46 30 'N 10 00'E / 46.5, 10

Alps
Satellite image of the Alps in May 2002.
Geography
Altitude	4 810.45 m Mont Blanc
Length	1 200 km
Width	400 km
Area	190 000 km 2
Administration
Country	Germany Austria France Italy Liechtenstein Monaco Slovenia Switzerland
Geology
Age	Oligocene
Rocks	Rocks, metamorphic and sedimentary
change

The Alps are a mountain range that extends into Europe , covering the northern border of Italy , south-eastern France , Monaco , the Swiss , the Liechtenstein , the Austria , south of Germany and of Slovenia.

The Alps peak at 4 810.45 meters, the summit of Mount Blanc. It identifies 82 major peaks over 4000 m (Switzerland 48, Italy 38, France 24). The mountain passes linking the valleys or countries often exceed 2000 m above sea level. The Alps form a barrier of 1200 km between the Mediterranean and the Danube.

Summary 1 Etymology 2 History 3 Climate 4 Population 5 Policies for Sustainable Development 6 Geography of the Alps 7 Geology of the Alps 8 Flora and Fauna 8.1 Alpine Fauna 8.2 Alpine Flora 9 Notes and references 10 See also 10.1 Related Articles 2.10 External Links

/ / Etymology

The choronym "Alps" which defines the entire string appears as the ^first century BC. BC According to one hypothesis, the origin is following the call Gallic Alpe, himself from a Celtic root or pre-Celtic alp which would mean according to albos Delamarre "the luminous world, the world from above. " Thus, there would be a strong religious connotation in this root. According PL Rousset, choronym "Alps", originated in the sum of many high places alp containing the root (eg "Alpine") and this through all the Alpine countries ^History

The settlement of the Alps by man is attested from the Middle Paleolithic (c. 100,000 years).

Climate

On average, temperature decreases by 0.65 C per 100 m, and thus 1 C for 154 meters.

Population

The population throughout the Alpine was 12,295,000 inhabitants in 2001 .

The two largest cities are massive Grenoble (France), urban area of more than 500 000 inhabitants by the French dubbed the "capital of the Alps and Innsbruck (Austria).

Sustainable Development Policies

Including Monaco , the Alpine chain is shared by eight countries. Thus before being recognized as "an alpine territory," it is first eight small pieces of eight very different nations. Policies of environmental protection and sustainable development are very different depending on the alpine area. The International Commission for the Protection of the Alps (CIPRA), founded in 1952 aims to take advantage of the potential of the Alpine and preserve its cultural and natural diversity, initiating a sustainable development at multiple levels. She has long worked for an international legal tool to assist in implementing sustainable development policies throughout the Alps.

It took 40 years to this international treaty to emerge. In 1991 , the Environment Ministers of the Alpine States signed the Alpine Convention. Today, CIPRA accompanies the implementation of the Alpine Convention: it has an official status of observer, participates in conferences and engages in alpine various working groups.

The Alpine Convention is composed of several protocols covering the following themes: land use planning and sustainable development, soil protection, nature conservation and landscape, mountain farming, mountain forests, tourism, transport and energy.

Other protocols are currently under study.

Geography of the Alps

The Alps can be divided into three parts, the western Alps (from the Mediterranean to Mont Blanc ), the Central Alps (from Val d'Aosta to Brenner ) and the Eastern Alps (from Brenner to Slovenia ).

Swiss Alps occupy 60% of the country.

Geology of the Alps

The Alps are part of the alpine ranges peri-Tethyan , formed during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic , which extend from the Maghreb to the Far East. A portion of these mountains (the peri-Mediterranean chains) results from the opening, then closing of ocean basins of the Tethyan system. The existence of these orogens is related to the convergence of plates African and European and interposition of blocks or microplates.

The Alps themselves extend over a thousand miles between Genoa and Vienna , with a width between 100 and 400 kilometers.

They can be divided on geographical, geological and topological in three distinct parts: the Western Alps, which form an arc between the Mediterranean Sea and the Valais , the central Alps, between the Valais and Graubnden ( Switzerland Eastern) and eastern and southern Alps, which s'ensellent the Pannonian plain to the west of the Carpathians.

The arc of the western Alps is conventionally divided into two parts, separated by the crustal Penninic thrust : the outer and inner zones. This overlap juxtaposes major paleogeographic units separate stories that have been tectonic and metamorphic different: overall, the units correspond to the outer parts of the proximal margin Community, which has been slightly shortened and slightly metamorphosed during the Alpine history, while the internal units correspond to more distal parts and the seabed, which have undergone metamorphism and shortening harder. The deformations in the Alps (observable through earthquakes and geodesy ) are currently low to very low. However, the uplift rate of about 1mm/an are observable in Switzerland, comparable data are not available in France or Italy, but it is likely that vertical velocities are comparable. The origin of such an uprising is explained by the isostatic rebound that followed crustal thickening.

Flora and fauna

Alpine Fauna

The following species are found in large numbers in protected areas.

Alpine Accentor	Chamois	Alpine Chough or Pyrrhocorax graculus	Golden Eagle
Ibex	Jackdaw	Marmot	Hare
Ptarmigan or ptarmigan	Red Deer	Boreal owl	Black salamander

Alpine Flora

The alpine flora is largely governed by the altitude , and to a lesser extent, exposure and latitude. The upper limit of forest is usually between 1 800 m on the summits of exposed Alps and 2500 m in the interior valleys of the Swiss Valais and the Engadine. This limit has risen in recent decades. The cause may be, as in Siberia, the warming climate. However, in the Alps, agriculture down at high altitude can also be the cause .

Flowering plants typical of the Alps:

Edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum)	Stemless gentian (Gentiana acaulis)	Orchis Alps (Chamorchis alpina)	Glacier buttercup (Ranunculus glacialis)
Mugo pine or pine bed (Pinus mugo)	Alpine Pasque (Pulsatilla alpina)	Androsace des Alpes (Androsace alpina)	Pedicularis Oeder
Gentiana pannonica	Pedicularis furbishiae	Pedicularis verticillata	Wild strawberry

Trees in the Alps:

Appearance of the bark of Betula pendula to the trunk	Larch in autumn	Plant gooseberry	Wild raspberries
A rosehips rosehips	European beech	Laburnum false Edenia	Scots Pine
Spruce

References

See also

Related articles

• Swiss Alps
• Valais Alps
• Bernese Alps
• Alps Cottian
• International Commission for the Protection of the Alps (CIPRA)
• Aletsch Glacier
• Sea Ice
• Mont Blanc
• Oisans
• Alpine Pearls
• Alpine foothills

External Links

• (En) Geology of the French Alps
• International Commission for the Protection of the Alps
• Draft CIPRA's Future in the Alps