Alps

Country: n/a  Region: Europe
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Nearby:  Germany Austria France Switzerland Italy Slovenia 
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Alps Info

The Alps are a range of mountains in Europe caused by uplift in the European Plate as it is impacted by the African Plate moving north; they stretch from Italy through France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and into the former Yugoslav republic of Slovenia.
The highest peaks in Europe (outside of the Caucasus mts.) are located in the Alps. Mont Blanc (4810 meters), Dufourspitze (4634 meters) and the world famous Matterhorn (4478 meters) are official and well known alpine four-thousanders.
Many areas of the Alps are covered by eternal snow and ice. The largest glaciers are located in the Valais and Bernese Alps of Switzerland. The Aletsch Glacier with its 23 kilometers length and 900 meters depth is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia and Liechtenstein are often referred to as the alpine countries because much their territories are geographically and culturally dominated by the alps. The regional provinces of Bavaria, (Germany) and South Tyrol (Italy) also offer a distinctly Alpine flair.

Understand

This mountain range is so notable that the name Alps has also been given to other mountain ranges, most notably the Southern Alps in New Zealand and the Japan Alps in Japan.
Tourism (and the economy in general) is very much geared towards Skiing, snowboarding, and other Winter sports throughout most of the Alps. In ski resorts despite a new focus on summer time activities such as hiking or golf some of the hotels and other facilities may close. This increase in summer time sports such as Mountain Biking, Golf, Parapenting, or Whitewater Kayaking is now fulling the growth of the alps as a year round tourist destination. The Alps have always been popular as a mountaineering and hiking destination, but clearly this is nowhere near as lucrative for the locals, as the tourist invasion during the winter season.

Talk

The alps skirt, straddle, or wholly encompass 7 european nations: France, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, and Slovenia. Each of these has their own national language and a myriad of local dialects. However in most major towns or tourist destinations some English will be spoken. In general languages thus follow national borders but this is not always the case! German is the official language in Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein and large portion of central, northern and eastern Switzerland. It is also spoken in Italy's South Tyrol. French is spoken in southern and western Switzerland, France and along the French frontier in Italy as well. Slovenian, in addition to Slovenia is spoken by a minority in northeastern Italy around Trieste and the Italian-Slovenian frontier. Lastly, a tiny portion of France speaks Italian across the frontier near the city of Nice.

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