Lowlands in Slovakia - list of lowlands

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Lowlands in Slovakia


A lowland is an area with flat to hilly geo-relief (geo-relief is a set of shapes of the earth's surface - fragmentation of the earth's surface) at an altitude of up to 200 m. a.s.l. In the territory of Slovakia, it is the territory up to 300 m.a.s.l. In countries that do not have access to the sea, the border of the lowlands is usually to 300 m. a.s.l. The relief of the Slovak lowlands is from 94 m above sea level (the basin of the Bodrog river from the Slovak side - the lowest place in Slovakia above sea level) up to 300 meters above sea level.

There are 5 lowlands on the territory of Slovakia: 

Danubian Lowland (in Slovak Podunajská nížina)
Eastern Slovak Lowland (in Slovak Východoslovenská nížina)
Záhorská lowland (in Slovak Záhorská nížina)
Borská lowland (in Slovak Borská nížina)
Lower Morava Valley (in Slovak Dolnomoravský úval).

The list below also includes the Lower Morava Valley (Dolnomoravský úval) , which can be considered a river plain - it is located in western Slovakia and the southeastern Czech Republic on the lower course of the Morava River. Borská lowland is part of the Záhorská lowland.

Lowlands in Slovakia are divided according to the geomorphological division as follows:

Danubian Lowland belongs to the sub-province Little Danubian Plain (in Slovak Malá dunajská kotlina) and is divided into wholes Danubian Flat (Podunajská rovina) and Danubian Hills (Podunajská pahorkatina).
Eastern Slovak Lowland belongs to the sub-province Great Danubian Plain (Veľká dunajská kotlina) and is divided into wholes Eastern Slovak Flat (Východoslovenská rovina) and Eastern Slovak Hills (Východoslovenská pahorkatina).
Záhorská lowland belongs to the sub-province Vienna Basin (Viedenská kotlina) and is divided into wholes Borská lowland (Borská nížina) and Chvojnická pahorkatina.
Borská lowland belongs to the area Záhorská lowland (Záhorská nížina) and is divided into sub-wholes Dolnomoravská niva, Myjavská niva, Gbelský bor, Záhorské pláňavy, Bor, Novoveská plošina, Podmalokarpatská zníženina.
Lower Morava Valley belongs to the area Juhomoravská panva and has one sub-whole Dyjsko-moravská niva on the territory of Slovakia.

The list of all lowlands on the territory of Slovakia, their superior units and sub-units according to geomorphological division is given below. You can find more about the Geomorphological division of Slovakia in the article Geomorphology of Slovakia.
 
Lowlands in Slovakia - map

The area of ​​the lowlands in Slovakia

The largest lowland in Slovakia is Danubian Lowland (Podunajská nížina) with area 10,000.00 km2 (20.39% of the territory of Slovakia). The second largest lowland in Slovakia is Eastern Slovak Lowland (Východoslovenská nížina) with area 2,400.00 km2 (4.89% of the territory of Slovakia). The third largest lowland in Slovakia is Záhorská lowland (Záhorská nížina) with area 1,500.00 km2 (3.06% of the territory of Slovakia). The fourth largest lowland in Slovakia is Borská lowland (Borská nížina) with area 1,171.00 km2 (2.39% of the territory of Slovakia). The smallest lowland in Slovakia is river lowland Lower Morava Valley (Dolnomoravský úval) with area 87.00 km2 on the territory of Slovakia (0.18% of the territory of Slovakia).

The share of lowlands on the territory of Slovakia

The lowlands have a total area of 15,158 km2, which represents 30.91% of the total area of ​​Slovakia. The rest of the territory of Slovakia, except for the lowlands, has an area of ​​ 33,876 km2, which represents 69.09% of the total area of ​​Slovakia. Territory excluding lowlands is occupied by highlands, hill-countries, mountain ranges and other foothills and mountain areas. According to these data, the territory of Slovakia is predominantly mountainous.

Chart - the share of lowlands on the territory of Slovakia

Chart - share of lowlands in the territory of Slovakia - chart
Area of ​​the lowlands
15,158 km2
30.91 %
Rest of the territory of Slovakia
33,876 km2
69.09 %
The total area of Slovakia
49,034 km2
(*) Exact data on the area of ​​the lowlands according to maps and other sources are different. That's why we present the area of ​​the lowland as accurately as possible according to the available sources.

List of lowlands in Slovakia

Nr.Geomorph. unitArticleParent unitChild units
1.Danubian Lowland (Podunajská nížina)
(Area)		 Danubian Lowland Sub-province: Little Danubian Plain (Malá dunajská kotlina)Danubian Flat (Podunajská rovina) (Whole), Danubian Hills (Podunajská pahorkatina) (Whole) Danubian Lowland
2.Eastern Slovak Lowland (Východoslovenská nížina)
(Area)		 Eastern Slovak Lowland Sub-province: Great Danubian Plain (Veľká dunajská kotlina)Eastern Slovak Flat (Východoslovenská rovina) (Whole), Eastern Slovak Hills (Východoslovenská pahorkatina) (Whole) Eastern Slovak Lowland
3.Záhorská lowland (Záhorská nížina)
(Area)		 Zahorska lowland Sub-province: Vienna Basin (Viedenská kotlina)Borská lowland (Borská nížina) (Whole), Chvojnická pahorkatina (Whole) Zahorska lowland
4.Borská lowland (Borská nížina)
(Whole)		 Borska lowland Area: Záhorská lowland (Záhorská nížina)Dolnomoravská niva (Sub-whole), Myjavská niva (Sub-whole), Gbelský bor (Sub-whole), Záhorské pláňavy (Sub-whole), Bor (Sub-whole), Novoveská plošina (Sub-whole), Podmalokarpatská zníženina (Sub-whole) Borska lowland
5.Lower Morava Valley (Dolnomoravský úval)
(Whole)		 Lower Morava Valley (Dolnomoravský úval) Area: Juhomoravská panvaDyjsko-moravská niva (Sub-whole) Lower Morava Valley (Dolnomoravský úval)
Danubian Lowland
Danubian Lowland (Podunajská nížina)
Danubian Lowland or Danube Lowland (in Slovak Podunajská nížina) is situated on the South-Western part of Slovakia. The Danube Lowland is the largest lowland in Slovakia with an area of about 10000 km2. It is located on the territories of the Nitra region, Trnava region and Bratislava region. It is located between the river Danube (in the South), the Small Carpathians (in the West) and all other parts of the Western Carpathians (North and East). In the southwestern part of the Danubian lowland is situated Rye Island (Žitný ostrov) - the largest river island in Europe. Despite the fact that the territory is being used for agricultural production (it is the most fertile territory of Slovakia) there are valuable natural and protected areas e.g. Dunajské luhy Protected Landscape Area (in the southwestern part  of the Danubian lowland), Special Protected Area (SPA) Parížské močiare (in the southeastern part), SPA Žitavský luh (in the north part), SPA Dolné Pohronie (southeastern part). From a geomorphological point of view Danubian lowland (Podunajská nížina) as a geomorphological area is part of subprovince Little Danubian Plain (in Slovak Malá dunajská kotlina) : Alpine-Himalayan system -> Pannonian Basin -> West Pannonian Basin -> Little Danubian Plain (Malá dunajská kotlina). It is divided into geomorphological wholes Danubian Flat (in Slovak Podunajská rovina) and Danubian Hills (in Slovak Podunajská pahorkatina).
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Eastern Slovak Lowland
Eastern Slovak Lowland (Východoslovenská nížina)
Eastern Slovak Lowland (in Slovak Východoslovenská nížina) is situated on the South-Eastern Slovakia (south part of East Slovakia), in the territory of the Košice region and part of the lowland extends into the Prešov region. TheEastern Slovak Lowland is the second largest lowland in Slovakia with an area of approximately 2,400 km2. The southern edge forms the border with Hungary, to the East it borders with the Ukraine, in the West it passes into the Slanec Hills (Slanské vrchy) and in the North it borders with the Nízke Beskydy mountains (subwhole Beskydské predhorie) and Vihorlat Mountains ((in Slovak Vihorlatské vrchy). Eastern Slovak Lowland is an extensive flat area, where the altitude is around 150-200 metres. Only sporadically there rises hills over the plane. There is lowest point in Slovakia (lowest point above sea level) 94.3 m. a.s.l. near the municipality Klin nad Bodrogom in mouth of the Bodrog river from the Slovak side (the Bodrog River crosses the border with Hungary near the villages of Klin nad Bodrogom and Borša). From a geomorphological point of view Eastern Slovak Lowland as a geomorphological area is part of subprovince Great Danubian Plain (in Slovak Veľká dunajská kotlina) : Alpine-Himalayan system -> Pannonian Basin -> East Pannonian Basin -> Great Danubian Plain (in Slovak Veľká dunajská kotlina). It is divided into geomorphological wholes Eastern Slovak Flat (in Slovak Východoslovenská rovina) and Eastern Slovak Hills (in Slovak Východoslovenská pahorkatina).
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Zahorska lowland
Zahorska lowland (Záhorská nížina)
Zahorska lowland (in Slovak Záhorská nížina) is located on the South-Western Slovakia. It has an area of approximately 1,500 km2. It is situated in Bratislava Region (Bratislavský kraj) and Trnava Region (in Slovak Trnavský kraj) territories. To the North it borders with the White Carpathians (Biele Karpaty) mountains, to the East with the Little Carpathians (in Slovak Malé Karpaty) mountains, in the South and South-West with Austria, and to the Northwest with lowland Dolnomoravský úval. The Western and the southern part is mostly flat, to the North and to the East is the appearance of approaching hilly area. The surface of the lowlands make up the agricultural areas, which are interlaced with pine woods, wind-blown sands and water surfaces. From a geomorphological point of view Zahorska lowland (Záhorská nížina) as a geomorphological area is part of subprovince Vienna Basin (Viedenská kotlina) : Alpine-Himalayan system -> Pannonian Basin -> West Pannonian Basin -> Vienna Basin (in Slovak Viedenská kotlina). It is divided into geomorphological wholes Borská nížina and Chvojnická pahorkatina.
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Borska lowland
Borska lowland (Borská nížina)
Borska lowland (in Slovak Borská nížina)  is a part of Zahorska lowland (in Slovak Záhorská nížina). It is a territory with flat and hilly relief. From a geomorphological point of view Borska lowland (Borská nížina) as a geomorphological whole is part of area Zahorska lowland (Záhorská nížina) : Alpine-Himalayan system -> Pannonian Basin -> West Pannonian Basin -> Vienna Basin (Viedenská kotlina) ->  Záhorská lowland (Záhorská nížina) . It is divided into geomorphological subwholes: Bor, Podmalokarpatská zníženina, Novoveská plošina, Záhorské pláňavy, Gbelský bor, Dolnomoravská niva, Myjavská niva.
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Lower Morava Valley (Dolnomoravský úval)
Lower Morava Valley (Dolnomoravský úval)
Lower Morava Valley (in Slovak Dolnomoravský úval) can be considered a river plain - it is located in western Slovakia and the southeastern Czech Republic on the lower course of the Morava River.  
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