Northern European Plain

East European Plain

The East European Plain is a broad expanse of lowlands and river basins. It is the largest and most prominent mountain-free landscape in Europe. It covers about 4,000,000 square kilometers (1,544,408 miles) and has an average elevation of 170 meters (558 feet). The East European Plain stretches across most of Europe, covering the Baltic States, west Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, East Poland, and West Kazakhstan.  Its boundaries include the White Sea, Barents Sea, the Ural Mountains, Ural River, Caucasus Mountains, Caspian Sea, Black Sea, and the Carpathian Mountains.

The plain itself is divided into several different regions. These include the Valday Hills, the Central Russian Upland, the Volga Uplands, the Dnieper River, Black Sea, and Caspian Sea lowlands. The North European Lowlands, the East European Plain make up the European Plain.

North European Lowlands

The North European Lowlands, along with the Eastern European Plain, makes up the European Plain.  They are elevated between 0 and 650 feet. Although the lowlands are mostly used for farming, there are also many bogs, lakes, and heaths. Near the North Sea’s coast there are marshes, and on the Wadden Sea’s coast there is a large tidal area. The North European Lowlands run through Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, and Poland. Some rivers that run through it are the Rhine, Ems, Weser, Elbe, Oder, and Vistula.

The North European Plains are also known as the North European Lowlands. In the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period they were known as the Low Countries. The Ural Mountains border the North European Plain on the east. The Ural Mountains are located in western Russia. They are considered a natural boundary between Asia and Europe. The Ural Mountains are also known as the “Stone Belt”. They are also 250 million years old.

Farming

 The North European Plain is one of the most fertile landscapes in Europe and in the world. For this reason agriculture is dominant in this part of the world. Small farms are spread all across the countryside.  They have farms all across the Northern European Plain because it is so flat and low that it is such a good place for farming.  The Northern European Plain is so big that they can have lots of farmers and a lot of farming.

Germany

Germany is one of the countries in the Northern European Plain. The North European Lowlands dominated northern Germany’s terrain. The section of plain that is located in Germany is called the North German Plain. Most of the North German Plain is located below sea level. The German Plain goes through the following state: Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Bremen, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, Brandenburg, Berlin, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony, and North Rhine-Westphalia. During the Cold War, The North German Plain was a possible Warsaw Pact attack and invasion route into West Germany, across the U.S. and the U.K. supply routes, and into other western European nations.

Germany’s official name is the Federal Republic of Germany which is in Western-Central Europe. It is bordered by the North Sea, Denmark, Baltic Sea, Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, ad the Netherlands. Germany has sixteen counties: Baden-Wurttemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Brandenburg, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palastinate, Saarland, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein, and Thuringia. The Free Hanseatic City of Bremen and the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg are just one city, but they are still their own county. Germany first became a nation-state in 1871. After World War II, The Federal Republic of Germany split and then reunited in 1990.

Germany is one of the countries that helped to found the European Union. It is known as a “modern great power” and a member of the United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU), and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Germany is the world’s 3^rd largest economy by nominal GDP, the world’s 2^nd largest importer of goods, and the world’s largest exporter of goods. This is not much of a surprise because Germany has a population of 82 million people, ranking it 1st in the EU member countries.

Poland/Czech Republic

Poland and the Czech Republic play a big roll in this landform.  Poland and the Czech Republic are important to this landform because these countries lie on the Northern European Plain.  These two countries have been invaded four times in the last 200 years.  They have been invaded by Russia, France, and Germany.  The Czech Republic and Poland sit on the Northern European Plain which is very flat making it good for strong countries to invade other countries that are on the plain.   

Russia

The western part of Russia is largely dominated by the East European Plain. This area is known as the Russian Plain. The major role that the Russian Plain plays in the peoples lives is farming. In western Russia, soil is extremely fertile, contributing to Russia's already massive amounts of natural resources. This further strengthens Russia's economy. However in some places, the help that the Russian Plain offers is not very useful. Many parts of northern Russia are poorly drained. This results in lakes and swamps that causes Russia's already tough terrain to get worse.