The Southern Limestone Alps (, ), also called the Southern Calcareous Alps, are the ranges of the

Eastern Alps The Eastern Alps are usually defined as the area east of a line from Lake Constance and the Alpine Rhine valley, up to the Splügen Pass at the Main chain of the Alps, Alpine divide, and down the Liro (Como), Liro River to Lake Como in the south. ...

south of the Central Eastern Alps mainly located in northern

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and the adjacent lands of

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. The distinction from the Central Alps, where the higher peaks are located, is based on differences in geological composition. The Southern Limestone Alps extend from the Sobretta- Gavia range in

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

in the west to the

Pohorje Pohorje (), also known as the Pohorje Massif or the Pohorje Mountains (, ''Bacherngebirge'' or often simply ''Bachern''), is a mostly wooded, medium-high mountain range south of the Drava River in northeastern Slovenia. According to the traditio ...

in the east.

Alpine Club classification

Ranges of the Southern Limestone Alps according to the Alpine Club classification (from east to west): *

(1) *

Kamnik–Savinja Alps The Kamnik–Savinja Alps () are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps. They lie in northern Slovenia, except for the northernmost part, which lies in Austria. The western part of the range was named the Kamnik Alps () in 1778 by the sc ...

(2) *

Karawanks The Karawanks or Karavankas or Karavanks (; , ) are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps on the border between Slovenia to the south and Austria to the north. With a total length of in an east–west direction, the Karawanks chain is o ...

(3) *

Julian Alps The Julian Alps (, , , , ) are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps that stretches from northeastern Italy to Slovenia, where they rise to 2,864 m at Mount Triglav, the highest peak in Slovenia. A large part of the Julian Alps is inclu ...

(4) *

Gailtal Alps The Gailtal Alps ( or ''Drauzug''), is a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps in Austria. It rises between the River Drava (''Drau'') and the Gail (river), Gail valley (in southwestern Carinthia (state), Carinthia) and through the southe ...

(5) *

Carnic Alps The Carnic Alps (; ; ; ) are a range of the Southern Limestone Alps in Austria and northeastern Italy. They are within Austrian East Tyrol and Carinthia, and Italian Friuli (Province of Udine) and marginally in Veneto. Etymology They are ...

(6) * Southern Carnic Alps (7) *

Dolomites The Dolomites ( ), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range in northeastern Italy. They form part of the Southern Limestone Alps and extend from the River Adige in the west to the Piave Va ...

(8) * Fiemme Mountains (9) * Vicentine Alps (10) * Nonsberg Group (11) * Brenta Group (12) *

Garda Mountains The Garda Mountains (), occasionally also the Garda Hills, are an extensive mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps in Northern Italy, northern Italy. Boundaries and countryside The Garda Mountains are bounded in the south by the Po Val ...

(13) *

Ortler Alps The Ortler Alps ( ; ; ) are a mountain range of the :Southern Limestone Alps, Southern Limestone Alps mountain group in the Central Eastern Alps, in Italy and Switzerland. Geography The Ortler Alps are separated from: # the Sesvenna Alps in the n ...

(14) *

Adamello-Presanella Alps The Adamello-Presanella Alps Alpine group is a mountain range in the Southern Limestone Alps mountain group of the Eastern Alps. It is located in northern Italy, in the provinces of Trentino and Brescia Province, Brescia. The name stems from its ...

(15) *

Sobretta-Gavia Group The Sobretta-Gavia Group (, ) is a mountain massif that extends between the upper Veltlin and the upper Valcamonica in the Italian provinces of Sondrio and Brescia. Location The Sobretta-Gavia Group is classified geologically with the Centr ...

(16)

Physiography

The Southern Alps are a distinct physiographic section of the larger

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

province, which in turn is part of the larger Alpine System physiographic division.

References

* *

External links

* {{Authority control * Mountain ranges of the Alps Mountain ranges of Austria Mountain ranges of Italy Mountain ranges of Slovenia Mountain ranges of Switzerland Physiographic sections

Alpine Club classification

Physiography

See also

References

External links