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Field Listing :: Terrain
This entry contains a brief description of the topography.

By Country Listing of the values for the Terrain field
Country | Terrain
--- | ---
Afghanistan | mostly rugged mountains; plains in north and southwest
Albania | mostly mountains and hills; small plains along coast
Algeria | mostly high plateau and desert; Atlas Mountains in the far north and Hoggar Mountains in the south; narrow, discontinuous coastal plain
American Samoa | five volcanic islands with rugged peaks and limited coastal plains, two coral atolls (Rose Island, Swains Island)
Andorra | rugged mountains dissected by narrow valleys
Angola | narrow coastal plain rises abruptly to vast interior plateau
Anguilla | flat and low-lying island of coral and limestone
Antarctica | about 98% thick continental ice sheet and 2% barren rock, with average elevations between 2,000 and 4,000 m; mountain ranges up to nearly 5,000 m; ice-free coastal areas include parts of southern Victoria Land, Wilkes Land, the Antarctic Peninsula area, and parts of Ross Island on McMurdo Sound; glaciers form ice shelves along about half of the coastline, and floating ice shelves constitute 11% of the area of the continent
Antigua and Barbuda | mostly low-lying limestone and coral islands, with some higher volcanic areas
Arctic Ocean | central surface covered by a perennial drifting polar icepack that, on average, is about 3 m thick, although pressure ridges may be three times that thickness; the icepack is surrounded by open seas during the summer, but more than doubles in size during the winter and extends to the encircling landmasses; the ocean floor is about 50% continental shelf (highest percentage of any ocean) with the remainder a central basin interrupted by three submarine ridges (Alpha Cordillera, Nansen Cordillera, and Lomonosov Ridge) major surface currents: two major, slow-moving, wind-driven currents (drift streams) dominate: a clockwise drift pattern in the Beaufort Gyre in the western part of the Arctic Ocean and a nearly straight line Transpolar Drift Stream that moves across the ocean from the New Siberian Islands (Russia) to the Fram Strait (between Greenland and Svalbard); sea ice that lies close to the center of the gyre can complete a 360 degree circle in about 2 years, while ice on the gyre periphery will complete the same circle in about 7-8 years; sea ice in the Transpolar Drift crosses the ocean in about 3 years
Argentina | rich plains of the Pampas in northern half, flat to rolling plateau of Patagonia in south, rugged Andes along western border
Armenia | Armenian Highland with mountains; little forest land; fast flowing rivers; good soil in Aras River valley
Aruba | flat with a few hills; scant vegetation
Ashmore and Cartier Islands | low with sand and coral
Atlantic Ocean | surface usually covered with sea ice in Labrador Sea, Denmark Strait, and coastal portions of the Baltic Sea from October to June; surface dominated by two large gyres (broad, circular systems of currents), one in the northern Atlantic and another in the southern Atlantic; the ocean floor is dominated by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a rugged north-south centerline for the entire Atlantic basin major surface currents: clockwise North Atlantic Gyre consists of the warm Gulf Stream in the west, the North Atlantic Current in the north, the cold Canary Current in the east, and the North Equatorial Current in the south; the counterclockwise South Atlantic Gyre composed of the warm Brazil Current in the west, the South Atlantic Current in the south, the cold Benguela Current in the east, and the South Equatorial Current in the north
Australia | mostly low plateau with deserts; fertile plain in southeast
Austria | mostly mountains (Alps) in the west and south; mostly flat or gently sloping along the eastern and northern margins
Azerbaijan | large, flat Kur-Araz Ovaligi (Kura-Araks Lowland, much of it below sea level) with Great Caucasus Mountains to the north, Qarabag Yaylasi (Karabakh Upland) to the west; Baku lies on Abseron Yasaqligi (Apsheron Peninsula) that juts into Caspian Sea
Bahamas, The | long, flat coral formations with some low rounded hills
Bahrain | mostly low desert plain rising gently to low central escarpment
Bangladesh | mostly flat alluvial plain; hilly in southeast
Barbados | relatively flat; rises gently to central highland region
Belarus | generally flat with much marshland
Belgium | flat coastal plains in northwest, central rolling hills, rugged mountains of Ardennes Forest in southeast
Belize | flat, swampy coastal plain; low mountains in south
Benin | mostly flat to undulating plain; some hills and low mountains
Bermuda | low hills separated by fertile depressions
Bhutan | mostly mountainous with some fertile valleys and savanna
Bolivia | rugged Andes Mountains with a highland plateau (Altiplano), hills, lowland plains of the Amazon Basin
Bosnia and Herzegovina | mountains and valleys
Botswana | predominantly flat to gently rolling tableland; Kalahari Desert in southwest
Bouvet Island | volcanic; coast is mostly inaccessible
Brazil | mostly flat to rolling lowlands in north; some plains, hills, mountains, and narrow coastal belt
British Indian Ocean Territory | flat and low (most areas do not exceed two m in elevation)
British Virgin Islands | coral islands relatively flat; volcanic islands steep, hilly
Brunei | flat coastal plain rises to mountains in east; hilly lowland in west
Bulgaria | mostly mountains with lowlands in north and southeast
Burkina Faso | mostly flat to dissected, undulating plains; hills in west and southeast
Burma | central lowlands ringed by steep, rugged highlands
Burundi | hilly and mountainous, dropping to a plateau in east, some plains
Cabo Verde | steep, rugged, rocky, volcanic
Cambodia | mostly low, flat plains; mountains in southwest and north
Cameroon | diverse, with coastal plain in southwest, dissected plateau in center, mountains in west, plains in north
Canada | mostly plains with mountains in west, lowlands in southeast
Cayman Islands | low-lying limestone base surrounded by coral reefs
Central African Republic | vast, flat to rolling plateau; scattered hills in northeast and southwest
Chad | broad, arid plains in center, desert in north, mountains in northwest, lowlands in south
Chile | low coastal mountains, fertile central valley, rugged Andes in east
China | mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains, deltas, and hills in east
Christmas Island | steep cliffs along coast rise abruptly to central plateau
Clipperton Island | coral atoll
Cocos (Keeling) Islands | flat, low-lying coral atolls
Colombia | flat coastal lowlands, central highlands, high Andes Mountains, eastern lowland plains (Llanos)
Comoros | volcanic islands, interiors vary from steep mountains to low hills
Congo, Democratic Republic of the | vast central basin is a low-lying plateau; mountains in east
Congo, Republic of the | coastal plain, southern basin, central plateau, northern basin
Cook Islands | low coral atolls in north; volcanic, hilly islands in south
Coral Sea Islands | sand and coral reefs and islands (cays)
Costa Rica | coastal plains separated by rugged mountains including over 100 volcanic cones, of which several are major active volcanoes
Cote d'Ivoire | mostly flat to undulating plains; mountains in northwest
Croatia | geographically diverse; flat plains along Hungarian border, low mountains and highlands near Adriatic coastline and islands
Cuba | mostly flat to rolling plains, with rugged hills and mountains in the southeast
Curacao | generally low, hilly terrain
Cyprus | central plain with mountains to north and south; scattered but significant plains along southern coast
Czechia | Bohemia in the west consists of rolling plains, hills, and plateaus surrounded by low mountains; Moravia in the east consists of very hilly country
Denmark | low and flat to gently rolling plains
Djibouti | coastal plain and plateau separated by central mountains
Dominica | rugged mountains of volcanic origin
Dominican Republic | rugged highlands and mountains interspersed with fertile valleys
Ecuador | coastal plain (costa), inter-Andean central highlands (sierra), and flat to rolling eastern jungle (oriente)
Egypt | vast desert plateau interrupted by Nile valley and delta
El Salvador | mostly mountains with narrow coastal belt and central plateau
Equatorial Guinea | coastal plains rise to interior hills; islands are volcanic
Eritrea | dominated by extension of Ethiopian north-south trending highlands, descending on the east to a coastal desert plain, on the northwest to hilly terrain and on the southwest to flat-to-rolling plains
Estonia | marshy, lowlands; flat in the north, hilly in the south
Eswatini | mostly mountains and hills; some moderately sloping plains
Ethiopia | high plateau with central mountain range divided by Great Rift Valley
European Union | fairly flat along Baltic and Atlantic coasts; mountainous in the central and southern areas
Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) | rocky, hilly, mountainous with some boggy, undulating plains
Faroe Islands | rugged, rocky, some low peaks; cliffs along most of coast
Fiji | mostly mountains of volcanic origin
Finland | mostly low, flat to rolling plains interspersed with lakes and low hills
France | metropolitan France: mostly flat plains or gently rolling hills in north and west; remainder is mountainous, especially Pyrenees in south, Alps in east; French Guiana: low-lying coastal plains rising to hills and small mountains; Guadeloupe: Basse-Terre is volcanic in origin with interior mountains; Grande-Terre is low limestone formation; most of the seven other islands are volcanic in origin; Martinique: mountainous with indented coastline; dormant volcano; Mayotte: generally undulating, with deep ravines and ancient volcanic peaks; Reunion: mostly rugged and mountainous; fertile lowlands along coast
French Polynesia | mixture of rugged high islands and low islands with reefs
French Southern and Antarctic Lands | Ile Amsterdam (Ile Amsterdam et Ile Saint-Paul): a volcanic island with steep coastal cliffs; the center floor of the volcano is a large plateau; Ile Saint-Paul (Ile Amsterdam et Ile Saint-Paul): triangular in shape, the island is the top of a volcano, rocky with steep cliffs on the eastern side; has active thermal springs; Iles Crozet: a large archipelago formed from the Crozet Plateau is divided into two groups of islands; Iles Kerguelen: the interior of the large island of Ile Kerguelen is composed of high mountains, hills, valleys, and plains with peninsulas stretching off its coasts; Bassas da India (Iles Eparses): atoll, awash at high tide; shallow (15 m) lagoon; Europa Island, Glorioso Islands, Juan de Nova Island: low, flat, and sandy; Tromelin Island (Iles Eparses): low, flat, sandy; likely volcanic seamount
Gabon | narrow coastal plain; hilly interior; savanna in east and south
Gambia, The | flood plain of the Gambia River flanked by some low hills
Gaza Strip | flat to rolling, sand- and dune-covered coastal plain
Georgia | largely mountainous with Great Caucasus Mountains in the north and Lesser Caucasus Mountains in the south; Kolkhet'is Dablobi (Kolkhida Lowland) opens to the Black Sea in the west; Mtkvari River Basin in the east; fertile soils in river valley flood plains and foothills of Kolkhida Lowland
Germany | lowlands in north, uplands in center, Bavarian Alps in south
Ghana | mostly low plains with dissected plateau in south-central area
Gibraltar | a narrow coastal lowland borders the Rock of Gibraltar
Greece | mountainous with ranges extending into the sea as peninsulas or chains of islands
Greenland | flat to gradually sloping icecap covers all but a narrow, mountainous, barren, rocky coast
Grenada | volcanic in origin with central mountains
Guam | volcanic origin, surrounded by coral reefs; relatively flat coralline limestone plateau (source of most fresh water), with steep coastal cliffs and narrow coastal plains in north, low hills in center, mountains in south
Guatemala | two east-west trending mountain chains divide the country into three regions: the mountainous highlands, the Pacific coast south of mountains, and the vast northern Peten lowlands
Guernsey | mostly flat with low hills in southwest
Guinea | generally flat coastal plain, hilly to mountainous interior
Guinea-Bissau | mostly low-lying coastal plain with a deeply indented estuarine coastline rising to savanna in east; numerous off-shore islands including the Arquipelago Dos Bijagos consisting of 18 main islands and many small islets
Guyana | mostly rolling highlands; low coastal plain; savanna in south
Haiti | mostly rough and mountainous
Heard Island and McDonald Islands | Heard Island - 80% ice-covered, bleak and mountainous, dominated by a large massif (Big Ben) and an active volcano (Mawson Peak); McDonald Islands - small and rocky
Holy See (Vatican City) | urban; low hill
Honduras | mostly mountains in interior, narrow coastal plains
Hong Kong | hilly to mountainous with steep slopes; lowlands in north
Howland Island | low-lying, nearly level, sandy, coral island surrounded by a narrow fringing reef; depressed central area
Hungary | mostly flat to rolling plains; hills and low mountains on the Slovakian border
Iceland | mostly plateau interspersed with mountain peaks, icefields; coast deeply indented by bays and fiords
India | upland plain (Deccan Plateau) in south, flat to rolling plain along the Ganges, deserts in west, Himalayas in north
Indian Ocean | surface dominated by a major gyre (broad, circular system of currents) in the southern Indian Ocean and a unique reversal of surface currents in the northern Indian Ocean; ocean floor is dominated by the Mid-Indian Ocean Ridge and subdivided by the Southeast Indian Ocean Ridge, Southwest Indian Ocean Ridge, and Ninetyeast Ridge major surface currents: the counterclockwise Indian Ocean Gyre comprised of the warm Agulhas and East Madagascar Currents in the west, the South Indian Current in the south, the cold West Australian Current in the east, and the South Equatorial Current in the north; a distinctive annual reversal of surface currents occurs in the northern Indian Ocean; low atmospheric pressure over southwest Asia from hot, rising, summer air results in the southwest monsoon and southwest-to-northeast winds and clockwise currents, while high pressure over northern Asia from cold, falling, winter air results in the northeast monsoon and northeast-to-southwest winds and counterclockwise currents
Indonesia | mostly coastal lowlands; larger islands have interior mountains
Iran | rugged, mountainous rim; high, central basin with deserts, mountains; small, discontinuous plains along both coasts
Iraq | mostly broad plains; reedy marshes along Iranian border in south with large flooded areas; mountains along borders with Iran and Turkey
Ireland | mostly flat to rolling interior plain surrounded by rugged hills and low mountains; sea cliffs on west coast
Isle of Man | hills in north and south bisected by central valley
Israel | Negev desert in the south; low coastal plain; central mountains; Jordan Rift Valley
Italy | mostly rugged and mountainous; some plains, coastal lowlands
Jamaica | mostly mountains, with narrow, discontinuous coastal plain
Jan Mayen | volcanic island, partly covered by glaciers
Japan | mostly rugged and mountainous
Jarvis Island | sandy, coral island surrounded by a narrow fringing reef
Jersey | gently rolling plain with low, rugged hills along north coast
Johnston Atoll | mostly flat
Jordan | mostly desert plateau in east, highland area in west; Great Rift Valley separates eastern and western banks of the Jordan River
Kazakhstan | vast flat steppe extending from the Volga in the west to the Altai Mountains in the east and from the plains of western Siberia in the north to oases and deserts of Central Asia in the south
Kenya | low plains rise to central highlands bisected by Great Rift Valley; fertile plateau in west
Kingman Reef | low and nearly level
Kiribati | mostly low-lying coral atolls surrounded by extensive reefs
Korea, North | mostly hills and mountains separated by deep, narrow valleys; wide coastal plains in west, discontinuous in east
Korea, South | mostly hills and mountains; wide coastal plains in west and south
Kosovo | flat fluvial basin at an elevation of 400-700 m above sea level surrounded by several high mountain ranges with elevations of 2,000 to 2,500 m
Kuwait | flat to slightly undulating desert plain
Kyrgyzstan | peaks of the Tien Shan mountain range and associated valleys and basins encompass the entire country
Laos | mostly rugged mountains; some plains and plateaus
Latvia | low plain
Lebanon | narrow coastal plain; El Beqaa (Bekaa Valley) separates Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon Mountains
Lesotho | mostly highland with plateaus, hills, and mountains
Liberia | mostly flat to rolling coastal plains rising to rolling plateau and low mountains in northeast
Libya | mostly barren, flat to undulating plains, plateaus, depressions
Liechtenstein | mostly mountainous (Alps) with Rhine Valley in western third
Lithuania | lowland, many scattered small lakes, fertile soil
Luxembourg | mostly gently rolling uplands with broad, shallow valleys; uplands to slightly mountainous in the north; steep slope down to Moselle flood plain in the southeast
Macau | generally flat
Macedonia | mountainous with deep basins and valleys; three large lakes, each divided by a frontier line; country bisected by the Vardar River
Madagascar | narrow coastal plain, high plateau and mountains in center
Malawi | narrow elongated plateau with rolling plains, rounded hills, some mountains
Malaysia | coastal plains rising to hills and mountains
Maldives | flat, with white sandy beaches
Mali | mostly flat to rolling northern plains covered by sand; savanna in south, rugged hills in northeast
Malta | mostly low, rocky, flat to dissected plains; many coastal cliffs
Marshall Islands | low coral limestone and sand islands
Mauritania | mostly barren, flat plains of the Sahara; some central hills
Mauritius | small coastal plain rising to discontinuous mountains encircling central plateau
Mexico | high, rugged mountains; low coastal plains; high plateaus; desert
Micronesia, Federated States of | islands vary geologically from high mountainous islands to low, coral atolls; volcanic outcroppings on Pohnpei, Kosrae, and Chuuk
Midway Islands | low, nearly flat
Moldova | rolling steppe, gradual slope south to Black Sea
Monaco | hilly, rugged, rocky
Mongolia | vast semidesert and desert plains, grassy steppe, mountains in west and southwest; Gobi Desert in south-central
Montenegro | highly indented coastline with narrow coastal plain backed by rugged high limestone mountains and plateaus
Montserrat | volcanic island, mostly mountainous, with small coastal lowland
Morocco | mountainous northern coast (Rif Mountains) and interior (Atlas Mountains) bordered by large plateaus with intermontane valleys, and fertile coastal plains
Mozambique | mostly coastal lowlands, uplands in center, high plateaus in northwest, mountains in west
Namibia | mostly high plateau; Namib Desert along coast; Kalahari Desert in east
Nauru | sandy beach rises to fertile ring around raised coral reefs with phosphate plateau in center
Navassa Island | raised flat to undulating coral and limestone plateau; ringed by vertical white cliffs (9 to 15 m high)
Nepal | Tarai or flat river plain of the Ganges in south; central hill region with rugged Himalayas in north
Netherlands | mostly coastal lowland and reclaimed land (polders); some hills in southeast
New Caledonia | coastal plains with interior mountains
New Zealand | predominately mountainous with large coastal plains
Nicaragua | extensive Atlantic coastal plains rising to central interior mountains; narrow Pacific coastal plain interrupted by volcanoes
Niger | predominately desert plains and sand dunes; flat to rolling plains in south; hills in north
Nigeria | southern lowlands merge into central hills and plateaus; mountains in southeast, plains in north
Niue | steep limestone cliffs along coast, central plateau
Norfolk Island | volcanic island with mostly rolling plains
Northern Mariana Islands | the southern islands in this north-south trending archipelago are limestone, with fringing coral reefs; the northern islands are volcanic, with active volcanoes on several islands
Norway | glaciated; mostly high plateaus and rugged mountains broken by fertile valleys; small, scattered plains; coastline deeply indented by fjords; arctic tundra in north
Oman | central desert plain, rugged mountains in north and south
Pacific Ocean | surface dominated by two large gyres (broad, circular systems of currents), one in the northern Pacific and another in the southern Pacific; in the northern Pacific, sea ice forms in the Bering Sea and Sea of Okhotsk in winter; in the southern Pacific, sea ice from Antarctica reaches its northernmost extent in October; the ocean floor in the eastern Pacific is dominated by the East Pacific Rise, while the western Pacific is dissected by deep trenches, including the Mariana Trench, which is the world's deepest at 10,924 m major surface currents: clockwise North Pacific Gyre formed by the warm Kuroshio Current in the west, the North Pacific Current in the north, the cold California Current in the east, and the North Equatorial Current in the south; the counterclockwise South Pacific Gyre composed of the warm East Australian Current in the west, the South Pacific Current in the south, the cold Peru (Humbolt) Current in the east, and the South Equatorial Current in the north
Pakistan | divided into three major geographic areas: the northern highlands, the Indus River plain in the center and east, and the Balochistan Plateau in the south and west
Palau | varying topography from the high, mountainous main island of Babelthuap to low, coral islands usually fringed by large barrier reefs
Palmyra Atoll | very lowlying atoll consists of an extensive reef, two shallow lagoons, and about 50 islets and bars covered with vegetation
Panama | interior mostly steep, rugged mountains with dissected, upland plains; coastal plains with rolling hills
Papua New Guinea | mostly mountains with coastal lowlands and rolling foothills
Paracel Islands | mostly low and flat
Paraguay | grassy plains and wooded hills east of Rio Paraguay; Gran Chaco region west of Rio Paraguay mostly low, marshy plain near the river, and dry forest and thorny scrub elsewhere
Peru | western coastal plain (costa), high and rugged Andes in center (sierra), eastern lowland jungle of Amazon Basin (selva)
Philippines | mostly mountains with narrow to extensive coastal lowlands
Pitcairn Islands | rugged volcanic formation; rocky coastline with cliffs
Poland | mostly flat plain; mountains along southern border
Portugal | the west-flowing Tagus River divides the country: the north is mountainous toward the interior, while the south is characterized by rolling plains
Puerto Rico | mostly mountains with coastal plain in north; precipitous mountains to the sea on west coast; sandy beaches along most coastal areas
Qatar | mostly flat and barren desert
Romania | central Transylvanian Basin is separated from the Moldavian Plateau on the east by the Eastern Carpathian Mountains and separated from the Walachian Plain on the south by the Transylvanian Alps
Russia | broad plain with low hills west of Urals; vast coniferous forest and tundra in Siberia; uplands and mountains along southern border regions
Rwanda | mostly grassy uplands and hills; relief is mountainous with altitude declining from west to east
Saint Barthelemy | hilly, almost completely surrounded by shallow-water reefs, with plentiful beaches
Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha | the islands of this group are of volcanic origin associated with the Atlantic Mid-Ocean Ridge Saint Helena: rugged, volcanic; small scattered plateaus and plains; Ascension: surface covered by lava flows and cinder cones of 44 dormant volcanoes; terrain rises to the east; Tristan da Cunha: sheer cliffs line the coastline of the nearly circular island; the flanks of the central volcanic peak are deeply dissected; narrow coastal plain lies between The Peak and the coastal cliffs
Saint Kitts and Nevis | volcanic with mountainous interiors
Saint Lucia | volcanic and mountainous with broad, fertile valleys
Saint Pierre and Miquelon | mostly barren rock
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | volcanic, mountainous
Samoa | two main islands (Savaii, Upolu) and several smaller islands and uninhabited islets; narrow coastal plain with volcanic, rugged mountains in interior
San Marino | rugged mountains
Sao Tome and Principe | volcanic, mountainous
Saudi Arabia | mostly sandy desert
Senegal | generally low, rolling, plains rising to foothills in southeast
Serbia | extremely varied; to the north, rich fertile plains; to the east, limestone ranges and basins; to the southeast, ancient mountains and hills
Seychelles | Mahe Group is volcanic with a narrow coastal strip and rocky, hilly interior; others are coral, flat, elevated reefs
Sierra Leone | coastal belt of mangrove swamps, wooded hill country, upland plateau, mountains in east
Singapore | lowlying, gently undulating central plateau
Sint Maarten | low, hilly terrain, volcanic origin
Slovakia | rugged mountains in the central and northern part and lowlands in the south
Slovenia | a short southwestern coastal strip of Karst topography on the Adriatic; an alpine mountain region lies adjacent to Italy and Austria in the north; mixed mountains and valleys with numerous rivers to the east
Solomon Islands | mostly rugged mountains with some low coral atolls
Somalia | mostly flat to undulating plateau rising to hills in north
South Africa | vast interior plateau rimmed by rugged hills and narrow coastal plain
South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands | most of the islands are rugged and mountainous rising steeply from the sea; South Georgia is largely barren with steep, glacier-covered mountains; the South Sandwich Islands are of volcanic origin with some active volcanoes
South Sudan | plains in the north and center rise to southern highlands along the border with Uganda and Kenya; the White Nile, flowing north out of the uplands of Central Africa, is the major geographic feature of the country; The Sudd (a name derived from floating vegetation that hinders navigation) is a large swampy area of more than 100,000 sq km fed by the waters of the White Nile that dominates the center of the country
Southern Ocean | the Southern Ocean is 4,000 to 5,000-m deep over most of its extent with only limited areas of shallow water; the Antarctic continental shelf is generally narrow and unusually deep, its edge lying at depths of 400 to 800 m (the global mean is 133 m); the Antarctic icepack grows from an average minimum of 2.6 million sq km in March to about 18.8 million sq km in September, better than a sixfold increase in area major surface currents: the cold, clockwise-flowing Antarctic Circumpolar Current (West Wind Drift; 21,000 km long) moves perpetually eastward around the continent and is the world's largest and strongest ocean current, transporting 130 million cubic meters of water per second - 100 times the flow of all the world's rivers; it is also the only current that flows all the way around the planet and connects the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans; the cold Antarctic Coastal Current (East Wind Drift) is the southernmost current in the world, flowing westward and parallel to the Antarctic coastline
Spain | large, flat to dissected plateau surrounded by rugged hills; Pyrenees Mountains in north
Spratly Islands | small, flat islands, islets, cays, and reefs
Sri Lanka | mostly low, flat to rolling plain; mountains in south-central interior
Sudan | generally flat, featureless plain; desert dominates the north
Suriname | mostly rolling hills; narrow coastal plain with swamps
Svalbard | rugged mountains; much of the upland areas are ice covered; west coast clear of ice about half the year; fjords along west and north coasts
Sweden | mostly flat or gently rolling lowlands; mountains in west
Switzerland | mostly mountains (Alps in south, Jura in northwest) with a central plateau of rolling hills, plains, and large lakes
Syria | primarily semiarid and desert plateau; narrow coastal plain; mountains in west
Taiwan | eastern two-thirds mostly rugged mountains; flat to gently rolling plains in west
Tajikistan | mountainous region dominated by the Trans-Alay Range in the north and the Pamirs in the southeast; western Fergana Valley in north, Kofarnihon and Vakhsh Valleys in southwest
Tanzania | plains along coast; central plateau; highlands in north, south
Thailand | central plain; Khorat Plateau in the east; mountains elsewhere
Timor-Leste | mountainous
Togo | gently rolling savanna in north; central hills; southern plateau; low coastal plain with extensive lagoons and marshes
Tokelau | low-lying coral atolls enclosing large lagoons
Tonga | mostly flat islands with limestone bedrock formed from uplifted coral formation; others have limestone overlying volcanic rock
Trinidad and Tobago | mostly plains with some hills and low mountains
Tunisia | mountains in north; hot, dry central plain; semiarid south merges into the Sahara
Turkey | high central plateau (Anatolia); narrow coastal plain; several mountain ranges
Turkmenistan | flat-to-rolling sandy desert with dunes rising to mountains in the south; low mountains along border with Iran; borders Caspian Sea in west
Turks and Caicos Islands | low, flat limestone; extensive marshes and mangrove swamps
Tuvalu | low-lying and narrow coral atolls
Uganda | mostly plateau with rim of mountains
Ukraine | mostly fertile plains (steppes) and plateaus, with mountains found only in the west (the Carpathians) or in the extreme south of the Crimean Peninsula
United Arab Emirates | flat, barren coastal plain merging into rolling sand dunes of vast desert; mountains in east
United Kingdom | mostly rugged hills and low mountains; level to rolling plains in east and southeast
United States | vast central plain, mountains in west, hills and low mountains in east; rugged mountains and broad river valleys in Alaska; rugged, volcanic topography in Hawaii
United States Pacific Island Wildlife Refuges | low and nearly flat sandy coral islands with narrow fringing reefs that have developed at the top of submerged volcanic mountains, which in most cases rise steeply from the ocean floor
Uruguay | mostly rolling plains and low hills; fertile coastal lowland
Uzbekistan | mostly flat-to-rolling sandy desert with dunes; broad, flat intensely irrigated river valleys along course of Amu Darya, Syr Darya (Sirdaryo), and Zarafshon; Fergana Valley in east surrounded by mountainous Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan; shrinking Aral Sea in west
Vanuatu | mostly mountainous islands of volcanic origin; narrow coastal plains
Venezuela | Andes Mountains and Maracaibo Lowlands in northwest; central plains (llanos); Guiana Highlands in southeast
Vietnam | low, flat delta in south and north; central highlands; hilly, mountainous in far north and northwest
Virgin Islands | mostly hilly to rugged and mountainous with little flat land
Wake Island | atoll of three low coral islands, Peale, Wake, and Wilkes, built up on an underwater volcano; central lagoon is former crater, islands are part of the rim
Wallis and Futuna | volcanic origin; low hills
West Bank | mostly rugged, dissected upland in west, flat plains descending to Jordan River Valley to the east
Western Sahara | mostly low, flat desert with large areas of rocky or sandy surfaces rising to small mountains in south and northeast
World | tremendous variation of terrain on each of the continents; check the World 'Elevation' entry for a compilation of terrain extremes; the world's ocean floors are marked by mid-ocean ridges while the ocean surfaces form a dynamic, continuously changing environment; check the 'Terrain' field and its 'major surface currents' subfield under each of the five ocean (Arctic, Atlantic, Indian, Pacific, and Southern) entries for further information on oceanic environs
Yemen | narrow coastal plain backed by flat-topped hills and rugged mountains; dissected upland desert plains in center slope into the desert interior of the Arabian Peninsula
Zambia | mostly high plateau with some hills and mountains
Zimbabwe | mostly high plateau with higher central plateau (high veld); mountains in east

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