Appalachian Highlands in the context of "Appalachian Mountains"

The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions and mountain systems associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain. The general definition used is one followed by the United States Geological Survey and the Geological Survey of Canada to describe the respective countries' physiographic regions. The U.S. uses the term Appalachian Highlands and Canada uses the term Appalachian Uplands; the Appalachian Mountains are not synonymous with the Appalachian Plateau, which is one of the seven provinces of the Appalachian Highlands.

The Appalachian range runs from the Island of Newfoundland in Canada, 2,050 mi (3,300 km) southwestward to Central Alabama in the United States; south of Newfoundland, it crosses the 96-square-mile (248.6 km) archipelago of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, an overseas collectivity of France, meaning it is technically in three countries. The highest peak of the mountain range is Mount Mitchell in North Carolina at 6,684 feet (2,037 m), which is also the highest point in the United States east of the Mississippi River.

The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Highlands range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States and extends 550 miles (885 km) southwest from southern Pennsylvania through Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia. The province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. To the west of the Blue Ridge, between it and the bulk of the Appalachians, lies the Great Appalachian Valley, bordered on the west by the Ridge and Valley province of the Appalachian range.

The Blue Ridge Mountains are known for having a bluish color when seen from a distance. Trees put the "blue" in Blue Ridge, from the isoprene released into the atmosphere. This contributes to the characteristic haze on the mountains and their perceived color.

The Appalachian Uplands is one of the seven physiographic regions in Canada, distinguished by its topography and geology. The region includes southern Quebec, Gaspésie, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and the island of Newfoundland. This is the Canadian portion of the Appalachian Mountains. The United States equivalent portion is called the Appalachian Highlands.

The Appalachian Plateau is a series of rugged dissected plateaus located on the western side of the Appalachian Mountains. The Appalachian Mountains are a range that run from Nova Scotia in Canada to Alabama in the United States.

The Appalachian Plateau is the northwestern part of the Appalachian Highlands physiographic division of the United States, stretching from New York state to Alabama. The plateau is a second level United States physiographic region, covering parts of the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia.

The Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, also called the Ridge and Valley Province or the Valley and Ridge Appalachians, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Highlands division. The physiographic province is divided into three sections: the Hudson Valley, the Central, and the Tennessee.

The river valleys were areas of indigenous settlements for thousands of years. In the historic period, the Cherokee people had towns along many of the rivers in western South Carolina and North Carolina, as well as on the western side of the Appalachian Mountains in present-day Tennessee. Similarly, the Catawba people occupied areas along the upper Catawba River in Western North Carolina, to the east of Cherokee County.

The following is a list of subranges within the Appalachian Mountains, a mountain range stretching ~2,050 miles from Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada to Alabama, US. The Appalachians, at their initial formation, were a part of the larger Central Pangean Mountains along with the Scottish Highlands, the Ouachita Mountains, and the Anti-Atlas Mountains. The modern ranges were formed and/or deformed by the Acadian, Caledonian, Alleghenian, Mauritanide and Variscan orogenies with the Alleghenian orogeny being the most notable to the modern Appalachians.

The Appalachians are also subdivided by a number of large plateaus and additional subplateus. These are commonly not considered subranges although they do contain some features referred to as mountains which are assigned to both their geographic "range" and the more general Appalachian Mountains. These plateaus, such as the Allegheny Plateau, are considered provinces of the Appalachian Highlands and the mountains assigned to them are instead considered pieces of dissected plateaus.