1.
Lake Lugano
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Lake Lugano is a glacial lake which is situated on the border between southern Switzerland and northern Italy. The lake, named after the city of Lugano, is situated between Lake Como and Lago Maggiore, the lake appears in documents in 804 under the name Laco Luanasco. Well-known mountains and tourist destinations on the shores of the lake are Monte Brè to the east, Monte San Salvatore west of Lugano, the World Heritage Site Monte San Giorgio is situated south of the lake. The first certain testimony of a body governing the shores of the lake is from 818. Occupying an area of importance, the lake was then part of the feudal dominion of the County of Sperio. Circa 1000, it came under the control of the Bishop of Como, the region was the site of the war between Como and Milan over control of Alpine traffic from 1218 to 1227. The lake definitively ceased to belong to a sovereign political entity following the establishment of the transalpine bailiwicks of the Swiss cantons at the beginning of the 16th century. The Italian-Swiss border was fixed in 1752 by the Treaty of Varese, in 1848, the Melide causeway was built on a moraine between Melide and Bissone, in order to carry a road across the lake and provide a direct connection between Lugano and Chiasso. Today the causeway carries the Gotthard railway and the A2 motorway. The lake is 48.7 km2 in size, 63% of which is in Switzerland and 37% in Italy, has a width of roughly 1 km. The culminating point of the drainage basin is the Pizzo di Gino summit in the Lugano Prealps. Bathing in the lake is allowed at any of the 50 or so bathing establishments located along the Swiss shores, the Melide causeway separates the northern and southern basins, although a bridge in the causeway permits water flow and navigation. The lake retention time is an average of 8.2 years, places on the lake in Switzerland and in Italy include, The lake is navigable, and used by a considerable number of private vessels. Fishery in the lake is regulated by a 1986 agreement between Switzerland and Italy, the current agreement on navigation dates from 1992. Pollution has long been a problem in Lake Lugano, in the 1960s and 1970s it was officially forbidden to bathe in the lake. The Federal Office for the Environments last published report on Lake Lugano dates from 1995, according to Legambiente, the only reason swimming was not banned on the Italian Lakes was because the state of Lombardy changed the law. They state that pollution levels in the lakes do not conform to European rulings and their 2010 measurements found samples taken at Ponte Tresa, Ostene and Port Ceresio to be heavily polluted. The lake is full of fish, apart from a few protected areas, such as the mouth of the River Cuccio in Porlezza, fishing is allowed anywhere, although according to various regulations
2.
Summit
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A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. Mathematically, a summit is a maximum in elevation. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak, and zenith are synonymous, the UIAA definition is that a summit is independent if it has a prominence of 30 metres or more, it is a mountain if it has a prominence of at least 300 metres. This can be summarised as follows, A pyramidal peak is an exaggerated form produced by ice erosion of a mountain top, Summit may also refer to the highest point along a line, trail, or route. In many parts of the western United States, the term refers to the highest point along a road, highway. For example, the highest point along Interstate 80 in California is referred to as Donner Summit while the highest point on Interstate 5 is Siskiyou Mountain Summit, geoid Hill List of highest mountains Maxima and minima Nadir Summit accordance Peak finder
3.
Topographic isolation
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The topographic isolation of a summit is the minimum great-circle distance to a point of equal elevation, representing a radius of dominance in which the peak is the highest point. It can be calculated for small hills and islands as well as for major mountain peaks, the following sortable table lists the Earths 40 most topographically isolated summits. The nearest peak to Germanys highest mountain, the 2, 962-metre-high Zugspitze, the distance between the Zugspitze and this contour is 25.8 km, the Zugspitze is thus the highest peak for a radius of 25.8 km around. Its isolation is thus 25.8 km, because there are no higher mountains than Mount Everest, it has no definitive isolation. Many sources list its isolation as the circumference of the earth over the poles or – questionably, after Mount Everest the Aconcagua, highest mountain of the American continents, has the greatest isolation of all mountains. There is no land for 16,534 kilometres when its height is first exceeded by Tirich Mir in the Hindu Kush. Mont Blanc is the highest mountain of the Alps, the geographically nearest higher mountains are all in the Caucasus. The Kukurtlu, which rises near the Elbrus, is the peak for Mont Blanc. com Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia peakbagger. com peaklist. org peakware. com World Mountain Encyclopedia summitpost. org
4.
Ticino
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Ticino /tᵻˈtʃiːnoʊ/, formally the Republic and Canton of Ticino is the southernmost canton of Switzerland. The land now occupied by the canton was annexed from Italian cities in the 15th century by various Swiss forces in the last transalpine campaigns of the Old Swiss Confederacy, in the Helvetic Republic, established 1798, it was divided between the two new cantons of Bellinzona and Lugano. The creation of the Swiss Confederation in 1803 saw these two cantons combine to form the canton of Ticino. The name Ticino was chosen for the newly established canton in 1803, known as Ticinus in Roman times, the river appears on the Tabula Peutingeriana as Ticenum. Johann Kaspar Zeuss attributed Celtic origins to the name, tracing it to the Celtic tek, itself from an Indo-European root tak, in ancient times, the area of what is today Ticino was settled by the Lepontii, a Celtic tribe. Later, probably around the rule of Augustus, it part of the Roman Empire. After the fall of the Western Empire, was ruled by the Ostrogoths, the Lombards, around 1100 it was the centre of struggle between the free communes of Milan and Como, in the 14th century it was acquired by the Visconti, Dukes of Milan. In the fifteenth century the Swiss Confederates conquered the south of the Alps in three separate conquests. Between 1403 and 1422 some of these lands were annexed by forces from the Canton of Uri. Uri conquered the Leventina Valley in 1440, in a second conquest Uri, Schwyz and Nidwalden gained the town of Bellinzona and the Riviera in 1500. Some of the land and Bellinzona itself were previously annexed by Uri in 1419, the third conquest was fought by troops from the entire Confederation. In 1512 Locarno, the Maggia Valley, Lugano and Mendrisio were annexed, subsequently, the upper valley of the Ticino River, from the St. Gotthard to the town of Biasca was part of Uri. The remaining territory was administered by the Twelve Cantons and these districts were governed by bailiffs holding office for two years and purchasing it from the members of the League. The lands of the canton of Ticino are the last lands to be conquered by the Swiss Confederation, the Confederation gave up any further conquests after their defeat at the battle of Marignano in 1515 by Francis I of France. The Val Leventina revolted unsuccessfully against Uri in 1755, in February 1798 an attempt of annexation by the Cisalpine Republic was repelled by a volunteer militia in Lugano. During the Napoleonic Wars, many Ticinesi served in Swiss military units allied with the French, the canton minted its own currency, the Ticinese franco, between 1813 and 1850, when it began use of the Swiss franc. In the early 19th century, the contemporary Franco-Danish scholar Conrad Malte-Brun stated that, “The canton of Tesino is the poorest, until 1878 the three largest cities, Bellinzona, Lugano and Locarno, alternated as capital of the canton. In 1878, however, Bellinzona became the only and permanent capital, the current cantonal constitution dates from 1997
5.
Switzerland
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Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic in Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western-Central Europe, and is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2. The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the medieval period, resulting from a series of military successes against Austria. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The country has a history of armed neutrality going back to the Reformation, it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815, nevertheless, it pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. In addition to being the birthplace of the Red Cross, Switzerland is home to international organisations. On the European level, it is a member of the European Free Trade Association. However, it participates in the Schengen Area and the European Single Market through bilateral treaties, spanning the intersection of Germanic and Romance Europe, Switzerland comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions, German, French, Italian and Romansh. Due to its diversity, Switzerland is known by a variety of native names, Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera. On coins and stamps, Latin is used instead of the four living languages, Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the world, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product according to the IMF. Zürich and Geneva have each been ranked among the top cities in the world in terms of quality of life, with the former ranked second globally, according to Mercer. The English name Switzerland is a compound containing Switzer, a term for the Swiss. The English adjective Swiss is a loan from French Suisse, also in use since the 16th century. The name Switzer is from the Alemannic Schwiizer, in origin an inhabitant of Schwyz and its associated territory, the Swiss began to adopt the name for themselves after the Swabian War of 1499, used alongside the term for Confederates, Eidgenossen, used since the 14th century. The data code for Switzerland, CH, is derived from Latin Confoederatio Helvetica. The toponym Schwyz itself was first attested in 972, as Old High German Suittes, ultimately related to swedan ‘to burn’
6.
Mountain range
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A mountain range is a geographic area containing numerous geologically related mountains. A mountain system or system of ranges, sometimes is used to combine several geological features that are geographically related. Mountain ranges are usually segmented by highlands or mountain passes and valleys, individual mountains within the same mountain range do not necessarily have the same geologic structure or petrology. They may be a mix of different orogenic expressions and terranes, for example thrust sheets, uplifted blocks, fold mountains, most geologically young mountain ranges on the Earths land surface are associated with either the Pacific Ring of Fire or the Alpide Belt. The Andes is 7,000 kilometres long and is considered the worlds longest mountain system. The Alpide belt includes Indonesia and southeast Asia, through the Himalaya, the belt also includes other European and Asian mountain ranges. The Himalayas contain the highest mountains in the world, including Mount Everest, mountain ranges outside of these two systems include the Arctic Cordillera, the Urals, the Appalachians, the Scandinavian Mountains, the Altai Mountains and the Hijaz Mountains. If the definition of a range is stretched to include underwater mountains. The mountain systems of the earth are characterized by a tree structure, the sub-range relationship is often expressed as a parent-child relationship. For example, the White Mountains of New Hampshire and the Blue Ridge Mountains are sub-ranges of the Appalachian Mountains, equivalently, the Appalachians are the parent of the White Mountains and Blue Ridge Mountains, and the White Mountains and the Blue Ridge Mountains are children of the Appalachians. The position of mountains influences climate, such as rain or snow, when air masses move up and over mountains, the air cools producing orographic precipitation. As the air descends on the side, it warms again and is drier. Often, a shadow will affect the leeward side of a range. Mountain ranges are constantly subjected to forces which work to tear them down. Erosion is at work while the mountains are being uplifted and long after until the mountains are reduced to low hills, rivers are traditionally believed to be the principle erosive factor on mountain ranges, with their ability of bedrock incision and sediment transport. The rugged topography of a range is the product of erosion. The basins adjacent to a mountain range are filled with sediments which are buried and turned into sedimentary rock. The early Cenozoic uplift of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado provides an example and this mass of rock was removed as the range was actively undergoing uplift
Media related to Monte San Giorgio at Wikimedia Commons
