The Vidzeme Upland or the Vidzeme Highland ( lv, Vidzemes augstiene) is a hilly area of higher elevation in northeastern Latvia, named after the historical region of

Vidzeme Vidzeme (; Old Latvian orthography: ''Widda-semme'', liv, Vidūmō) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. The capital of Latvia, Riga, is situated in the southwestern part of the region. Literally meaning "the Middle Land", it is situated in ...

. Sometimes it is referred to as the Central Vidzeme Upland, to distinguish it from another hilly area of Vidzeme, Alūksne Upland, also known as the "East Vidzeme Upland".

Geography

The Vidzeme Upland is part of the drainage divide between

Gauja The Gauja River ( et, Koiva jõgi, german: Livländische Aa) is a river in the Vidzeme region of Latvia. It is the only large river of Latvia that begins and ends its flow in Latvia. Its length is 460 km, of which 93.5 km (approxim ...

and

Daugava , be, Заходняя Дзвіна (), liv, Vēna, et, Väina, german: Düna , image = Fluss-lv-Düna.png , image_caption = The drainage basin of the Daugava , source1_location = Valdai Hills, Russia , mouth_location = Gulf of Riga, Baltic ...

river basins. The upland contains the highest point of Latvia, the Gaiziņkalns hill. The plateau is based on a high elevation of bedrock, which is covered by the thickest Quaternary sediment cover in Latvia - on average 80 m, but in some places even up to 120-170 m thick. Therefore, the bedrock is exposed only in some places at the foot of the plateau. The average height of Vidzeme highlands is 250 m. There are several high peaks in the plateau: * Gaizinkalns (311.5 m) - the highest peak in Latvia and the second highest Baltic States, * (296.8 m), * (284 m), * (269 m), * (272 m), * (261 m), * (255 m). is a meridionally extended elevation of bedrock with a complex relief formed by two ridge-shaped ridges with a series of boggy depressions between them. In the lower reaches of the Upper Gauja and Augšogres, the surface of the bedrock is flat, covered by a 70-100 m thick sedimentary cover. The relief is formed by small hills (chemists), between which there are swampy depressions. In the territory of Vidzeme Highlands there are such cities and settlements as

Madona Madona (; german: Modohn) is a town with town rights in the Vidzeme region of Latvia and is the center of the Madona municipality. History The surrounding area of Madona had been populated in earlier times, which is confirmed by discoveries ...

, Cesvaine,

Ērgļi Ērgļi is a small town in Ērgļi Parish, Madona Municipality in the Vidzeme region of Latvia on the banks of the Ogre river. It serves as the administrative center for Ērgļi Parish. Ērgļi had 2,769 residents as of 2017. History Ērgļi ...

Smiltene Smiltene () is a town in the Vidzeme region in northern Latvia, 132 km northeast of the capital Riga, and the administrative centre of Smiltene Municipality. It has a population of 5,536 (2015). Name Its original name was Smiltesele (the end ...

and Līgatne. They are all located on the slopes of the Vidzeme highlands.

References

Hills of Latvia Plateaus of Latvia Vidzeme {{Vidzeme-geo-stub