Jijia Plain ( ro, Câmpia Jijiei) is a geographic area in northeast

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

, occupying most of

Botoșani County Botoșani County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in Western Moldavia (encompassing a few villages in neigbhouring Suceava County from Bukovina to the west as well), with the capital town ( ro, Oraș reședință de județ) at Botoșani. ...

and parts of

Iași County Iași County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in Western Moldavia, with the administrative seat at Iași. It is the most populous county in Romania, after the Municipality of Bucharest (which has the same administrative level as that of a c ...

. Despite the name, it is not a flatland, but a region dotted with hills, part of the

Moldavian Plateau The Moldavian Plateau ( ro, Podișul Moldovei) is a geographic area of the historical region of Moldavia, spanning nowadays east and northeast of Romania, most of Moldova (except the south), and most of the Chernivtsi Oblast of Ukraine (where it ...

. In Romania sometimes it is also called the

Moldavian Plain Moldavian Plain ( ro, Câmpia Moldovei) is a geographic area in the north east of Romania, one of the components of the Moldavian Plateau. Despite the name, Moldavian Plain is not flat, but a region dotted with hills, part of the Moldavian Plateau ...

, however one should be warned that in

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistr ...

the latter term is used as a synonym for the Bălți steppe together with the Middle Prut Valley, which have a relief and natural vegetation very similar to that of the Jijia Plain. The Jijia Plain has altitudes of , lower than the surrounding Suceava Plateau, Dniester Hills, and Bârlad Plateau. The surrounding hills are characterized by deep gorges, and the term plains is employed to denote the fact that the area in-between the hill formations is visibly leaner and less slanted. The natural vegetation of this area of smooth hills is silvosteppe (forest-steppe). Nowadays it is intensely farmed. The Jijia River is a tributary to the river

Prut The Prut (also spelled in English as Pruth; , uk, Прут) is a long river in Eastern Europe. It is a left tributary of the Danube. In part of its course it forms Romania's border with Moldova and Ukraine. Characteristics The Prut originates ...

. The region is a traditional agricultural area, favored by the black earth (earth with a very high natural fertility). Crops, vegetables, technical plants (such as tobacco), fruit trees (such as apple trees), fodder for the livestock, and occasionally grapes, potatoes, and berry shrubs are cultivated. The agriculture has an overwhelming dominance over the traditional vegetation, (deciduous)

forest steppe A forest steppe is a temperate-climate ecotone and habitat type composed of grassland interspersed with areas of woodland or forest. Locations Forest steppe primarily occurs in a belt of forest steppes across northern Eurasia from the eastern ...

s. Traditional wildlife – wolves, foxes, rabbits, boars, roes, storks, geese, ducks – are very rarely found outside a few remaining forests. A traditional horse raising area, the Moldavian Plains in the last century has specialized in livestock (horses, cows, sheep), and poultry.

References

{{coord missing, Romania Plains of Romania