral finds in Bleialf

Luxembourg Earth science portal
{{coord missing, Rhineland-Palatinate Regions of the Eifel Ardennes Landscapes of Rhineland-Palatinate Areas of Belgium Regions of Wallonia Regions of Luxembourg German-speaking Community of Belgium Geography of Liège Province

See also

Literature and external links