The Western Rhaetian Alps ( it, Alpi Retiche occidentali, german: Westliche Rätische Alpen) are a mountain range in the central part 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 ...

Geography

Administratively the range mainly belongs to the

Italian region The regions of Italy ( it, regioni d'Italia) are the first-level administrative divisions of the Italian Republic, constituting its second NUTS administrative level. There are twenty regions, five of which have higher autonomy than the rest. U ...

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

, the

Swiss canton The 26 cantons of Switzerland (german: Kanton; french: canton ; it, cantone; Sursilvan and Surmiran: ; Vallader and Puter: ; Sutsilvan: ; Rumantsch Grischun: ) are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Co ...

of Graubünden and the

Austrian states Austria is a federal republic made up of nine States (German: ''Länder''). Since ''Land'' is also the German word for "country", the term (literally ''federal states'') is often used instead to avoid ambiguity. The Constitution of Austria uses ...

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label=Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is ...

and

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

. Also the independent state of

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarchy ...

is totally included in the Western Rhaetian Alps.

SOIUSA classification

According to

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 ...

(''International Standardized Mountain Subdivision of the Alps'') the mountain range is an Alpine section, classified in the following way: * main part =

Eastern Alps Eastern Alps is the name given to the eastern half of the Alps, usually defined as the area east of a line from Lake Constance and the Alpine Rhine valley up to the Splügen Pass at the Alpine divide and down the Liro River to Lake Como in the ...

* major sector =

Central Eastern 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 ...

* section = Western Rhaetian Alps *

code In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communication ...

= II/A-15

Subdivision

The range is subdivided into seven subsections: *

Oberhalbstein Range The Oberhalbstein Alps (german: Oberhalbsteiner Alpen) or Platta Group ( it, Alpi del Platta) are a mountain range in the Alps of eastern Switzerland and northern Italy. They are considered to be part of the Central Eastern Alps. The Oberhalbstein ...

( DE: ''Oberhalbsteiner Alpen'', IT: ''Alpi del Platta'') -

SOIUSA code SOIUSA code is the code used in the International Standardized Mountain Subdivision of the Alps (ISMSA or SOIUSA), a proposal by Italian Alpinist, Sergio Marazzi, to re-categorize the mountains and mountain ranges of the Alps. The proposal has bee ...

: II/A-15.I, *

Albula Alps The Albula Alps are a mountain range in the Alps of eastern Switzerland. They are considered to be part of the Central Eastern Alps, more specifically the Western Rhaetian Alps. They are named after the river Albula. According to AVE (see map), t ...

( DE: ''Albula-Alpen'', IT: ''Alpi dell'Albula'') -

: II/A-15.II, *

Bernina Range The Bernina Range is a mountain range in the Alps of eastern Switzerland and northern Italy. It is considered to be part of the Rhaetian Alps within the Central Eastern Alps. It is one of the highest ranges of the Alps, covered with many glaciers. ...

( DE: ''Berninagruppe'', IT: ''Alpi del Bernina'') -

: II/A-15.III, *

Livigno Range The Livigno Alps are a mountain range in the Alps of eastern Switzerland and northern Italy, around the Italian village Livigno. They are considered to be part of the Central Eastern Alps. The Livigno Alps are separated from the Bernina Range in ...

( DE: ''Livigno-Alperne'', IT: ''Alpi di Livigno'') -

: II/A-15.IV, *

Sesvenna Range The Sesvenna Alps are a mountain range located in the Alps of eastern Switzerland, northern Italy and western Austria. Geography Sesvenna Alps are considered to be part of the Central Eastern Alps. Their high dolomitic peaks overlook Scuol in th ...

( DE: ''Sesvennagruppe'', IT: ''Alpi della Val Müstair'') -

: II/A-15.V, *

Silvretta The Silvretta Alps are a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps shared by Tirol, Vorarlberg (both in Austria) and Graubünden (Switzerland). The Austrian states of Tirol and Vorarlberg are connected by a pass road (Silvretta Hochalpenstra ...

Samnaun Samnaun ( rm, Samignun) is a high Alpine village and a valley at the eastern end of Switzerland and a municipality in the Engiadina Bassa/Val Müstair Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. History The valley was first used as a seasonal m ...

and Ferwall Alps ( DE: ''Silvretta, Samnaun und Ferwall Alpen'', IT: ''Alpi del Silvretta, del Samnaun e del Verwall'') -

: II/A-15.VI, *

Plessur Range The Plessur Alps are a mountain range in the Alps of eastern Switzerland. They are considered to be part of the Western Rhaetian Alps. They are named after the river Plessur, which originates from the center of the ranges. The Plessur Alps are s ...

( DE: ''Plessur-Alpen'', IT: ''Alpi del Plessur'') -

: II/A-15.VII, *

Rätikon The Rätikon is a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps, located at the border between Vorarlberg, Liechtenstein and Graubünden. It is the geological border between the Eastern and Western Alps and stretches from the Montafon as far as t ...

( DE: ''Rätikon'', IT: ''Catena del Rätikon'') -

: II/A-15.-

: II/A-15.VIII.

AVE Classification

The

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 ...

categorizes most of the SOIUSA Western Rhaetian Alps groups within the Western Limestone Alps.

Notable summits

Some notable summits of the Western Rhaetian Alps are:

Notable passes

Some notable passes of the Western Rhaetian Alps are: *

Albula Pass The Albula Pass ( Romansh: ''Pass d'Alvra'' or , german: Albulapass) (el. 2312 m) is a Swiss mountain pass in the canton of Graubünden. It lies at the heart of the Albula Alps, on the watershed between the Albula, tributary of the Rhine and the ...

Bernina Pass The Bernina Pass (el. .) ( it, Passo del Bernina) is a high mountain pass in the Bernina Range of the Alps, in the canton of Graubünden (Grisons) in eastern Switzerland. It connects the famous resort town of St. Moritz in the Engadin valley ...

Flüela Pass The Flüela Pass (german: Flüelapass, rm, Pass dal Flüela, elevation ) is a high mountain pass of the Swiss Alps in Graubünden. Traditionally considered the boundary between the Albula and Silvretta Alps, the pass crosses the watershed / ...

Foscagno Pass Foscagno Pass ( it, Passo di Foscagno, rm, Pass da Fus-chagn) (el. 2291 m.) is a high mountain pass in the Alps in the province of Sondrio, northern Italy. The road (SS 301) connects Bormio in the east and Livigno in the west. It is the only l ...

Maloja Pass Maloja Pass (Italian: ''Passo del Maloja'', German: ''Malojapass'') (1815m a.s.l.) is a high mountain pass in the Swiss Alps in the canton of Graubünden, linking the Engadine with the Val Bregaglia, still in Switzerland and Chiavenna in Ital ...

Reschen Pass Reschen Pass (german: Reschenpass, ; it, Passo di Resia ) is a mountain pass across the main chain of the Alps, connecting the Upper Inn Valley in the northwest with the Vinschgau region in the southeast. Since 1919, the border between South Tyro ...

Splügen Pass The Splügen Pass (german: Splügenpass; it, Passo dello Spluga; rm, Pass dal Spleia ) is an Alpine mountain pass of the Lepontine Alps. It connects the Swiss, Grisonian Splügen to the north below the pass with the Italian Chiavenna to the s ...

Stelvio Pass ''Giogo dello Stèlvio''german: Stilfser Joch , photo = The_Stelvio_pass.jpg , photo_caption = Some of the 48 hairpin turns near the top of the eastern ramp of the Stelvio Pass , photo_alt = , map = Alps , map_caption = Location of Stelvio Pass in ...

Umbrail Pass Umbrail Pass (el. ) is a high mountain pass on the Swiss-Italian border connecting Santa Maria in Val Müstair with Bormio in the Adda valley. On the Italian side, it connects to the Stelvio Pass road and the Valtellina. It is currently the hig ...

Wolfgang Pass Wolfgang Pass () is a high mountain pass in the eastern Swiss Alps in the canton of Grisons in Switzerland. It connects Klosters and Davos with Davos being almost level with the pass. The pass road has a maximum grade of 10 percent and is k ...

References

Bibliography

Maps

* Italian official cartography (''

Istituto Geografico Militare The ''Istituto Geografico Militare'' (IGM), or Military Geographic Institute, is an Italian public organization, dependent on the Italian Army general staff (''Stato Maggiore dell'Esercito''). It is the national mapping agency for Italy. Overvie ...

'' - IGM); on-line version
www.pcn.minambiente.it
* Swiss official cartography (''

Swiss Federal Office of Topography Swisstopo is the official name for the Swiss Federal Office of Topography (in German: ''Bundesamt für Landestopografie''; French: ''Office fédéral de topographie''; Italian: ''Ufficio federale di topografia''; Romansh: ''Uffizi federal da ...

'' - Swisstopo); on-line version:
map.geo.admin.ch
{{SOIUSA sections of the Alps * Mountain ranges of the Alps Mountain ranges of Italy Mountain ranges of Tyrol (state) Mountain ranges of Liechtenstein Mountain ranges of Graubünden Mountain ranges of Vorarlberg