Vast interior plain east of the North/Central European
The East European Plain (also called the Russian Plain ,[1] or historically the Sarmatic Plain )[2] is a vast interior plain extending east of the North European Plain ,[3] and comprising several plateaus stretching roughly from 25 degrees longitude eastward. It includes Volhynian-Podolian Upland on its westernmost fringe, the Central Russian Upland , and, on the eastern border, encompasses the Volga Upland . The plain includes also a series of major river basins such as the Dnepr Basin , the Oka–Don Lowland , and the Volga Basin . At the southeastern point of the East European Plain are the Caucasus and Crimean mountain ranges .[3] Together with the North European Plain (covering much of Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany and Poland), and covering the Baltic states (Estonia , Latvia and Lithuania ), European Russia , Belarus , Ukraine , Moldova , southeastern Romania , and, at its southernmost point, the Danubian Plain in Northern Bulgaria (including Ludogorie and Southern Dobruja ), it constitutes the majority of the Great European Plain (European Plain), the greatest mountain-free part of the European landscape.[4] The plain spans approximately 4,000,000 km2 (2,000,000 sq mi) and averages about 170 m (560 ft) in elevation. The highest point of the plain, located in the Valdai Hills , is 346.9 metres (1,138.1 ft).[citation needed ]
Approximate extent of the East European Plain.[5]
Boundaries
West : Baltic Sea , Oder [citation needed ] and Lusatian Neisse , Sudetenland ,[citation needed ] Carpathians [citation needed ] (Outer Western Carpathians, Outer Eastern Carpathians, Southern Carpathians , Serbian Carpathians ).[citation needed ]
South : Balkan Mountains , Black Sea , Crimean Mountains , Caucasus , The Caspian Sea and the Sea of Azov , Ustyurt Plateau .
East : Ural Mountains and Turan Depression .
North : White Sea , Barents Sea , Kara Sea , Scandinavian Mountains .
Regional subdivisions
Other major landforms
The following major landform features are within the East European Plain (listed generally from north to south).
Largest rivers
See also
References
^ a b c d e European Plain at the Encyclopædia Britannica "Extending from eastern Poland through the entire European Russia to the Ural Mountaina , the East European Plain encompasses all of the Baltic states and Belarus, nearly all of Ukraine, and much of the European portion of Russia and reaches north into Finland." — Britannica .
^ Podwysocki, Melvin H.; Earle, Janet L., eds. (1979). Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Basement Tectonics . Basement Tectonics Committee. p. 379.
^ a b John F. Hoffecker (2002). Desolate Landscapes: Ice-Age Settlement in Eastern Europe . Rutgers University Press . pp. 15–21. ISBN 0813529921 . Retrieved 17 May 2014 .
^ Marshall Cavendish (2010). World and Its Peoples . Volume 8 of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. p. 1014. ISBN 978-0761478966 . Retrieved 17 May 2014 .
^ Bolesław Augustowski Wielkie regiony naturalne Europy w: Antoni Wrzosek (red.) Geografia Powszechna. Tom III. Europa (bez ZSRR), Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, Warszawa 1965
External links
Media related to East European Plain at Wikimedia Commons