Westphalian Lowland
The Westphalian Lowland,
The Westphalian Lowland consists of the individual regions of
The Westphalian Lowland is classified as a major unit group within the natural regions of Germany and is number 54 in the Handbook of the Natural Regional Divisions of Germany (Handbuch der naturräumlichen Gliederung Deutschlands) and region D34 in the BfN system; both using the same boundaries.
Natural region divisions
From a natural region perspective the Westphalian Lowland major unit group is sub-divided into the following three-figure major units:[3][4]
- (to Norddeutsches Tiefland)
- 54 (=D34) Westphalian Basin (Westfälische Bucht)
- 540 East Münsterland (Ostmünsterland)
- 541 Kernmünsterland
- 542 Hellweg Börde (Hellwegbörden)
- 543 Emscherland
- 544 West Münsterland (Westmünsterland)
- 545 West Hellweg (Westenhellweg)
- 54 (=D34) Westphalian Basin (Westfälische Bucht)
Location
The Westphalian Lowland has the character of a basin because it is bounded by ridges of the Lower Saxon Hills from the northeast to east and by the northern part of the Süder Uplands to the south. These hills rise to heights of several hundred metres above the basin floor.
The boundary of this natural region runs, clockwise from the north, as follows: From
From east of
From east of Mülheim its unremarkable boundary with the
Towns and cities
The largest centres of population in the Westphalian Lowland are the cities of the central and eastern
The most populous cities in the Westphalian Lowland are (in brackets their population in thousands):
- Dortmund (less the south - 581)
- Essen (less the south - 576)
- Bochum (less the south - 376)
- Bielefeld (only Sennestadt - i.e. only 21 of 323)
- Münster(276)
- Gelsenkirchen (260)
- Oberhausen (only minimal parts in the east - small elements of 214)
- Hamm (182)
- Herne(166)
- Mülheim(only the northwest - small elements of 167)
- Paderborn (only northeastern part - parts of 145)
- Recklinghausen (119)
- Bottrop (apart from the extreme west - 117)
- Witten (only the northern half - part of 99)
- Gütersloh (102)
Rivers
The most important river systems are:
- Emscherland: the almost entirely underground or canalised Emscher that gives the region its name.
- Right tributaries of the Möhne and the lower reaches of the Ruhr play a rather small role in the extreme south by the Hellweg.
Meaning
The area is occasionally called in German, the Münsterländische Bucht (Münsterland Bay), because a large part of this low-lying plain lies in central and eastern
The use of the term Bucht ("bay" or "bight") stems from the geological origin of the region which is half surrounded by the ridges of the Central Uplands. At one time it formed a bay in the coastline of the Cretaceous Sea the shape of which can be discerned from the topography.
Population
The majority of the population of the Westphalian Lowland live in the area bordering the southern perimeter, in the region of the historic Hellweg east–west trade route through Germany, and especially in the northern Ruhr.
Palaeontology
At various sites in the Westphalian Lowland
See also
References
- ^ Dickinson, Robert E. (1964). Germany: A regional and economic geography (2nd ed.). London: Methuen.
- ^ Elkins, T.H. (1972). Germany (3rd ed.). London: Chatto & Windus, 1972. ASIN B0011Z9KJA.
- ^ E. Meynen and J. Schmithüsen: Handbuch der naturräumlichen Gliederung Deutschlands - Bundesanstalt für Landeskunde, 6th edition, Remagen 1959 (9 editions in 8 books, 1953-1962, updated 1960 1:1,000,000 map with major units)
- ^ Bundesamt für Naturschutz: Naturräumliche Haupteinheiten Deutschlands (pdf online, 1.22 MB)
- Federal Agency for Nature Conservation- Kartendienst „Schutzgebiete“ macht die Grenzen der Haupteinheitengruppe („Naturräume“) und der Haupteinheiten einblendbar, der etwas gröbere Kartendienst „Landschaften“ unterteilt die Naturräume noch etwas feiner.
External links
- Natural region maps from the individual 1:200,000 map series of the Federal Institute for Regional Geography (Bundesinstituts für Landeskunde) - relevant natural units are those on map sheets beginning with "54":
- Sheet 83/84 - Osnabrück/Bentheim
- Sheet 85 - Minden (west)
- Sheet 95/96 - Kleve/Wesel (east)
- Sheet 97 - Münster
- Sheet 98 - Detmold
- Sheet 108/109 - Düsseldorf-Erkelenz (east)
- Sheet 110 - Arnsberg (west)
- NRW State Agency for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection Archived 2007-03-11 at the Wayback Machine
- LANUV information page – natural landscape map Archived 2007-03-11 at the Wayback Machine