Editing Moravia (section)

==Geography==
Moravia occupies most of the eastern part of the [[Czech Republic]]. Moravian territory is naturally strongly determined, in fact, as the [[Morava (river)|Morava]] [[Drainage basin|river basin]], with strong effect of mountains in the west (''de facto''  main [[Water divide|European continental divide]]) and partly in the east, where all the [[Spring (hydrology)|rivers rise]].

Moravia occupies an exceptional position in Central Europe. All the [[highland]]s in the west and east of this part of Europe run west–east, and therefore form a kind of filter, making north–south or south–north movement more difficult. Only Moravia with the depression of the westernmost [[Outer Subcarpathia]], {{convert|14-40|km|mi|0|sp=us}} wide, between the [[Bohemian Massif]] and the [[Outer Western Carpathians]] (gripping the [[Meridian (geography)|meridian]] at a constant angle of 30°){{clarify|date=April 2025}}, provides a comfortable connection between the [[Pannonian Basin|Danubian]] and [[Silesian Lowlands|Polish regions]], and this area is thus of great importance in terms of the possible migration routes of large mammals<ref name="anton">{{cite journal |last1=Antón |first1=Mauricio |last2=Galobart |first2=Angel |last3=Turner |first3=Alan |date=May 2005 |title=Co-existence of scimitar-toothed cats, lions and hominins in the European Pleistocene. Implications of the post-cranial anatomy of Homotherium latidens (Owen) for comparative palaeoecology |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |volume=24 |issue=10–11 |pages=1287–1301 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2004.09.008 |bibcode=2005QSRv...24.1287A }}</ref> – both as regards periodically recurring seasonal migrations triggered by climatic oscillations in the [[prehistory]], when permanent [[Human settlement|settlement]] started.

[[File:Kralicky-Sneznik-03.jpg|thumb|Rolling hills of the [[Králický Sněžník]] massif, [[Dolní Morava|Horní Morava]], near the border with [[Bohemia]]]]
[[File:Smrk a rameno Šance 1.jpg|thumb|[[Šance Reservoir]] on the [[Ostravice (river)|Ostravice]] River in the [[Moravian-Silesian Beskids]]; the river forms the border with [[Czech Silesia|Silesia]].]]
[[File:Step v říjnu.jpg|thumb|[[:cs:Mohelenská hadcová step|Steppe landscape]] near [[Mohelno]]]]

Moravia borders [[Bohemia]] in the west, [[Lower Austria]] in the southwest, [[Slovakia]] in the southeast, [[Poland]] for a short distance in the north, and [[Czech Silesia]] in the northeast. Its natural boundary is formed by the [[Sudetes]] mountains in the north, the [[Carpathian Mountains|Carpathians]] in the east and the [[Bohemian-Moravian Highlands]] in the west (the border runs from [[Králický Sněžník]] in the north, over [[Suchý vrch]], across the [[Upper Svratka Highlands]] and [[Javořice Highlands (Moravia)|Javořice Highlands]] to a [[tripoint]] near [[Slavonice]] in the south). The [[Thaya]] river meanders along the border with [[Austria]], and the tripoint of Moravia, Austria and [[Slovakia]] is at the [[confluence]] of the Thaya and Morava rivers. The northeast border with Silesia runs partly along the [[Moravice (river)|Moravice]], [[Oder]] and [[Ostravice]] rivers. Between 1782 and 1850, Moravia (also thus known as ''Moravia-Silesia'') also included a small portion of the former province of [[Silesia]] – the [[Austrian Silesia]]. (When Frederick the Great annexed most of ancient Silesia (the land of upper and middle Oder river) to [[Prussia]], Silesia's southernmost part remained with the [[Habsburg]]s.)

Today Moravia includes the [[South Moravian Region|South Moravian]] and [[Zlín Region|Zlín]] regions, the vast majority of the [[Olomouc Region]], the southeastern half of the [[Vysočina Region]] and parts of the [[Moravian-Silesian Region|Moravian-Silesian]], [[Pardubice Region|Pardubice]] and [[South Bohemian Region|South Bohemian]] regions.

Geologically, Moravia covers an area between the [[Bohemian Massif]] and the Carpathians (from northwest to southeast), and between the [[Danube]] basin and the [[North European Plain]] (from south to northeast). Its core geomorphological features are three wide valleys, namely the [[Dyje-Svratka Valley]] (''Dyjsko-svratecký úval''), the [[Upper Morava Valley]] (''Hornomoravský úval'') and the [[Lower Morava Valley]] (''Dolnomoravský úval''). The first two form the westernmost part of the [[Outer Subcarpathia]]; the last is the northernmost part of the [[Vienna Basin]]. The valleys surround the low range of [[Central Moravian Carpathians]]. The highest mountains of Moravia are situated on its northern border in [[Hrubý Jeseník]]; the highest peak is [[Praděd]] (1491&nbsp;m). Second highest is the [[massif]] of Králický Sněžník (1424&nbsp;m) the third are the [[Moravian-Silesian Beskids]] at the extreme east, with [[Smrk (Moravian-Silesian Beskids)|Smrk]] (1278&nbsp;m), and then south from here [[Javorníky]] (1072). The [[White Carpathians]] along the southeastern border rise up to 970&nbsp;m at [[Velká Javořina]]. The [[Bohemian-Moravian Highlands]] on the west reach 837&nbsp;m at [[Javořice]].

The river system of Moravia is very cohesive{{clarify|date=April 2025}}, as the region's border closely follows the watershed of the Morava river, and thus almost the entire area is drained exclusively by a single stream. Easily the Morava's biggest tributaries are Thaya (Dyje) from the right (or west) and [[Bečva]] (east). The Morava and the Thaya meet at the southernmost and lowest (148&nbsp;m) point of Moravia. Small peripheral parts of Moravia belong to the catchment areas of [[Elbe]], [[Váh]] and especially [[Oder]] (the northeast). The watershed line running along Moravia's border from west to north and east is part of the [[European Watershed]]. For centuries, there have been plans to build a waterway across Moravia to [[Danube–Oder Canal|join the Danube and Oder]] river systems, using the natural route through the [[Moravian Gate]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.d-o-l.cz/index.php/en/about-d-o-e-project|title=About the multipurpose water corridor Danube-Oder-Elbe|last=Administrator|access-date=26 June 2016|archive-date=17 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160517151544/http://www.d-o-l.cz/index.php/en/about-d-o-e-project|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Klimo |first1=Emil |last2=Hager |first2=Herbert |date=2000 |title=The Floodplain Forests in Europe: Current Situation and Perspectives (European Forest Institute research reports) |location=Leiden |publisher=Brill |page=48 |isbn=9789004119581}}</ref>