Editing Thuringia (section)

==Geography==
{{unreferenced section|date=January 2025}}
=== Topography ===
From the northwest going clockwise; Thuringia borders on the German states of [[Lower Saxony]], [[Saxony-Anhalt]], [[Saxony]], [[Bavaria]] and [[Hesse]].
[[File:Meuselbach Viehberg.JPG|thumb|right|[[Meuselbach-Schwarzmühle]] at the [[Thuringian Highland]]]]
The landscapes of Thuringia are quite diverse. The far north is occupied by the [[Harz]] mountains, followed by the [[Goldene Aue]], a fertile floodplain around [[Nordhausen, Thuringia|Nordhausen]] with the [[Helme (river)|Helme]] as most important river. The north-west includes the [[Eichsfeld]], a hilly and sometimes forested region, where the [[Leine]] river emanates. The central and northern part of Thuringia is defined by the {{cvt|3000|km2}} wide [[Thuringian Basin]], a very fertile and flat area around the [[Unstrut]] river and completely surrounded by the following hill chains (clockwise from the north-west): [[Dün]], [[Hainleite]], [[Windleite]], [[Kyffhäuser]], [[Hohe Schrecke]], [[Schmücke]], [[Finne (hills)|Finne]], [[Ettersberg]], [[Steigerwald (Erfurt)|Steigerwald]], [[Thuringian Forest]], [[Hörselberge]] and [[Hainich]]. Within the Basin the smaller hill chains [[Fahner Höhe (hills)|Fahner Höhe]] and [[Heilinger Höhen]]. South of the Thuringian Basin is the state's largest mountain range, marked by the [[Thuringian Forest]] in the north-west, the [[Thuringian Highland]] in the middle and the [[Franconian Forest]] in the south-east. Most of this range is forested and the [[Großer Beerberg]] (983 m) is Thuringia's highest mountain. To the south-west, the Forest is followed up by [[Werra]] river valley, dividing it from the [[Rhön Mountains]] in the west and the [[Grabfeld]] plain in the south. Eastern Thuringia, commonly described as the area east of [[Saale]] and [[Loquitz]] valley, is marked by a hilly landscape, rising slowly from the flat north to the mountainous south. The Saale in the west and the White Elster in the east are the two big rivers running from south to north and forming densely settled valleys in this area. Between them lies the flat and forested [[Thuringian Holzland|Holzland]] in the north, the flat and fertile [[Orlasenke]] in the middle and the [[Vogtland]], a hilly but in most parts non-forested region in the south. The far eastern region (east of White Elster) is the [[Osterland]] or [[Altenburger Land]] along [[Pleiße]] river, a flat, fertile and densely settled agricultural area.

There are two large rivers in Thuringia.  The [[Saale]], a tributary of the [[Elbe]], with its tributaries the [[Unstrut]], [[Ilm (Thuringia)|Ilm]] and White Elster, drains the most part of Thuringia.  The [[Werra]] – the headwater of the [[Weser]] – drains the south-west and west of the state. Furthermore, some small areas on the southern border are drained by tributaries of the [[Main (river)|Main]], itself a tributary of the [[Rhine]]. There are no large natural lakes in Thuringia, but it does have some of Germany's biggest dams, including the [[Bleiloch Dam]] and the [[Hohenwarte Dam]] on the River Saale, as well as the [[Leibis-Lichte Dam]] and the [[Goldisthal Pumped Storage Station]] in the Thuringian Highlands. Thuringia is Germany's only state with no connection to navigable waterways.

The [[Centroid|geographic centre]] of the [[Germany|Federal Republic]] is in Thuringia, within the municipality of [[Vogtei, Thuringia|Vogtei]] next to [[Mühlhausen]]. The centre of Thuringia is eight kilometres south of the capital's [[Erfurt Cathedral|Cathedral]], in the municipality of [[Rockhausen]].

=== Climate ===
Thuringia's climate is [[Temperate climate|temperate]] with humid westerly winds predominating. Increasingly as one moves from the north-west to the south-east, the climate shows continental features: winters can be cold for long periods, and summers can become warm. Dry periods are often recorded, especially within the Thuringian Basin, leeward to mountains in all directions. It is Germany's driest area, with annual precipitation of only 400 to 500&nbsp;mm.

[[Artern]], in the north-east, is warm and dry, with a mean annual temperature of 8.5&nbsp;°C and mean precipitation of 450&nbsp;mm; contrast this with wet, cool [[Oberhof, Germany|Oberhof]], in the Thuringian Forest, where temperature averages only 4.4&nbsp;°C and mean annual precipitation reaches 1300&nbsp;mm.

{{Erfurt-Weimar weatherbox}}

=== Nature and environment ===
[[File:Ruppberg Sonnenaufgang.jpg|thumb|right|[[Thuringian Forest]] in winter]]
[[File:WAK SEEB INSELSBG.jpg|thumb|right|[[Großer Inselsberg]]]]
Due to many centuries of intensive settlement, most of the area is shaped by human influence. The original natural vegetation of Thuringia is forest with [[Fagus sylvatica|beech]] as its predominant species, as can still be found in the [[Hainich]] mountains today. In the uplands, a mixture of beech and [[Picea abies|spruce]] would be natural. However, most of the plains have been cleared and are in intensive agricultural use while most of the forests are planted with spruce and [[Scots pine|pine]]. Since 1990, Thuringia's forests have been managed aiming for a more natural and tough vegetation more resilient to climate change as well as diseases and vermin. In comparison to the forest, agriculture is still quite conventional and dominated by large structures and monocultures. Problems here are caused especially by increasingly prolonged dry periods during the summer months.

Environmental damage in Thuringia has been reduced to a large extent after 1990. The condition of forests, rivers and air was improved by modernizing factories, houses (decline of coal heating) and cars, and contaminated areas such as the former [[Uranium]] surface mines around [[Ronneburg, Thuringia|Ronneburg]] have been remediated. Today's environmental problems are the salination of the [[Werra]] river, caused by discharges of [[K+S]] salt mines around [[Unterbreizbach]] and overfertilisation in agriculture, damaging the soil and small rivers.

Environment and nature protection has been of growing importance and attention since 1990. Large areas, especially within the forested mountains, are protected as natural reserves, including Thuringia's first national park within the [[Hainich National Park|Hainich]] mountains, founded in 1997, the [[Rhön Biosphere Reserve]], the [[Thuringian Forest Nature Park]] and the [[South Harz Nature Park]].