{{Short description|Vast interior plain east of the North/Central European}} {{expand Russian|date=February 2025}} thumb|right|300px|Approximate extent of the East European Plain.<ref>Bolesław Augustowski Wielkie regiony naturalne Europy w: Antoni Wrzosek (red.) Geografia Powszechna. Tom III. Europa (bez ZSRR), Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, Warszawa 1965</ref>

The '''East European Plain''' (also called the '''Russian Plain''',<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Britannica|196332|European Plain}} "Extending from eastern Poland through the entire European Russia to the Ural Mountains, the ''East European Plain'' encompasses all of the Baltic states and Belarus, nearly all of Ukraine, and much of the European portion of Russia and reaches north into Finland." ''— Britannica''.</ref> or historically the '''Sarmatic Plain''')<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Podwysocki|editor1-first=Melvin H.|editor2-last=Earle|editor2-first=Janet L.|title=Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Basement Tectonics|date=1979|publisher=Basement Tectonics Committee|page=379}}</ref> is a vast interior plain extending east of the North European Plain,<ref name="Hoffecker15"/> and comprising several plateaus stretching roughly from 25 degrees longitude eastward. It includes the Volhynian-Podolian Upland on its westernmost fringe, the Central Russian Upland, and, on the eastern border, encompasses the Volga Upland. The plain includes also a series of major river basins such as the Dnieper Lowland, the Oka–Don Lowland, and the Volga Basin. At the southeastern point of the East European Plain are the Caucasus and Crimean mountain ranges.<ref name="Hoffecker15">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nXuqgInMOXIC&q=%22East+European+Plain+represents%22 |title=Desolate Landscapes: Ice-Age Settlement in Eastern Europe |publisher=Rutgers University Press |year=2002 |access-date=17 May 2014 |first=John F. |last=Hoffecker |pages=15&ndash;21 |isbn=0813529921}}</ref> Together with the North European Plain (covering much of Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany and Poland), and covering the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), European Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, southeastern Romania, and, at its southernmost point, the Danubian Plain in Northern Bulgaria (including Ludogorie and Southern Dobruja), it constitutes the majority of the Great European Plain (European Plain), the greatest mountain-free part of the European landscape.<ref name="Cavendish1014">{{cite book |title=World and Its Peoples |volume=8 (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland) |year=2010 |publisher=Marshall Cavendish |page=1014 |isbn=978-0761478966}}</ref> The plain spans approximately {{convert|4000000|km2|sqmi|abbr=on|sigfig=1}} and averages about {{convert|170|m|ft|abbr=on|sigfig=2}} in elevation. The highest point of the plain ({{convert|480|m|ft|1}}) is in the Bugulma-Belebey Upland, in the Eastern part of the plain, in the elevated area by the Ural Mountains (''priyralie'').<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20140106172451/http://xn--p1acf.xn----7sbacsfsccnbdnzsqis3h5a6ivbm.xn--p1ai/index.php/prosmotr/2-statya/8923-bugulminsko-belebeevskaya-vozvyshennost БУГУЛЬМИНСКО-БЕЛЕБЕЕВСКАЯ ВОЗВЫШЕННОСТЬ]</ref><ref>[https://bigenc.ru/c/vostochno-evropeiskaia-ravnina-e8ecd2 Восточно-Европейская равнина], ''Great Russian Encyclopedia''</ref>

==Boundaries== * West: Baltic Sea, Oder{{citation needed|date=May 2014}} and Lusatian Neisse, Sudetenland,{{citation needed|date=May 2014}} Carpathians{{citation needed|date=May 2014}} (Outer Western Carpathians, Outer Eastern Carpathians, Southern Carpathians, Serbian Carpathians).{{citation needed|date=May 2014}} * South: Balkan Mountains, Black Sea, Crimean Mountains, Caucasus, The Caspian Sea and the Sea of Azov, Ustyurt Plateau. * East: Ural Mountains and Turan Depression. * North: White Sea, Barents Sea, Kara Sea, Scandinavian Mountains.

==Regional subdivisions== *Belarus **Belarusian Ridge **Polesia (Belarus, Ukraine, Poland) *Bulgaria **Danubian Plain (Bulgaria) (southern portion of the Lower Danubian Plane) *Estonia<ref name="ReferenceA"/> *Kazakhstan (European part) *Latvia<ref name="ReferenceA"/> *Lithuania<ref name="ReferenceA"/> *Poland<ref name="ReferenceA"/> **Roztocze **Mazovian Lowland{{citation needed|date=May 2014}} *Romania / Moldova **Moldavian Plateau (Moldova, Romania, Ukraine) **Wallachian Plain (northern portion of the Lower Danubian Plane) *Russia (European part) **Timan Ridge **Northern Ridge (Uvaly) **Mari Depression **Valdai Hills **Smolensk–Moscow Upland (Russia, Belarus) **Central Russian Upland (Russia, Ukraine) **Oka–Don Lowland **Volga Upland ** Obshchy Syrt **Caspian Depression *Ukraine **Sian Lowland **Volhynian-Podolian Upland ***Podolian Plateau **Polesian Lowland **Dnieper Lowland **Dnieper Upland ***Kyiv Mountains **Central Upland **Black Sea Lowland **Azov Upland / Donets Ridge

==Other major landforms== The following major landform features are within the East European Plain (listed generally from north to south). * North Russian Plain * Baltic Uplands * Belarusian Ridge * Kuma–Manych Depression * Bugulma-Belebey Upland * {{ill|Vyatka Uval|ru|Вятский Увал}} ({{langx|ru|Вятский увал}}) named after the Vyatka River (''uval'' is a Russian geological term for an elongated elevation with a flat, slightly convex or wavy top and gentle slopes)

==Largest rivers== *Volga River *Danube{{citation needed|date=May 2014}} *Ural River *Vistula{{citation needed|date=May 2014}} *Dnieper River *Don River (Russia) *Pechora River *Kama River *Oka River *Belaya River *Daugava *Neman River *Pregolya River

==See also== *West Siberian Plain, the other major plain of Russia *Explorers of Siberia *Great Russian Regions

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category-inline|East European Plain}} * [http://leksika.com.ua/10601019/ure/shidno-yevropeyska_rivnina East European Plain] at ''Ukrainian Soviet Encyclopedia'' * [http://bse.sci-lib.com/article006812.html East European Plain] at ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia''

{{Geography topics}} {{Physical geography topics}} {{Authority control}}

Category:East European Plain