Geography
According to the Alpine Club classification of the Eastern Alps, the Salzkammergut Mountains (AVE 17a) lie to the east of the Berchtesgaden Alps and the city of Salzburg.
To the north the Austrian Alpine Foreland is the boundary, between the points where the rivers Salzach and Traun spill out into the Foreland near Salzburg and Gmunden respectively. To the east the boundary with the Upper Austrian Prealps is formed by the Traun between the lakes of Traunsee and, further downstream, with the Totes Gebirge by the Lake Hallstatt on the foot of the Dachstein Mountains. To the south the border runs from Lake Hallstatt up the Gosau Valley to Gschütt Pass, and from there downhill along the Rußbach Valley, separating the Salzkammergut Mountains from the Tennengebirge in the southwest, and the Lammer creek to its confluence with the Salzach near Golling. To the west the boundary runs along the River Salzach from where it is joined by the Lammer down to the city of Salzburg.
The highest peak with an elevation of 2,027 m (6,650 ft) is Mt. Gamsfeld near Gschütt Pass in the south, the only two-thousander of the range. The best-known mountain however is the prominent Schafberg 1,782 m (5,846 ft) on Wolfgangsee, with access to the summit provided by the Schafberg Railway.
Salzburg is an Austrian federal state. In German it is called a Bundesland, a German-to-English dictionary translates that to federal state and the European Commission calls it a province. In German, its official name is Land Salzburg, to distinguish it from its eponymous capital Salzburg. For centuries, it was an independent Prince-Bishopric of the Holy Roman Empire. It borders Germany and Italy.
Austria is a predominantly mountainous country in Central Europe, approximately between Germany, Italy and Hungary. It has a total area of 83,871 square kilometres (32,383 sq mi).
The Salzach is a river in Austria and Germany. It is 227 kilometres (141 mi) in length and is a right tributary of the Inn, which eventually joins the Danube. Its drainage basin of 6,829 km2 (2,637 sq mi) comprises large parts of the Northern Limestone and Central Eastern Alps. 83% of its drainage basin lies in Austria, the remainder in Germany (Bavaria). Its largest tributaries are Lammer, Berchtesgadener Ache, Saalach, Sur and Götzinger Achen.
The Salzkammergut is a resort area in Austria, stretching from the city of Salzburg eastwards along the Alpine Foreland and the Northern Limestone Alps to the peaks of the Dachstein Mountains. The main river of the region is the Traun, a right tributary of the Danube.
The Kitzbühel Alps are a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps surrounding the town of Kitzbühel in Tyrol, Austria. Geologically they are part of the western slate zone.
The Northern Limestone Alps, also called the Northern Calcareous Alps, are the ranges of the Eastern Alps north of the Central Eastern Alps located in Austria and the adjacent Bavarian lands of southeastern Germany. The distinction from the latter group, where the higher peaks are located, is based on differences in geological composition.
The Central Eastern Alps, also referred to as Austrian Central Alps or just Central Alps, comprise the main chain of the Eastern Alps in Austria and the adjacent regions of Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Italy and Slovenia. South of them is the Southern Limestone 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 Alpine divide, and down the Liro River to Lake Como in the south. The peaks and mountain passes are lower than the Western Alps, while the range itself is broader and less arched.
The Radstadt Tauern are a subrange of the Central Eastern Alps in Austria. Together with the Schladming Tauern, the Rottenmann and Wölz Tauern and the Seckau Tauern the Radstadt Tauern form the major range of mountains known as the Low Tauern. The mountains are found in the southeast of the Austrian state of Salzburg, between the upper reaches of the Enns and Mur rivers.
Schafberg is a mountain in the Austrian state of Salzburg. Situated within the Salzkammergut Mountains range of the Northern Limestone Alps, the Schafberg rises at the shore of Wolfgangsee Lake.
The Berchtesgaden Alps are a mountain range of the Northern Limestone Alps, named after the market town of Berchtesgaden located in the centre. It is crossed by the Austria–Germany border: the central part belongs to the Berchtesgadener Land district of southeastern Bavaria, Germany, while the adjacent area in the north, east and south is part of the Austrian state of Salzburg.
The Salzburg Slate Alps are a mountain range of the Eastern Alps, in the Austrian state of Salzburg. Situated within the greywacke zone, they could be regarded either as part of the Northern Limestone Alps or of the Central Eastern Alps.
This division of Germany into major natural regions takes account primarily of geomorphological, geological, hydrological, and pedological criteria in order to divide the country into large, physical units with a common geographical basis. Political boundaries play no part in this, apart from defining the national border.
The Alpine Foreland, less commonly called the Bavarian Foreland, Bavarian Plateau or Bavarian Alpine Foreland, refers to a triangular region of plateau and rolling foothills in Southern Germany, stretching from Lake Constance in the west to beyond Linz on the Danube in the east, with the Bavarian Alps forming its south boundary and the Danube its northern extent.
The Tennen Mountains is a small, but rugged, mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps, which lies in front of the Eastern Alps for its entire length. It is a very heavily karstified high plateau, about 60 km² in area, with many caves. The range is located in Austria in the district of Salzburg near Bischofshofen.
The Dachstein Mountains are a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps.
The Salzkammergut and Upper Austria Alps is the proposed name for a subdivision of mountains in a new classification of the Alps, which are located in Austria.
The border between the modern states of Austria and Germany has a length of 815.9 km (507.0 mi), or 815.0 km (506.4 mi) respectively. It is the longest international border of Austria and the second longest border of Germany with another country.
The geology of Austria consists of Precambrian rocks and minerals together with younger marine sedimentary rocks uplifted by the Alpine orogeny.
The Gosaukamm is an Austrian mountain chain within the Dachstein range of the Northern Limestone Alps. Although relatively short in length, the chain forms an imposing backdrop to the valley and town of Gosau. Its highest point reaches an elevation of 2,458 metres (8,064 ft).
