|
|
|
EUROPE PAGE
GERMANY PAGE
GERMANY: 
Description
Fast Facts
Famous Natives
Flag
Islands/Regions
Landforms
Lat/Long
Links
Maps
Symbols
Time
Timeline
Travel Info
Weather
PRINT THIS MAP
|
|
Landforms
Landforms
By size, Germany is the seventh-largest European country and from north to south the topography varies quite dramatically.
The North European Plain extends across the northern reaches of the country; this flat, lowland terrain is dissected by numerous bogs, rivers and streams, and is mostly used as farmland.
The North Sea coastline is low, marshy wet land, with dikes, mudflats and scattered islands. The Baltic Sea is hillier with some jagged cliffs. Rugen, Germany's largest island, is forested and rather hilly with steep cliffs and sandy beaches.
In the northeast, and then stretching to the south of Berlin, Germany's land remains sandy and punctuated by dozens of mostly small lakes formed by retreating glaciers during the last Ice Age.
The land then rises into the forested uplands of central Germany. Major landforms here include the volcanic in origin Harz Mountains and the thickly wooded Rothaargebirge Mountains.
Further south the rounded hills and mountains of the Eifel and Huynsruck uplands front the Rhine River Valley. Moving eastward through Germany, the Vogelsberg Mountains, Rhon Plateau (or Mts.) and Thuringian Forest are the dominate features. The uplands continue eastward, eventually rising into the Ore Mountains on the Czech Republic border.
In the far south the land remains mostly hilly, with heavily forested mountains. The Bohemian Forest covers a lower mountain range along the Czech Republic border, and along the country's far-southwestern border with the Rhine River and France stands the thick (story-book famous) Black Forest.
The Bavarian Alps, the highest mountains in Germany stretch across its southern border with Austria. Snow covered Zugspitze, Germany's highest point is found here.
Stretched along the northern coastline, the Frisian Islands, East and North are separated from the mainland by the Waddenmeer. These barrier islands provide a small level of protection from the North Sea.
The country is drained by dozens of rivers. The longest river in Germany is the Rhine. Rising in the Alps of Switzerland, it's overall length runs (820 miles) (1,319 km), and along it path numerous tributaries and branches stretch in all directions
Another river of note is the Danube, which rises in the Black Forest to then stretch across central Europe all the way to the Black Sea.
Additional rivers of size include the Elbe, Ems, Havel, Isr, Lahn, Lech, Main, Moselle, Oder, Spree and Weser.
The largest lakes include Chiemsee and Muritz, and Lake Constance along the Swiss border in the south.
Across Germany a large series of man-made canals join navigable rivers, creating thousands of miles of interconnecting inland waterways. They're used for commercial and local traffic, and by large fleets of cruising riverboats and charter barges.
Bodies of Water of Europe here!
Landforms of Europe here!
Rivers of Europe here!
Land Statistics convert (kilometers to miles, meters to feet) here Coastline 2,389 km (includes coastal islands)
Land Area
(land) 349,223 sq km
(water) 7,798 sq km
(TOTAL) 357,021 sq km
Land Area (all countries)
here!
Horizontal Width (max) 642 km (from the Netherland's border directly west of Dusseldorf to the Neisse River on the border with Poland)
Vertical Length (max) 833 km (from its northen border with Denmark to just east of Zugspitze on the Austrian border)
Note: Maximum lengths and widths are point-to-point, straight-line measurements from a Mercator map projection, and will vary some using other map projections Bordering Countries (9) Denmark, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, France, Luxemburg, Belgium and Netherlands.
Regions (or States) (16)
Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Düsseldorf Nordrhein-Westfalen Düsseldorf Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia. NOTE: Berlin, Bremen and Hamburg are self-governing city-states.
Map of Germany Regions (or States) here!
Regions (largest by population) North Rhine - Westphalia, 18,211,500 (2006 est)
Regions (largest by size) Bavaria, 70,553 sq km
 Highest Point Zugspitze, 2,963 meters
 Lowest Point Neuendorf bei Wilster, -3.54 meters
Latitude and Longitude here!
Relative Location here!
|
|
 |
