Western Uplands of Europe: Major Highland Regions

The Western Uplands (or Western European Highlands) are a discontinuous belt of ancient, eroded highlands fringing the Atlantic and Mediterranean margins of Europe. Major component regions:

• Brittany Uplands (France) – Granite massif, Monts d'Arrée (384 m).
• French Central Massif (Massif Central) – Volcanic/granitic plateau (Cévennes, Auvergne volcanoes); summit Puy de Sancy (1,885 m).
• Iberian Plateau (Meseta Central) – Vast interior tableland (600–800 m); bounded by mountain ranges.
• Cantabrian Mountains (N Spain) – Limestone peaks (Picos de Europa, 2,648 m); Atlantic climate.
• Sierra Morena (S Spain) – Low, eroded range separating Meseta from Guadalquivir valley.
• Galicia Mountains (NW Spain) – Rounded granitic hills, rías (drowned valleys).
• Picos de Europa (Cantabrian sub-range) – Dramatic limestone towers; Covadonga lakes.
• Pyrenees (France/Spain/Andorra) – Young fold mountains; Aneto (3,404 m); axial zone granites, limestone flanks.

These uplands share Hercynian/Variscan basement rocks (Paleozoic), heavily eroded, later rejuvenated by Alpine tectonism. They influence climate (rain shadows), biodiversity (refugia), and human settlement (transhumance, mineral mining, hydroelectricity).