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Troops under Generalissimo Alexander Suvorov crossing the Alps in 1799, by Vasily Surikov Napoleon passing the Great St Bernard Pass, by Edouard Castres. The French historian Fernand Braudel, in his famous volume on Mediterranean civilisation, describes the Alps as "an exceptional range of mountains from the point of view of resources, collective disciplines, the quality of its human ...
The Alps are often divided into Eastern, Central and Western Alps, even though the boundaries between these subdivisions are arbitrary. The division between the Eastern and Central Alps is approximately the line between St. Margrethen, Chur and Sondrio; the division between the Central and Western Alps is unclear (Pfiffner 2009, p. 25).
The English word Alps comes from the Latin Alpes. The Latin word Alpes could possibly come from the adjective albus [7] ("white"), or could possibly come from the Greek goddess Alphito, whose name is related to alphita, the "white flour"; alphos, a dull white leprosy; and finally the Proto-Indo-European word *albĘ°ós.
While smaller groups within the Alps may be easily defined by the passes on either side, defining larger units can be problematic. A traditional divide exists between the Western Alps and the Eastern Alps, which uses the Splügen Pass (Italian: Passo dello Spluga) on the Swiss-Italian border, together with the Rhine to the north and Lake Como in the south as the defining features.
This is due to their isolation, cold climate, and high elevation. Due to these factors the Alps had and continue to have a low population. But by 1000 AD the Medieval Warm period led to better climate conditions allowing for population growth. The region of Upper Valais where the Walser people originate from had been conquered by the Roman Empire.
Hannibal's crossing of the Alps in 218 BC was one of the major events of the Second Punic War, and one of the most celebrated achievements of any military force in ancient warfare. [ 1 ] Hannibal led his Carthaginian army over the Alps and into Italy to take the war directly to the Roman Republic , bypassing Roman and allied land garrisons, and ...
The Alpine biogeographic region of Europe includes the Alps in France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Switzerland and Monaco, the Apennines in Italy, the Pyrenees between Spain and France, the Scandes in Sweden, Finland and Norway and the Carpathians in Slovakia, Poland, Romania and Ukraine. [1]
Welcome to the Alps portal.The portal is designed to give an overview of articles associated with the Alps, predominantly with a focus on the mountains themselves, but also on the history of the Alps, Alpine climbing, hiking, culture, biodiversity and many other related topics.