Southern side of the Alps (Switzerland)

South side of the Alps

The southern side of the Alps is the collective term in Switzerland for those parts of Switzerland that lie south of the main Alpine ridge , i.e. H. the areas that are drained towards the Adriatic .

The southern side of the Alps includes Ticino ( Sopra and Sotto Ceneri - small parts of the canton in the Gotthard massif and at the Lukmanier Pass , however, are north of the watershed ), the Graubünden southern valleys Calancatal , Misox , Bergell , Puschlav and Münstertal as well as the southern Simplon area in Valais (upper part of Val Divedro ).

The term south side of the Alps is mainly used in weather forecasts , as the weather here mostly differs from that on the north side of the Alps . The climate and vegetation also differ from the rest of Switzerland: in the lower areas there is a Mediterranean climate and typical Mediterranean plants grow . Switzerland is not only divided into the south and north of the Alps, the Valais as well as the north and central Grisons and the Engadine are seen independently ( inner-alpine climate ).

Culturally, the southern side of the Alps is not a unit. It is largely identical to Italian-speaking Switzerland , but Romansh is spoken in Val Müstair or German in the Simplon region .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} cf. for example: Johann Häfelin: The division of Switzerland into weather forecast districts. In: Annual reports of the Geographisch-Ethnographische Gesellschaft in Zürich 10, 1955, pp. 12–15 ( article, pdf , geogr-helv.net).