The exact geographical location of the Alps

The Alps are the highest, largest and most magnificent mountains in Europe. It starts from Nice in the southeast of France in the west, passes through Switzerland, southern Germany and northern Italy, and reaches the Vienna Basin in the east, stretching for 1, 200 kilometers. The width is 120-200 km, and the widest point can reach 300 km. The mountain is steep, with an average elevation of about 3000 meters. The main peak Mont Blanc is located between France and Italy, with an altitude of 48 10 meters. Named after the perennial snow on the summit, it is the highest peak in Europe. Many peaks are rocky with sharp tinder, and there are many deep glacial valley and moraine lakes in the mountainous areas. Up to now, there are more than 1000 modern glaciers in the Alps, with a total area of 3,600 square kilometers, which is larger than Luxembourg, a European country.

The Alps are a part of the ancient Mediterranean, and the tall folded mountains were also formed in the Himalayan movement. Velvet, glacier canyon, etc. are the remains of glaciers. After the formation of the tall Alps, Europe experienced several major ice ages in the past two million years, and the Alps were covered with ice as thick as 2000 meters. Glaciers erode rocks and cut the ground, forming many steep cliffs, sharp tinder and glacier valleys, making this mountain look particularly steep.

The Alps is a huge watershed. Many great rivers in Europe, such as the Rhine and Danube, originate here and are rich in water resources. Railway tunnels have been built in the mountain passes in central and southern Europe, such as brenner, Simplon and Saint Gotha. The length of the Mont Blanc Highway Tunnel jointly built by France and Italy is 1 1.600 meters, which shortens the distance between Paris and Rome by 220 kilometers.

The plants in the Alps are distributed in strips. From the foot of the mountain, you can see the broad-leaved forest in the warm and humid zone, the coniferous forest in the cold temperate zone and the alpine grassland in turn. In summer, the climate here is cool, which is a good place to escape the heat. In winter, it becomes an ideal place for skiing and watching the snow scene.

The Alps are arguably the most beautiful scenery in Switzerland. Aige Peak, Mingxi Peak, Jungfrau Peak and three famous mountains all stand in the Alps. It is located in the southeast of Switzerland, and the Alps account for 69% of the total area of Switzerland. The special geographical environment has created its unique landscape: alpine plants and edelweiss, swift waterfalls, stalactites in caves, unique animals and plants, etc. St Moritz Alpine Ski Resort, a world-famous ski resort, is located in the center of the Alps and has successfully hosted two Winter Olympics. There are mountain slides above 3000 meters above sea level, and you can become a snow eagle soaring in the white world. In winter, the Alps are covered with snow, with thousands of miles of glaciers and silvery steep slopes. This is the best place for skiing and a popular place for winter sports competitions. In addition to the Winter Olympics in 1928 and 1948, the World Ski Championships in 1934, 1948, 1974 and 2003 were all held here, and the Olympic sled race and Chrysler sled race were also designated as competition venues.

Alps are the result of collision between Eurasian plate, African plate and American plate. The Alps span Europe and Africa. There are five major mountain ranges: Alps (in Switzerland and Austria), Pyrenees (at the junction of Spain, France and Andorra), Apennines (in the Italian Peninsula), Carpathians (in the Balkans) and Atlas Mountains (in northern Tunisia and Algeria). Among these five mountain ranges, Mont Blanc, the main peak of the Alps (in Switzerland), is 48 10 meters high, which is the highest peak in Switzerland and even Europe, and is known as the "roof of Europe".

However, in 2004, preliminary measurements by Swiss authorities showed that the thickness of alpine glaciers decreased by 70 cm on average, and by 60 cm in 2005. Since the 1980s, the average thickness of glaciers in continental Europe has decreased by 9.6 meters.

The Alps are a tourist attraction in Europe, attracting skiers from all over the world every year and bringing millions of dollars to the local tourism industry. However, if the snow continues to decrease, it will inevitably affect the development of local tourism.

Historical overview:

In addition to the main mountain system, the Alps have four branches extending to all parts of central and southern Europe: one extends westward to the Iberian Peninsula, called the Pyrenees; To the south is the Apennine Mountains, which constitute the main ridge of Apennine Peninsula. The southeast one is called Dinara Mountain Range, which runs through the west side of Balkan Peninsula, extends to the Mediterranean Sea, and reaches Asia Minor Peninsula via Crete and Cyprus. A mountain in the northeast called Carpathian Mountain turns two big bends in the south of Eastern Europe Plain, and then goes from Bulgaria to the Black Sea coast.

About10.5 billion years ago, the present Alps were still a part of the ancient Mediterranean, and then the land gradually rose, forming a tall Alps. The crust of the whole mountain area is still unstable and earthquakes are frequent. In the past million years, Europe experienced several major ice ages, and the Alps formed a typical glacial terrain. Many peaks are rocky and have sharp tinder. There are many deep glacial valley and moraine lakes on the mountains. Up to now, there are more than 1000 modern glaciers in the Alps, with a total area of 3,600 square kilometers, which is larger than Luxembourg, a European country.

Vegetation:

The plants in the Alps are distributed in strips. The south slope of the mountain, below 800 meters above sea level, belongs to the subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest belt; 800 ~ 1800 meters is a temperate forest belt, the lower part is a mixed forest belt dominated by beech and fir, and the upper part is a coniferous forest composed of spruce, fir and cedar. 1800 ~ 2300m is the upper limit of forest; Above is alpine meadow; Then there are bare rocks and snow-covered peaks all year round. In summer, the climate here is cool, which is a good place to escape the heat. In winter, it becomes an ideal place for skiing and watching the snow scene.

Climate:

In the Alps, because there are mountains all around, the deeper and drier the valley, the higher the mountain peak and the more rainfall. The snowfall also varies from region to region. At an altitude of 700 meters, the days with snow last for about 3 months every year; 1800 meters area, the number of days with snow can reach half a year; In areas above 2500 meters, the number of days with snow can reach 10 month, and in areas above 2800 meters, it snows all the year round. In winter, the Alps are often sunny, while the central part is cloudy. Therefore, winter is the best season to travel to the Alps.

Language: There are four "national languages" in Switzerland, namely German, French, Italian and a little-known "living fossil of language" Leto Roman. Romance in Leto is only spoken in the Alps in eastern Switzerland.

Several valley areas in Grissom County are used by more than 50,000 residents, and they are also divided into five dialects that are not connected with each other. For centuries, fewer and fewer people have spoken Romance in Leto, which has been listed as an "endangered language". At the same time, it has been protected by all walks of life in Switzerland and stubbornly preserved in the cracks of Switzerland's "big language", which is called "the living fossil of language" by linguists.

Leto and Rome originated from the Roman Empire.

Gleason, located at the eastern foot of the Alps, is the state with the widest geographical area, the most complex language types and the lowest population density in Switzerland, with only 1.8 million people in the whole state. The official languages of the state are German (65%), Leto Roman (17%), Italian (1 1%) and other languages (7%). German, Italian and Leto Roman are the official languages of the state.

In 15 BC, the Roman Empire crossed the Alps and swept and conquered the whole of Europe. At that time, the dialect spoken by the Celts in Leto was different from the Latin spoken by the Romans in Gleason, Tilo, Austria and Lombardy. With the rule and latinization of the Roman Empire, the above-mentioned areas became a province of the Roman Empire, and the local people had to learn Latin, gradually forming a mixed language of local language and Latin, which is the source of Romance in Leto, with a history of 2000 years.

In 450 AD, the province of Romana in Leto was occupied by Germans from the north, and the era of Germanization began. German-speaking tribes entered this area, but until the middle of19th century, Romana in Leto was still the majority. With the development of the north-south traffic corridor in the Alps, more and more German-speaking people immigrated to Gleason from the northern foot of the Alps. German has gained the upper hand, and there are fewer and fewer people who speak Romance in Leto, and they are gradually concentrated in the Grissom Valley. The reporter followed Laivio to Gleason Mountain, which is surrounded by snow peaks with an average elevation of more than 3,000 meters. Nothing grows below the snow line, which is in sharp contrast with the pastoral scenery in other parts of Switzerland. The distance between the mountain peak and Panshan Highway is over 65,438+0,500m. It is conceivable that in that era when the traffic was extremely inconvenient, local personnel exchanges were so scarce. However, it is this closed and self-sufficient lifestyle that makes Gleason Valley the "Noah's Ark" in Rome, Leto.

Today, in Grissom, about 50,000 people use Roman Leto as a communication language or can understand it. Romance in Leto has been the mother tongue of many families in Grison for centuries, and it is also one of the "official languages" of the country except German and Italian. 1938, after a referendum in Switzerland, the federal constitution clearly stipulated that German, French, Italian and Leto Roman were the "national languages" of the Swiss Federation. However, because Romance in Leto is divided into five dialects, the vocabulary and pronunciation used in each valley are very different, so it is not considered as the "official language" of the Federation.

With the help of the federal government, under pressure, Gleason County coordinated with the residents of Romans Valley in Leto and invited linguists to standardize pronunciation, vocabulary and spelling. Twenty years later, it finally "standardized" a formal Leto romance that was generally recognized by the valley residents. 1996, the Swiss federal referendum passed a new clause with 76% in favor: German, French and Italian are the "official languages" of the Federation, and Romano in Leto is also the "official language". All federal government documents and judicial regulations are added in Romano, Leto, and enjoy the same legal effect. Members who speak Romance in Leto can debate in Romance in Leto in the Bundestag.