Northern European Lowlands

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The Northern European Lowlands are a geomorphological region in Europe. They consist of the low plains between the Central European Highlands to the south and the North Sea and the Baltic Sea to the north; their elevation is between 0 and 200 m (about 0 and 650 ft). While mostly used as farmland, the region also contains bogs, heath, and lakes. On the North Sea coast, one finds marshes and the Wadden Sea, a large tidal area.

Politically, the Northern European Lowlands are shared among Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, and Poland. Major rivers are, from west to east, Rhine, Ems, Weser, Elbe, Oder, and Vistula.

Historically, especially in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period, the western section has been known as the Low Countries.

The Northern European Lowlands are connected to East European Plain, which includes large plains of Russia, bounded to the east by the Ural Mountains. Together, they form the European Plain.

[edit] Germany

The German part of the Northern European Lowlands is known as the North German Plain. Much of the North German Plain lies less than 100 meters above sea level. On the North Sea coast, the plain is very flat and composed mostly of marshes and mudflats. The offshore East Frisian Islands and North Frisian Islands are considered an extension of the North German Plain that was separated from the mainland after floods during the Middle Ages.

Along the Baltic coast, the plain meets the sea as jagged chalk cliffs that formed during periods of glaciation. The plain is sandy by the shoreline, and inland it is marked by bogs and heathlands. Off the coast near Stralsund lies Rügen, which is Germany's largest island.

The states of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Bremen, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg, Berlin, much of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, and parts of Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia are located in this region.

During the cold war, the North German Plain was considered an alternative Warsaw Pact attack/invasion route into West Germany and ultimately into Western Europe. The most likely route for the Warsaw Pact forces to attack through would have been the Fulda Gap.