Interesting facts about the Alps Mountains

The Alps are one of the great mountain ranges in Europe. They stretch from Austria and Slovenia in the east all the way through Italy, Switzerland and Germany to France in the west. Here are some interesting facts about it.

• The Alps is a range of mountains that form a crescent shape in Europe, that covers a distance of 1,200 km (750 miles).
• The Western Alps are higher, but their central chain is shorter and much curved; they are located in France, Italy and Switzerland. The Eastern Alps (main ridge elongated and broad) belong to Austria, Germany, Italy, Slovenia and Switzerland.
• The Alps is the home of many glaciers.
• There are 13,000 species of vegetation and 30,000 species of wildlife, many of which are native to the Alps.
• A mummified man was found in the Alps at the Austrian/Italian border in 1991, said to be 5,000 years old.
• Fourteen million people live in the Alps region, and the area attracts approximately 120 million visitors every year.
• In the Alps there are 82 official summits that are at least 4,000 m (13,123 ft) high, and the highest peak is Mont Blanc which is 4,810 meters (15, 780 feet) high and is on the French and Italian border.
• The Alps have been the source of many minerals and crystals, which has included copper, gold, iron, cinnabar, quartz and amethyst.
• It is suggested that between 40,000 to 80,000 men died in World War I due to avalanches on the Alps.
• The Alps provide water that those in the region drink; use for irrigation purposes; and create hydroelectric power in over 500 power plants, that can produce up to 2900 kilowatts of electricity per hour.