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Highlands or uplands are any mountainous region or elevated mountainous plateau. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills,^[1] typically up to 500–600 m. Highland (or highlands) is usually reserved for ranges of low mountains.

Highlands internationally[edit]

Probably the most known highlands in the anglosphere are the Scottish Highlands in northern Scotland, the mountainous region north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault. The Highland council area is a local government area in the Scottish Highlands and Britain's largest local government area.

Many countries have areas that are officially or unofficially referred to as highlands. Other than Scotland, these include parts of Tibet,^[2]Ethiopia, Canada, Kenya, Eritrea, Yemen, Ghana, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Syria, and Cantabria^[3].

Synonymous terms used in other countries include high country, used in New Zealand, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and Southern Queensland in Australia, and parts of the United States (notably Western North Carolina), highveld, used in South Africa and Roof of the World,^[4] used for Tibet.

Highland shrubs in Agua Fria National Monument, Arizona, United States

The highlands in Australia are often above the elevation of 500 metres. These areas often receive snowfalls through winter. Most of the highlands lead up to large alpine or sub-alpine mountainous regions such as the Australian Alps, Snowy Mountains, Great Dividing Range, Northern Tablelands and Blue Mountains. The most mountainous region of Tasmania is the Central Highlands area, which covers most of the central western parts of the state. Many of these areas are highly elevated alpine regions.

A spine of mountains runs the length of the island of New Guinea, forming a populous highlands region.

The Central Highlands of Sri Lanka these are rain forests, where the elevation reaches 2,500 metres (8,200 ft) above sea level.The Sri Lanka montane rain forests represent the montane and submontane moist forests above 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) in the central highlands and in the Knuckles mountain range.Half of Sri Lanka's endemic flowering plants and 51 percent of the endemic vertebrates are restricted to this ecoregion.

The highlands of Iceland cover about 40% of the country and are mostly inhospitable to humans. They are generally considered to be any land above 500 meters.

Additionally, the mountainous natural region of the Thai highlands is found in Northern Thailand.

The Cameron Highlands are a highland area and hill station in Northern Malaysia.

Shillong in India in the state of Meghalaya is a hill station which is surrounded by highlands. Officers of the British Raj referred to Shillong as "The Scotland of the East".^[5]

Other planets[edit]

Highland continents – or terrae – are areas of topographically unstable terrain, with high peaks and valleys. They resemble highlands on Earth, but the term is applied to much larger areas on other planets. They can be found on Venus,^[6]Mercury, Mars and the Moon.

See also[edit]

• Planum


• Highlander (disambiguation)

References[edit]