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Image of the Swiss Alps, covered in snow during the daytime. The Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps, [1] represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss Plateau and the Swiss portion of the Jura Mountains, one of its three main physiographic regions.
There are 14 mountains over 8,000 metres (26,247 ft), which are often referred to as the Eight-thousanders. (Some people have claimed there are six more 8,000m peaks in Nepal, making for a total of 20. [1])
For a list of major summits only, without elevation cut-off, see List of mountains of Switzerland. The International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation defines a summit in the Alps as independent, if the connecting ridge between it and a higher summit drops at least 30 m (a prominence/drop of 30 m, with the lowest point referred to as the ...
For a list by height, see the list of mountains of the Alps. By descending to 1,500 m of prominence, this list includes all the Ultras of the Alps. Some famous peaks, such as the Matterhorn and Eiger , are not Ultras because they are connected to higher mountains by high cols and therefore do not achieve enough topographic prominence.
Physiographic world map with mountain ranges and highland areas in brown, pink, and gray. This is a list of mountain ranges on Earth and a few other astronomical bodies.First, the highest and longest mountain ranges on Earth are listed, followed by more comprehensive alphabetical lists organized by continent.
Satellite image of the Alps, March 2007 Folded rock layers exposed in the Swiss Alps. The Alps form part of a Cenozoic orogenic belt of mountain chains, called the Alpide belt, that stretches through southern Europe and Asia from the Atlantic all the way to the Himalayas. This belt of mountain chains was formed during the Alpine orogeny.
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.
The Swiss Alps occupy the southern part of Switzerland. They were formed by the thrust of the African plate, which also caused the formation of the Jura in the north-east and the plateau between the two massifs. In terms of area the Alps constitute about 60% of the country, the plateau 30% and the Jura 10%.