Common term: Mountain region, Plural: Mountain regions
Short definition: the mountain typology is applied at the level of NUTS level 3 regions. It identifies mountain regions in the European Union (EU) as NUTS level 3 regions where more than half of the surface is covered by mountain areas, or in which more than half of the population lives in mountain areas.
The mountain typology is a classification based on the following two categories:
- mountain regions;
- non-mountain regions (those regions that are not defined as mountain regions).
Mountain regions may be divided into three different categories, defined as NUTS level 3 regions:
- where more than 50 % of the surface is covered by topographic mountain areas;
- in which more than 50 % of the regional population lives in topographic mountain areas;
- where more than 50 % of the surface is covered by topographic mountain areas and where more than 50 % of the regional population lives in these mountain areas.
Further information
- See Chapter 10 of Eurostat's Territorial typologies manual
- Mountain areas in Europe: analysis of mountain areas in EU Member States, acceding and other European countries
- Geodata for mountain areas; note, these files can only be read when using geographical information system (GIS) software.