The Central Bohemian Uplands (also known as Central Bohemian Highlands; , ) is a

highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

and geomorphological mesoregion of the Czech Republic. It is located mostly in the

Ústí nad Labem Region Ústí nad Labem Region or Ústecký Region () is an Regions of the Czech Republic, administrative unit () of the Czech Republic, located in the north-western part of the historical land of Bohemia, and named after the capital, Ústí nad Labem. I ...

Geomorphology

The Central Bohemian Uplands is a mesoregion of the Podkrušnohorská Macroregion within the

Bohemian Massif The Bohemian Massif ( or ''Český masiv'', or ''Böhmisches Massiv'') is a geomorphological province in Central Europe. It is a large massif stretching over most of the Czech Republic, eastern Germany, southern Poland and northern Austria. Th ...

. It has the character of a rugged highland and, in some places, a flat mountain range. The area is very rugged and is divided into two halves by the incised valley of the

Elbe The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Ge ...

River, which is deepened up to 400–500 m into the surrounding relief. The uplands are further subdivided into the microregions of Verneřice Uplands and Milešovka Uplands. The southeastern part (Milešovka Uplands) is characterized by numerous isolated volcanic

inselberg An inselberg or monadnock ( ) is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain. In Southern Africa, a similar formation of granite is known as a koppie, an ...

s. The northeastern part (Verneřice Uplands) consists mainly of flat ridges, but the edges of this area are rugged with large elevation differences. The area is characterized by distinctively sharp isolated peaks. The highest peaks of the Central Bohemian Uplands are: *

Milešovka Milešovka is with its 837 m the highest mountain of České Středohoří, Czech Republic. The height difference between the foot and summit is 300 metres. Alexander von Humboldt claimed the view to be the third nicest view in the world.

, *Hradišťany, *Kloč, *Sedlo, *Kleč, *Ostrý, *Kletečná, *Lipská hora, *Buková hora, *Kočičí vrch, The lowest point of the Central Bohemian Uplands is the Elbe River in

Děčín Děčín (; ) is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 46,000 inhabitants. It is the seventth largest municipality in the country by area. Děčín is an important traffic junction. Administrative division Děč ...

at above sea level.

Geography

The Central Bohemian Uplands stretches from the southwest to the northeast and is about long. The region have an area of and an average elevation of . The most important river is the

, which creates a distinctive valley. Its most important tributaries within the Central Bohemian Uplands are the

Ploučnice The Ploučnice () is a river in the Czech Republic, a right tributary of the Elbe River. It flows through the Liberec Region, Liberec and Ústí nad Labem Region, Ústí nad Labem regions. It is long, making it the List of rivers of the Czech Repu ...

and

Bílina Bílina (; ) is a town in Teplice District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 14,000 inhabitants. It is known for its destination spa, spas and as a source of the strongly mineralized water, Bílinská kyselka. The ...

. There are only a few lakes and fishponds here. The most important of them are Lake Žernosecké jezero (formed by flooding a gravel quarry) and Chmelař Pond. The edge of the territory is lined with important settlements. Among the most populated settlements that extend to the Central Bohemian Uplands are the cities of

Ústí nad Labem Ústí nad Labem (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 91,000 inhabitants and is the capital of the Ústí nad Labem Region. It is a major industrial centre and, besides being an active river port, is an important railway junction. ...

Most Most or Möst may refer to: Places * Most, Kardzhali Province, a village in Bulgaria * Most (city), a city in the Czech Republic ** Most District, a district surrounding the city ** Most Basin, a lowland named after the city ** Autodrom Most, moto ...

Teplice Teplice (, until 1948 Teplice-Šanov; , ''Teplitz-Schönau'') is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 51,000 inhabitants. It is the most populous Czech spa town, followed by Karlovy Vary. The historic city cen ...

and

, and the towns of

Litoměřice Litoměřice (; ) is a town in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 23,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument reservation. The town is the seat of the Roman C ...

and

Lovosice Lovosice (; ) is a town in Litoměřice District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 8,700 inhabitants. It is an industrial town. Geography Lovosice is located about southwest of Litoměřice and south of Ústí n ...

. The most important settlements, which are in the Central Bohemian Uplands by their entire territory, are

Kamenický Šenov Kamenický Šenov () is a town in Česká Lípa District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 3,800 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument zone ...

Benešov nad Ploučnicí Benešov nad Ploučnicí () is a town in Děčín District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 3,500 inhabitants. The historic town centre with the castle complex is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monu ...

Žandov Žandov () is a town in Česká Lípa District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,900 inhabitants. Administrative division Žandov consists of seven municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census): * ...

and

Verneřice Verneřice () is a town in Děčín District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,200 inhabitants. Administrative division Verneřice consists of six municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 ce ...

Nature

The forest cover of the area is below average for the Czech Republic. The cultural landscape, influenced by human activity, predominates. However, it is a valuable and balanced landscape, and most of the area of the Central Bohemian Uplands (84%) is protected as the České středohoří Protected Landscape Area. The protected landscape area has an area of .

Geology

The Central Bohemian Uplands were formed by volcanic activity and are the most extensive manifestation of volcanism in the territory of the Czech Republic.

Basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

constitutes 73.6% of the geological bedrock. The rest consists of

trachyte Trachyte () is an extrusive igneous rock composed mostly of alkali feldspar. It is usually light-colored and aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained), with minor amounts of mafic minerals, and is formed by the rapid cooling of lava (or shallow intrus ...

and, to a small extent,

andesite Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomina ...

Gallery

Ceske-Stredohori.jpg, View from

Hazmburk Hazmburk (, literally "Hare Castle") is a solitary hill in the Lower Ohře Table plateau with an elevation of . It is located in the municipality of Klapý in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. Castle At the top of the mountain ...

Berg_Milá_im_Böhmischen_Mittelgebirge,_Tschechien.jpg, Milá Hasenburg-WJP.jpg,

Kostalov hill CZ from SSW.jpg,

Košťálov Košťálov is a municipality and village in Semily District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is ...

Boren-22-mpix.jpg,

Bořeň Bořeň (; 539 m) is a phonolite hill two kilometres south of Bílina in northwest Bohemia, Czech Republic. When seen from the northwest side, the hill has the shape of a lying lion. It is a structure similar to the Devils Tower in Wyoming, and is ...

References

External links

Official website of the Central Bohemian Uplands tourist region
{{authority control Mountain ranges of the Czech Republic Geography of the Ústí nad Labem Region Geography of the Liberec Region