Jijia Plain () is a geographic area in northeast

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, occupying most of

Botoșani County Botoșani County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in Western Moldavia (encompassing a few villages in neighbouring Suceava County from Bukovina to the west as well), with the county seat at Botoșani. Demographics As of 1st of December 20 ...

and parts of

Iași County Iași County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in Western Moldavia, with the administrative seat at Iași. It is the most populous county in Romania, after the Municipality of Bucharest (which has the same administrative level as that of a cou ...

. Despite the name, it is not a flatland, but a region dotted with hills, part of the

Moldavian Plateau The Moldavian Plateau () is a geographic area of the historical region of Moldavia, spanning nowadays the east and northeast of Romania, most of Moldova (except the south), and most of the Chernivtsi Oblast of Ukraine (where it is known as the ''P ...

. In Romania sometimes it is also called the Moldavian Plain, however one should be warned that in

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

the latter term is used as a synonym for the Bălți steppe together with the Middle Prut Valley, which have a relief and natural vegetation very similar to that of the Jijia Plain. The Jijia Plain has altitudes of , lower than the surrounding Suceava Plateau,

Dniester Hills Dniester Hills (), also known as the Northern Moldavian Plateau () is a geographic area that comprises most of the northern Moldova, and parts of the Chernivtsi Oblast of Ukraine. Dniester Hills are the N and NE component of the Moldavian Platea ...

, and Bârlad Plateau. The surrounding hills are characterized by deep gorges, and the term plains is employed to denote the fact that the area in-between the hill formations is visibly leaner and less slanted. The natural vegetation of this area of smooth hills is silvosteppe (forest-steppe). Nowadays it is intensely farmed. The Jijia River is a tributary to the river

Prut The Prut (also spelled in English as Pruth; , ) is a river in Eastern Europe. It is a left tributary of the Danube, and is long. Part of its course forms Romania's border with Moldova and Ukraine. Characteristics The Prut originates on the eas ...

. The region is a traditional agricultural area, favored by the black earth (earth with a very high natural fertility). Crops, vegetables, technical plants (such as tobacco), fruit trees (such as apple trees), fodder for the livestock, and occasionally grapes, potatoes, and berry shrubs are cultivated. The agriculture has an overwhelming dominance over the traditional vegetation, (deciduous)

forest steppe A forest steppe is a temperate-climate ecotone and habitat type composed of grassland interspersed with areas of woodland or forest. Locations Forest steppe primarily occurs in a belt of forest steppes across northern Eurasia from the easter ...

s. Traditional wildlife – wolves, foxes, rabbits, boars, roes, storks, geese, ducks – are very rarely found outside a few remaining forests. A traditional horse raising area, the Moldavian Plains in the last century has specialized in livestock (horses, cows, sheep), and poultry.

References

* {{coord missing, Romania Plains of Romania