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"Plains & Plateaus" } } ] } </script> <nav class="breadcrumb justify-content-center"> <span class="breadcrumb-item "> <a href="/" class="link-white">Home</a> </span> <span class="breadcrumb-item "> <a class="link-white" href="/browse/Geography-Travel">Geography & Travel</a> </span> <span class="breadcrumb-item "> <a class="link-white" href="/browse/Physical-Geography-Land">Physical Geography of Land</a> </span> <span class="breadcrumb-item "> Plains & Plateaus </span> </nav> <h1 class="font-serif mt-30 mb-20">Plains & Plateaus</h1> <div class="font-serif grid"> <div class="col-sm-70 col-sm-offset-15"> This general category includes a selection of more specific topics.</div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="container"> <h2 class="label my-30">Plains & Plateaus Encyclopedia Articles</h2> <div class="grid top g-10 mb-40"> <div class="col-33 col-sm-20 col-md-16 col-lg-10"> <div class="border shadow p-10 text-center "> <a class="font-weight-bold font-14 " href="/browse/Plains-Plateaus/1">ABR-NEW</a> </div> </div> <div class="col-33 col-sm-20 col-md-16 col-lg-10"> <div class="border shadow p-10 text-center "> <a class="font-weight-bold font-14 " href="/browse/Plains-Plateaus/2">NOR-YUN</a> </div> </div> </div> <h2 class="label my-30 text-center">Featured Articles</h2> <div class="js-pinboard grid gy-20"> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/La-Mancha" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/71/102271-050-67530F2E/Windmills-Consuegra-Toledo-Spain-Castile-La-Mancha.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="windmills at La Mancha" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/La-Mancha" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">La Mancha</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> La Mancha, arid but largely fertile elevated plateau (2,000 feet [610 metres]) formed over limestone in central Spain, stretching between the Toledo Mountains and the western spurs of the Cuenca hills... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Ordos-Plateau" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/images/shared/default3.png?v=3.130.14" class="default col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Ordos-Plateau" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Ordos Plateau</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Ordos Plateau, plateau in the southern section of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, northern China. The Ordos fills the area inside the great northern bend of the Huang He (Yellow River) and is bounded... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Chiapas-Highlands" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/28/156128-050-DA1C5A3B/Sierra-Madre-de-Chiapas-Highlands-Mexico.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Sierra Madre de Chiapas" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Chiapas-Highlands" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Chiapas Highlands</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Chiapas Highlands, high-elevation region of dissected plateaus enclosing the central valley of Chiapas in Chiapas state, southeastern Mexico. The highlands constitute the northwestern end of a mountainous... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Deccan" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/90/176790-050-626E1051/Deccan-Plateau-map-India.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Deccan plateau, India" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Deccan" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Deccan</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Deccan, the entire southern peninsula of India south of the Narmada River, marked centrally by a high triangular tableland. The name derives from the Sanskrit daksina (“south”). The plateau is bounded... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Utkal-Plains" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/79/248379-050-05D963DD/Locator-map-Utkal-Plains.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Utkal Plains, India" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Utkal-Plains" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Utkal Plains</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Utkal Plains, coastal plains in eastern Odisha state, eastern India. Extending over about 16,000 square miles (41,400 square km), the plains are bounded by the Lower Ganges (Ganga) Plain to the north,... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Plain-of-Esdraelon" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/13/122413-004-A8C24661/Plain-Esdraelon-Israel.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Jezreel Valley" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Plain-of-Esdraelon" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Plain of Esdraelon</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Plain of Esdraelon, lowland in northern Israel, dividing the hilly areas of Galilee in the north and Samaria (in the Israeli-occupied West Bank) in the south. Esdraelon is the Greek derivation of the Hebrew... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Ardennes-region-Europe" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/94/13394-004-3F785419/hills-Ardennes-Belgium.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="the Ardennes" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Ardennes-region-Europe" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Ardennes</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Ardennes, wooded plateau covering part of the ancient Forest of Ardennes, occupying most of the Belgian provinces of Luxembourg, Namur, and Liège; part of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg; and the French... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Jos-Plateau" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/74/246774-050-22A84A51/Locator-map-Jos-Plateau.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Jos Plateau, Nigeria" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Jos-Plateau" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Jos Plateau</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Jos Plateau, tableland in Plateau State, central Nigeria, distinguished by its high bounding scarp and by bare grassland and embracing Africa’s chief tin-mining region. Its central area covers about 3,000... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Gran-Chaco" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/20/153120-050-3B8F20F9/Salt-marshes-region-Gran-Chaco-Paraguay.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Salt marshes in the Gran Chaco region of Paraguay." class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Gran-Chaco" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Gran Chaco</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Gran Chaco, lowland alluvial plain in interior south-central South America. The name is of Quechua origin, meaning “Hunting Land.” Largely uninhabited, the Gran Chaco is an arid subtropical region of low... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Telengana-Plateau" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/59/244659-050-C80F4C0E/Locator-map-Telengana-Plateau.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Telengana Plateau, India" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Telengana-Plateau" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Telengana Plateau</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Telengana Plateau, plateau in western Andhra Pradesh state, southeastern India. Comprising the northeastern part of the Deccan plateau, the Telengana Plateau has an area of about 57,370 square miles (148,000... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/the-Pampas" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/18/166918-050-82B233EA/Pampas.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Pampas, The" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/the-Pampas" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">the Pampas</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> The Pampas, vast plains extending westward across central Argentina from the Atlantic coast to the Andean foothills, bounded by the Gran Chaco (north) and Patagonia (south). The name comes from a Quechua... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Guinea-Highlands" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/39/148339-050-D68A53C3/Nimba-Range-Mount-peak-border-Guinea-Liberia.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Mount Nimba" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Guinea-Highlands" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Guinea Highlands</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Guinea Highlands, mountainous plateau extending from the southern Fouta Djallon highlands through southeastern Guinea, northern Sierra Leone and Liberia, and northwestern Côte d’Ivoire. The plateau is... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Atacama-Plateau" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/69/166869-050-D8E3C930/Atacama-Plateau-Argentina.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Atacama Plateau" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Atacama-Plateau" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Atacama Plateau</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Atacama Plateau, cold, desolate Andean tableland in northwestern Argentina and adjacent regions of Chile. It is about 200 miles (320 km) long (north to south) and 150 miles (240 km) wide and has an average... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Patagonia-region-Argentina" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/26/102126-004-4CB4DC5B/Mount-Fitzroy-Glacier-National-Park-Argentina.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Mount Fitzroy" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Patagonia-region-Argentina" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Patagonia</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Patagonia, semiarid scrub plateau that covers nearly all of the southern portion of mainland Argentina. With an area of about 260,000 square miles (673,000 square kilometres), it constitutes a vast area... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/European-Plain" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/39/59039-050-A6FC0F29/expanse-deposits-European-Plain-Poland.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="European Plain" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/European-Plain" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">European Plain</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> European Plain, one of the greatest uninterrupted expanses of plain on the Earth’s surface. It sweeps from the Pyrenees Mountains on the French-Spanish border across northern Europe to the Ural Mountains... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Great-Plains" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/28/148428-050-5EC50B76/Flint-Hills-region-Great-Plains-Kansas.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Great Plains" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Great-Plains" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Great Plains</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Great Plains, major physiographic province of North America. The Great Plains lie between the Rio Grande in the south and the delta of the Mackenzie River at the Arctic Ocean in the north and between the... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Plain-of-Sharon" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/68/246968-050-D7342A35/Locator-map-Plain-of-Sharon.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Plain of Sharon" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Plain-of-Sharon" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Plain of Sharon</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Plain of Sharon, section of the Mediterranean coastal plain, and the most densely settled of Israel’s natural regions. It is roughly triangular in shape and extends about 55 miles (89 km) north-to-south... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Massif-Central" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/32/59232-050-29C4E075/Cinder-cones-Chaine-des-Puys-France-Massif.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Chaîne des Puys" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Massif-Central" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Massif Central</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Massif Central, upland area in south-central France. Bordered by the lowlands of Aquitaine on the west, the Paris Basin and the Loire River valley on the north, the Rhône-Saône river valley on the east,... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Udi-Nsukka-Plateau" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/images/shared/default3.png?v=3.130.14" class="default col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Udi-Nsukka-Plateau" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Udi-Nsukka Plateau</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Udi-Nsukka Plateau, pair of plateaus in south-central Nigeria that form a nearly continuous elevated area. The Nsukka Plateau, which forms the main eastward-facing escarpment, extends about 80 miles (130... </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="p-10 d-inline-flex js-pin col-100 col-sm-33 col-md-25 "> <div class="card text-normal col-100 "> <div class="card-media position-relative"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Mongolian-Plateau" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/85/250885-050-6CA21E34/Locator-map-Mongolian-Plateau.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="Mongolian Plateau" class="col-100" /> </a> </div> <div class="col"> <div class="card-body text-hyphenate"> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Mongolian-Plateau" class="font-weight-bold font-16 lh-sm">Mongolian Plateau</a> <div class="font-serif mt-10 font-14"> Mongolian Plateau, extensive northeastern highland region of the great plateau of Central Asia, covering an area of approximately 1,000,000 square miles (2,600,000 square km) in east-central Asia. 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