Relief of France

In its variety, the relief epitomizes the continent of Europe. A diagonal drawn from Bayonne to Sedan partitions off the northwestern sector of the country, which is dominated by plains and plateaus and includes the Paris basin with the regions of Beauce, Brie and Picardy. Around the rim of this area the land rises in altitude to the Ardennes in the north and the Armorican massif to the west. Plains and plateaus also abound to the southwest in the Aquitaine basin; these are the Landes, Quercy and Perigord districts. The southeastern part of the country shows greater contrasts in relief.

The middle-level mountain ranges (1,200 to 1,800 m.) are rounded (the Vosges, the Massif Central) or undulating in form (Jura) and contrast with the high-reaching, snow-covered peaks of the tallest mountains, the Pyrenees (over 3,000 m.) and the Alps (reaching above 4,000 m.). Mont Blanc, rising to 4,807 m., is the highest summit in France and in western Europe. These ranges are separated by plains or valleys such as the Saône and Rhône valleys.

The same degree of diversity is reflected along the coasts. The chalk cliffs of the Pays de Caux differ from the rocky, heavily indented granite and schist coastline of Brittany; the low-lying, rectilinear beaches of the Landes and Languedoc constrast with the rugged slopes rising along the Mediterranean in Provence and western Corsica.