The Alpine foothills, or Prealps (; ; ; ), may refer generally to any

foothills Foothills or piedmont are geography, geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an highland, upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low terrain, relief hill ...

at the base of the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

in Europe. They are the transition zone between the High Alps and the Swiss Plateau and the Bavarian Alpine Foreland in the north, as well as to the

Pannonian Basin The Pannonian Basin, with the term Carpathian Basin being sometimes preferred in Hungarian literature, is a large sedimentary basin situated in southeastern Central Europe. After the Treaty of Trianon following World War I, the geomorpholog ...

(

Alpokalja Alpokalja (English "feet of the Alps") is a mountainous region in western Hungary. Its highest point is Írott-kő at 882 metres above sea level. Although there are several lower mountains, the majority of the territory is hilly. Fir Firs are ...

) in the east, the

Padan Plain The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain (, , or ) is a major geographical feature of northern Italy. It extends approximately in an east-west direction, with an area of including its Venetian Plain, Venetic extension not actu ...

in the south and the Rhone Valley in the west.

Classification

The Alpine foothills comprise: *The French Prealps ** Savoy Prealps ** Dauphiné Prealps ** Provence Prealps *The Swiss Prealps *The Northern Prealps, part of the

Northern Limestone Alps The Northern Limestone Alps (), also called the Northern Calcareous Alps, are the ranges of the Eastern Alps north of the Central Eastern Alps located in Austria and the adjacent Bavarian lands of southeastern Germany. The distinction from the ...

: **

Bavarian Prealps The Bavarian Prealps () are a mountain range within the Northern Limestone Alps along the Austria–Germany border. They include the Bavarian Prealp region between the river Loisach to the west and the river Inn River, Inn to the east; the range is ...

in southeastern

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

Prealps, part of the Salzkammergut Mountains in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Upper Austrian Prealps The Upper Austrian Prealps () is a mountain range in Austria which, according to the Categorisation of the Eastern Alps, covers the region between the valley of the Traun ( Gmunden) in the west and the Enns valley in the east, from Steyr in the ...

** Lower Austrian Prealps, leading to the

Vienna Woods The Vienna Woods (, ) are forested highlands that form the northeastern foothills of the Northern Limestone Alps in the states of Lower Austria and Vienna. The and range of hills is heavily wooded and a popular recreation area with the Viennese ...

*The Southeastern Prealps, borderline of the Alps to the Pannonian Basin in Austria and Slovenia: ** Prealps East of the Mur ** Lavanttal Alps ** Styrian Prealps ** Slovenian Prealps,

Pohorje Pohorje (), also known as the Pohorje Massif or the Pohorje Mountains (, ''Bacherngebirge'' or often simply ''Bachern''), is a mostly wooded, medium-high mountain range south of the Drava River in northeastern Slovenia. According to the traditio ...

*The Southern or Italian Prealps, usually divided into: ** Julian Prealps ** Venetian Prealps ** Bergamasque Prealps **

Lugano Prealps The Lugano Prealps (''Prealpi Luganesi'' or ''Prealpi Lombarde Occidentali'' in Italian language, Italian) are a mountain range in the western part of the Alps. They are located in Canton Ticino (southern Switzerland) and Lombardy (northern Ital ...

** Brescia and Garda PrealpsFrom the geological point of view, the Alpi Cusiane and a small part of the Biellese Alps ranges of the

Pennine Alps The Pennine Alps (, , , ), sometimes referred to as the Valais Alps (which are just the Northern Swiss part of the Pennine Alps), are a mountain range in the western part of the Alps. They are located in Italy (the Aosta Valley and Piedmont) an ...

are also considered to be in the Prealps.

Gallery

File:Monti Lessini (pascoli estivi).jpg, Pastures on the Lessini Mountains, in the Venetian Prealps File:Presolana 01.JPG, Pastures on Monte Pora with a view of Presolana, in the Bergamasque Prealps File:Bauroux.jpg, Panorama from Mount Bauroux, in the Provence Prealpes File:Col du Jorat - Dent du Salantin.jpg, Summit of the Dent du Salantin, in the Savoy Prealps File:Le Dévoluy.JPG, Landscape of Devoluy, in the Dauphiné Prealps File:Matajur003.JPG, Panorama of the Mia and Matajur mountains, in the Julian Prealps File:Benediktenwand, 1800 m.jpg, The north face of the Benediktenwand,

Notes

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Foothills Foothills or piedmont are geography, geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an highland, upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low terrain, relief hill ...

Classification

Gallery

See also

Notes