CLIL360 2014 All rights reserved. May be photocopied for use in the classroom.
Map of the Alps by Perconte licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5.
Photo of Alpine skiier by Charles J Sharp licensed under CC BY 2.5 The Alps cover 192,000 square kilometres of land and stretch over 1200 kilometres from Austria and Slovenia in the east, through Liechtenstein, Italy and Germany, and to France and Switzerland in the west. About 13 million people live in the Alps. Two of Europes biggest rivers, the Rhine and the Danube, start in the Alps.
Tourism The Alps are one of the most popular tourist areas in the world. More than 120 million people visit the Alps every year. Popular tourist towns include Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Davos, St Moritz, Chamonix and Cortina d'Ampezzo. In the winter, many people ski in the mountains. In the summer many people walk in the mountains. The Winter Olympic Games have been held in the Alps many times.
Mountains The Alps contains 82 mountains higher than 4000 metres, including Mont Blanc, The Matterhorn, Monte Rosa and Piz Bernina. These mountains are known as the 'Four Thousanders'. Karl Blodig was the first person to climb all the four-thousand metre mountains, completing this by around 1900. Mont Blanc Mont Blanc (White Mountain) is the highest mountain in the Alps. It was first climbed on 8th August 1786 by Michel-Gabriel Paccard and Jacques Balmat. Today, about 20,000 mountaineers climb Mont Blanc every year. The Matterhorn The Matterhorn is the 5th highest mountain in the Alps but it is the most difficult to climb. It has four faces and it is shaped like a pyramid. The faces are very steep so very little snow can sit on the mountain. The Matterhorn was the last great Alpine peak to be climbed. This was in 1865 by an expedition led by Edward Whymper. The climb ended in disaster when four mountaineers fell to their deaths on the descent. The Matterhorn is one of the deadliest peaks in the Alps: from 1865 to 1995, 500 mountaineers died on it.
Formation The Alps were formed when the African and Eurasian tectonic plates started to hit each other 300 million years ago. This collision created fold mountains. The African plate is still moving north, so the Alps are getting higher. Eventually, the Alps will be as high as the Himalayas and the Mediterranean Sea will disappear.
Climate The Alps have five climate zones. Above 3000 metres, the ground is always covered in snow. Very few plants can be found. This is called the Neve Zone. Between 2,000 and 3,000 metres, wild flowers, such as the edelweiss, can be found. This is called the Alpine Zone. Between 1,500 and 2,000 metres, forests of fir trees and spruce trees can be found. This is called the Subalpine Zone. Between 1,000 and 1,500 metres is the Arable Zone. Millions of oak trees grow here and lots of farms can be found. Below 1,000 metres are the Lowlands. People and animals live here.