Alps

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Geography & Travel

Alps

mountains, Europe

Written by Paul Veyret, Aubrey Diem, Thomas M. PoulsenSee All

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Apr 14, 2024 • Article History

Recent News

Apr. 12, 2024, 1:11 AM ET (MSN)

Family of skiers found dead in Alps storm near Matterhorn mountain with one still missing

Apr. 5, 2024, 1:57 AM ET (MSN)

Brit saved brothers from 1,640ft helicopter crash in Alps by pushing them out

Alps, a small segment of a discontinuous mountain chain that stretches from the Atlas Mountains of North Africa across southern Europe and Asia to beyond the Himalayas. The Alps extend north from the subtropical Mediterranean coast near Nice, France, to Lake Geneva before trending east-northeast to Vienna (at the Vienna Woods). There they touch the Danube River and meld with the adjacent plain. The Alps form part of France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and Albania. Only Switzerland and Austria can be considered true Alpine countries, however. Some 750 miles (1,200 kilometres) long and ...(100 of 4752 words)

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