Montana

North Dakota

Saskatchewan

Nebraska

Missouri

Kansas

Wisconsin

Michigan

Alberta

Manitoba

South Dakota

Minnesota

Iowa

Illinois

None

A map showing selected ethnic and cultural regions in North America. Red dots indicate rural ethnic European settlements, primarily located in the Midwestern United States and parts of Canada, with clusters around the Great Lakes and the Dakotas.

Contemporary rural ethnic European settlements in North America

Rural Ethnic European Settlements

North America

nature

Alaska

Arizona

Utah

Yukon

Northwest Territories

District of Columbia

Florida

Idaho

New Hampshire

Rhode Island

Vermont

Washington

Wyoming

Nunavut

Maine

Kentucky

Nova Scotia

Virginia

Delaware

Prince Edward Island

Mississippi

West Virginia

Texas

Louisiana

Hawaii

North Carolina

Oregon

New Brunswick

Alabama

New Mexico

British Columbia

Newfoundland and Labrador

New Jersey

South Carolina

Connecticut

Pennsylvania

Colorado

Nevada

Massachusetts

Georgia

New York

Maryland

Québec

Oklahoma

Tennessee

Ontario

California

Arkansas

Ohio

Indiana

A map highlights the major landforms across the world, using different colors to represent various geological features

The global distribution of Earth's landforms, including mountains, shields, plains, basins, ice caps, and isolated areas of volcanic activity

Major Landforms

In North America, the western regions from the Arctic to south Texas are characterized by the Alpine System, depicted in purple, while the mid-continent and most of the eastern regions consist of Sedimentary Covers, shown in orange. The northeast, including eastern Canada and Greenland, is dominated by Laurasia Shields in green, with a small area of Sedimentary Covers along the western side of Hudson Bay. The east coast primarily features Caledonian and Hercynian (or Appalachian) Remnants in red, which are also present in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and the larger Caribbean islands. In South America, northern and western regions, mainly the Andes Mountains, are part of the Alpine System, with a band of Sedimentary Covers along the eastern side of the Andes and the central Amazon basin. There are two large areas of Gondwana Shields in brown: one in northern Brazil and southern Venezuela, and another covering most of eastern and southern Brazil. Europe’s geological structure is complex. Caledonian and Hercynian Remnants are found in Norway, the British Isles, northwestern France, the western Iberian Peninsula, and areas north of the Alps, including southeastern France, parts of Germany, and Czechia. Laurasia Shields make up Scandinavia east of Norway, while Iceland is marked as an Isolated Volcanic Area in blue. The rest of northern Europe and European Russia consist of Sedimentary Covers, whereas southern Europe is part of the Alpine System. The Ural Mountains in Russia, forming Europe’s eastern boundary, are composed of Caledonian and Hercynian Remnants. In North Africa, Morocco and northern Algeria are part of the Alpine System. The northern Sahara, stretching from Western Sahara through southern Algeria and Libya to Egypt and northern Sudan, is composed of Sedimentary Covers. Much of the rest of Africa features Gondwana Shields, except for East Africa, which is dominated by the Rifted Shield Area in yellow, extending from Eritrea to Malawi and Mozambique. There are also small areas of Sedimentary Covers around the perimeter of the shield and Isolated Volcanic Areas in southern Algeria, northern Chad, and along the Nigeria-Cameroon border. In Asia, the Alpine System extends from Turkey, Iran, and Afghanistan to the Himalayas, much of China, Southeast Asia, and the Indonesian Archipelago. North of this mountainous region, central Russia consists of Sedimentary Covers, with parts of Central Asia containing Caledonian and Hercynian Remnants. Russia's Far East and Siberia feature a Rifted Shield Area and a large Alpine System zone. Australia is a mosaic of Gondwana Shields and Sedimentary Covers, except along its eastern coast, which includes Caledonian and Hercynian Remnants and a Rifted Shield Area near Adelaide on the south coast. This comprehensive map highlights the diverse geological features and landforms that shape each continent.

Display by:	Rural Ethnic European Settlements	Major Landforms
	Rural Ethnic European Settlements	Caledonian and Hercynian (or Appalachian) remnants	Isolated volcanic areas	Alpine system	Sedimentary covers	Laurasian shields
Alaska				98.0%
Arizona				100%
Utah				100%
Yukon				99.8%	0.165%
Northwest Territories		5.87%		7.69%	49.6%	35.7%
District of Columbia		100%
Florida					98.5%
Idaho				100%
New Hampshire		100%
Rhode Island		93.3%
Vermont		92.0%			8.01%
Washington				99.0%
Wyoming				56.0%	44.0%
Nunavut		23.2%			20.4%	53.5%
Montana	1			37.5%	62.5%
Maine		99.1%
North Dakota	6				96.7%	3.34%
Kentucky					100%
Nova Scotia		93.9%
Virginia		69.9%			29.1%
Delaware		16.5%			77.6%
Prince Edward Island		66.2%
Saskatchewan	7				58.9%	41.1%
Mississippi					99.9%
West Virginia		13.2%			86.8%
Nebraska	3				100%
Texas				6.01%	93.7%
Missouri	1	1.58%			98.4%
Louisiana					98.5%
Hawaii			76.7%
North Carolina		57.9%			40.5%
Oregon				99.9%
New Brunswick		99.0%
Alabama		31.4%			68.5%
New Mexico				77.9%	22.1%
Kansas	3				100%
Wisconsin	7				62.0%	38.0%
British Columbia				94.9%	4.13%
Newfoundland and Labrador		24.3%				74.2%
New Jersey		68.7%			27.2%
South Carolina		57.0%			42.9%
Michigan	10				87.8%	12.2%
Alberta	4			6.99%	87.8%	5.22%
Connecticut		100%
Pennsylvania		26.2%			73.8%
Colorado				64.2%	35.8%
Nevada				100%
Massachusetts		93.6%
Georgia		45.5%			54.4%
New York		43.3%			55.9%
Maryland		48.7%			48.4%
Québec		3.44%			1.99%	94.2%
Manitoba	6				30.3%	69.6%
Oklahoma		10.9%			89.1%
Tennessee		16.8%			83.2%
Ontario					30.7%	69.2%
California				99.7%
Arkansas		11.0%			89.0%
South Dakota	3			8.10%	79.3%	12.6%
Ohio					100%
Indiana					100%
Minnesota	7				17.0%	83.0%
Iowa	4				99.0%	1.02%
Illinois	2				100%