year=2025&stat=paracelislands_2025_terrain&name=Paracel Islands

Country ranking for field: terrain 2025

Other rankings:

This entry contains a brief description of the topography.

	World	a compilation of terrain extremes can be found in the World elevation entry; the world's ocean floors also display wide variation as explained in the bathymetry and major ocean currents entries under each of the five ocean entries
1	Afghanistan	0
2	Albania	mostly mountains and hills; small plains along coast
3	Algeria	mostly high plateau and desert; Atlas Mountains in the far north and Hoggar Mountains in the south; narrow discontinuous coastal plain
4	American Samoa	five volcanic islands with rugged peaks and limited coastal plains two coral atolls
5	Andorra	rugged mountains dissected by narrow valleys
6	Angola	narrow coastal plain rises abruptly to vast interior plateau
7	Anguilla	flat and low-lying island of coral and limestone
8	Antarctica	about 99% thick continental ice sheet and 1% barren rock with average elevations between 2000 and 4000 m; mountain ranges up to nearly 5000 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
9	Antigua and Barbuda	mostly low-lying limestone and coral islands with some higher volcanic areas
10	Argentina	rich plains of the Pampas in northern half flat to rolling plateau of Patagonia in south rugged Andes along western border
11	Armenia	Armenian Highland with mountains; little forest land; fast flowing rivers; good soil in Aras River valley
12	Aruba	flat with a few hills; scant vegetation
13	Ashmore and Cartier Islands	low with sand and coral
14	Australia	mostly low plateau with deserts; fertile plain in southeast
15	Austria	mostly mountains
16	Azerbaijan	large flat Kur-Araz Ovaligi
17	Bahrain	mostly low desert plain rising gently to low central escarpment
18	Bangladesh	mostly flat alluvial plain; hilly in southeast
19	Barbados	relatively flat; rises gently to central highland region
20	Belarus	generally flat with much marshland
21	Belgium	flat coastal plains in northwest central rolling hills rugged mountains of Ardennes Forest in southeast
22	Belize	flat swampy coastal plain; low mountains in south
23	Benin	mostly flat to undulating plain; some hills and low mountains
24	Bermuda	low hills separated by fertile depressions
25	Bhutan	mostly mountainous with some fertile valleys and savanna
26	Bolivia	rugged Andes Mountains with a highland plateau
27	Bosnia and Herzegovina	mountains and valleys
28	Botswana	predominantly flat to gently rolling tableland; Kalahari Desert in southwest
29	Bouvet Island	volcanic; coast is mostly inaccessible
30	Brazil	mostly flat to rolling lowlands in north; some plains hills mountains and narrow coastal belt
31	British Indian Ocean Territory	flat and low coral atolls
32	British Virgin Islands	coral islands relatively flat; volcanic islands steep hilly
33	Brunei	flat coastal plain rises to mountains in east; hilly lowland in west
34	Bulgaria	mostly mountains with lowlands in north and southeast
35	Burkina Faso	mostly flat to dissected undulating plains; hills in the west and southeast; occupies an extensive plateau with savanna that is grassy in the north and gradually gives way to sparse forests in the south
36	Burundi	hilly and mountainous dropping to a plateau in east some plains
37	Cabo Verde	steep rugged rocky volcanic
38	Cambodia	mostly low flat plains; mountains in southwest and north
39	Cameroon	diverse with coastal plain in southwest dissected plateau in center mountains in west plains in north
40	Canada	mostly plains with mountains in west lowlands in southeast
41	Cayman Islands	low-lying limestone base surrounded by coral reefs
42	Central African Republic	vast flat to rolling plateau; scattered hills in northeast and southwest
43	Chad	broad arid plains in center desert in north mountains in northwest lowlands in south
44	Chile	low coastal mountains fertile central valley rugged Andes in east
45	China	mostly mountains high plateaus deserts in west; plains deltas and hills in east
46	Christmas Island	steep cliffs along coast rise abruptly to central plateau
47	Clipperton Island	coral atoll
48	Cocos Islands	flat low-lying coral atolls
49	Colombia	flat coastal lowlands central highlands high Andes Mountains eastern lowland plains
50	Comoros	volcanic islands interiors vary from steep mountains to low hills
51	Congo	coastal plain southern basin central plateau northern basin
52	Cook Islands	low coral atolls in north; volcanic hilly islands in south
53	Coral Sea Islands Territory	sand and coral reefs and islands
54	Costa Rica	coastal plains separated by rugged mountains including over 100 volcanic cones of which several are major active volcanoes
55	Croatia	geographically diverse; flat plains along Hungarian border low mountains and highlands near Adriatic coastline and islands
56	Cuba	mostly flat to rolling plains with rugged hills and mountains in the southeast
57	Curaçao	generally low hilly terrain
58	Cyprus	central plain with mountains to north and south; scattered but significant plains along southern coast
59	Czech Republic	Bohemia in the west consists of rolling plains hills and plateaus surrounded by low mountains; Moravia in the east consists of very hilly country
60	Democratic Republic of the Congo	vast central basin is a low-lying plateau; mountains in east
61	Denmark	low and flat to gently rolling plains
62	Djibouti	coastal plain and plateau separated by central mountains
63	Dominica	rugged mountains of volcanic origin
64	Dominican Republic	rugged highlands and mountains interspersed with fertile valleys
65	Ecuador	coastal plain
66	Egypt	vast desert plateau interrupted by Nile valley and delta
67	El Salvador	mostly mountains with narrow coastal belt and central plateau
68	Equatorial Guinea	coastal plains rise to interior hills; islands are volcanic
69	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
70	Estonia	marshy lowlands; flat in the north hilly in the south
71	Eswatini	mostly mountains and hills; some moderately sloping plains
72	Ethiopia	high plateau with central mountain range divided by Great Rift Valley
73	European Union	fairly flat along Baltic and Atlantic coasts; mountainous in the central and southern areas
74	Falkland Islands	rocky hilly mountainous with some boggy undulating plains
75	Faroe Islands	rugged rocky some low peaks; cliffs along most of coast
76	Federated States of Micronesia	islands vary geologically from high mountainous islands to low coral atolls; volcanic outcroppings on Pohnpei Kosrae and Chuuk
77	Fiji	mostly mountains of volcanic origin
78	Finland	mostly low flat to rolling plains interspersed with lakes and low hills
79	French Polynesia	mixture of rugged high islands and low islands with reefs
80	Gabon	narrow coastal plain; hilly interior; savanna in east and south
81	Gaza Strip	flat to rolling sand- and dune-covered coastal plain
82	Georgia	largely mountainous with Great Caucasus Mountains in the north and Lesser Caucasus Mountains in the south; Kolkhet'is Dablobi
83	Germany	lowlands in north uplands in center Bavarian Alps in south
84	Ghana	mostly low plains with dissected plateau in south-central area
85	Gibraltar	a narrow coastal lowland borders the Rock of Gibraltar
86	Greece	mountainous with ranges extending into the sea as peninsulas or chains of islands
87	Greenland	flat to gradually sloping icecap covers all but a narrow mountainous barren rocky coast
88	Grenada	volcanic in origin with central mountains
89	Guam	volcanic origin surrounded by coral reefs; relatively flat coralline limestone plateau
90	Guernsey	mostly flat with low hills in southwest
91	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
92	Guinea	generally flat coastal plain hilly to mountainous interior
93	Guyana	mostly rolling highlands; low coastal plain; savanna in south
94	Haiti	mostly rough and mountainous
95	Heard Island and McDonald Islands	Heard Island - 80% ice-covered bleak and mountainous dominated by a large massif
96	Holy See	urban; low hill
97	Honduras	mostly mountains in interior narrow coastal plains
98	Hong Kong	hilly to mountainous with steep slopes; lowlands in north
99	Hungary	mostly flat to rolling plains; hills and low mountains on the Slovakian border
100	Iceland	mostly plateau interspersed with mountain peaks icefields; coast deeply indented by bays and fiords
101	India	upland plain
102	Indonesia	mostly coastal lowlands; larger islands have interior mountains
103	Iran	rugged mountainous rim; high central basin with deserts mountains; small discontinuous plains along both coasts
104	Iraq	mostly broad plains; reedy marshes along Iranian border in south with large flooded areas; mountains along borders with Iran and Turkey
105	Ireland	mostly flat to rolling interior plain surrounded by rugged hills and low mountains; sea cliffs on west coast
106	Isle of Man	hills in north and south bisected by central valley
107	Israel	Negev desert in the south; low coastal plain; central mountains; Jordan Rift Valley
108	Italy	mostly rugged and mountainous; some plains coastal lowlands
109	Jamaica	mostly mountains with narrow discontinuous coastal plain
110	Jan Mayen	volcanic island partly covered by glaciers
111	Japan	mostly rugged and mountainous
112	Jersey	gently rolling plain with low rugged hills along north coast
113	Jordan	mostly arid desert plateau; a great north-south geological rift along the west of the country is the dominant topographical feature and includes the Jordan River Valley the Dead Sea and the Jordanian Highlands
114	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
115	Kenya	low plains rise to central highlands bisected by Great Rift Valley; fertile plateau in west
116	Kiribati	mostly low-lying coral atolls surrounded by extensive reefs
117	Kosovo	flat fluvial basin at an elevation of 400-700 m above sea level surrounded by several high mountain ranges with elevations of 2000 to 2500 m
118	Kuwait	flat to slightly undulating desert plain
119	Kyrgyzstan	peaks of the Tien Shan mountain range and associated valleys and basins encompass the entire country
120	Laos	mostly rugged mountains; some plains and plateaus
121	Latvia	low plain
122	Lebanon	narrow coastal plain; El Beqaa
123	Lesotho	mostly highland with plateaus hills and mountains
124	Liberia	mostly flat to rolling coastal plains rising to rolling plateau and low mountains in northeast
125	Libya	mostly barren flat to undulating plains plateaus depressions
126	Liechtenstein	mostly mountainous
127	Lithuania	lowland many scattered small lakes fertile soil
128	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
129	Macau	generally flat
130	Madagascar	narrow coastal plain high plateau and mountains in center
131	Malawi	narrow elongated plateau with rolling plains rounded hills some mountains
132	Malaysia	coastal plains rising to hills and mountains
133	Maldives	flat coral atolls with white sandy beaches; sits atop the submarine volcanic Chagos-Laccadive Ridge
134	Mali	mostly flat to rolling northern plains covered by sand; savanna in south rugged hills in northeast
135	Malta	mostly low rocky flat to dissected plains; many coastal cliffs
136	Marshall Islands	low coral limestone and sand islands
137	Mauritania	mostly barren flat plains of the Sahara; some central hills
138	Mauritius	small coastal plain rising to discontinuous mountains encircling central plateau
139	Mexico	high rugged mountains; low coastal plains; high plateaus; desert
140	Moldova	rolling steppe gradual slope south to Black Sea
141	Monaco	hilly rugged rocky
142	Mongolia	vast semidesert and desert plains grassy steppe mountains in west and southwest; Gobi Desert in south-central
143	Montenegro	highly indented coastline with narrow coastal plain backed by rugged high limestone mountains and plateaus
144	Montserrat	volcanic island mostly mountainous with small coastal lowland
145	Morocco	mountainous northern coast
146	Mozambique	mostly coastal lowlands uplands in center high plateaus in northwest mountains in west
147	Myanmar	central lowlands ringed by steep rugged highlands
148	Namibia	mostly high plateau; Namib Desert along coast; Kalahari Desert in east
149	Nauru	sandy beach rises to fertile ring around raised coral reefs with phosphate plateau in center
150	Navassa Island	raised flat to undulating coral and limestone plateau; ringed by vertical white cliffs
151	Nepal	Tarai or flat river plain of the Ganges in south; central hill region with rugged Himalayas in north
152	New Caledonia	coastal plains with interior mountains
153	New Zealand	predominately mountainous with large coastal plains
154	Nicaragua	extensive Atlantic coastal plains rising to central interior mountains; narrow Pacific coastal plain interrupted by volcanoes
155	Niger	predominately desert plains and sand dunes; flat to rolling plains in south; hills in north
156	Nigeria	southern lowlands merge into central hills and plateaus; mountains in southeast plains in north
157	Niue	steep limestone cliffs along coast central plateau
158	Norfolk Island	volcanic island with mostly rolling plains
159	North Korea	mostly hills and mountains separated by deep narrow valleys; wide coastal plains in west discontinuous in east
160	North Macedonia	mountainous with deep basins and valleys; three large lakes each divided by a frontier line; country bisected by the Vardar River
161	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
162	Norway	glaciated; mostly high plateaus and rugged mountains broken by fertile valleys; small scattered plains; coastline deeply indented by fjords; arctic tundra in north
163	Oman	central desert plain rugged mountains in north and south
164	Palau	varying topography from the high mountainous main island of Babelthuap to low coral islands usually fringed by large barrier reefs
165	Panama	interior mostly steep rugged mountains with dissected upland plains; coastal plains with rolling hills
166	Papua New Guinea	mostly mountains with coastal lowlands and rolling foothills
167	Paracel Islands	mostly low and flat
168	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
169	Peru	western coastal plain
170	Philippines	mostly mountains with narrow to extensive coastal lowlands
171	Pitcairn Islands	rugged volcanic formation; rocky coastline with cliffs
172	Poland	mostly flat plain; mountains along southern border
173	Puerto Rico	mostly mountains with coastal plain in north; precipitous mountains to the sea on west coast; sandy beaches along most coastal areas
174	Qatar	mostly flat and barren desert
175	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
176	Russia	broad plain with low hills west of Urals; vast coniferous forest and tundra in Siberia; uplands and mountains along southern border regions
177	Rwanda	mostly grassy uplands and hills; relief is mountainous with altitude declining from west to east
178	Saint Helena	the islands of this group are of volcanic origin associated with the Atlantic Mid-Ocean Ridge
179	Saint Kitts and Nevis	volcanic with mountainous interiors
180	Saint Lucia	volcanic and mountainous with broad fertile valleys
181	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	volcanic mountainous
182	Saint-Barthélemy	hilly almost completely surrounded by shallow-water reefs with plentiful beaches
183	Saint-Pierre and Miquelon	mostly barren rock
184	Samoa	two main islands
185	San Marino	rugged mountains
186	Saudi Arabia	mostly sandy desert
187	Senegal	generally low rolling plains rising to foothills in southeast
188	Serbia	extremely varied; to the north rich fertile plains; to the east limestone ranges and basins; to the southeast ancient mountains and hills
189	Seychelles	Mahe Group is volcanic with a narrow coastal strip and rocky hilly interior; others are relatively flat coral atolls or elevated reefs; sits atop the submarine Mascarene Plateau
190	Sierra Leone	coastal belt of mangrove swamps wooded hill country upland plateau mountains in east
191	Singapore	lowlying gently undulating central plateau
192	Sint Maarten	low hilly terrain volcanic origin
193	Slovakia	rugged mountains in the central and northern part and lowlands in the south
194	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
195	Solomon Islands	mostly rugged mountains with some low coral atolls
196	Somalia	mostly flat to undulating plateau rising to hills in north
197	South Africa	vast interior plateau rimmed by rugged hills and narrow coastal plain
198	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
199	South Korea	mostly hills and mountains; wide coastal plains in west and south
200	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
201	Spain	large flat to dissected plateau surrounded by rugged hills; Pyrenees Mountains in north
202	Spratly Islands	small flat islands islets cays and reefs
203	Sri Lanka	mostly low flat to rolling plain; mountains in south-central interior
204	Sudan	generally flat featureless plain; desert dominates the north
205	Suriname	mostly rolling hills; narrow coastal plain with swamps
206	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
207	Sweden	mostly flat or gently rolling lowlands; mountains in west
208	Switzerland	mostly mountains
209	Syria	primarily semiarid and desert plateau; narrow coastal plain; mountains in west
210	São Tomé and Príncipe	volcanic mountainous
211	Taiwan	eastern two-thirds mostly rugged mountains; flat to gently rolling plains in west
212	Tajikistan	mountainous region dominated by the Alay Mountains in the north and the Pamirs in the southeast; western Fergana Valley in north Kofirnihon and Vakhsh Valleys in southwest
213	Tanzania	plains along coast; central plateau; highlands in north south
214	Thailand	central plain; Khorat Plateau in the east; mountains elsewhere
215	The Bahamas	long flat coral formations with some low rounded hills
216	The Gambia	flood plain of the Gambia River flanked by some low hills
217	The Netherlands	mostly coastal lowland and reclaimed land
218	Timor-Leste	mountainous
219	Togo	gently rolling savanna in north; central hills; southern plateau; low coastal plain with extensive lagoons and marshes
220	Tokelau	low-lying coral atolls enclosing large lagoons
221	Tonga	mostly flat islands with limestone bedrock formed from uplifted coral formation; others have limestone overlying volcanic rock
222	Trinidad and Tobago	mostly plains with some hills and low mountains
223	Tunisia	mountains in north; hot dry central plain; semiarid south merges into the Sahara
224	Turkey	high central plateau
225	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
226	Turks and Caicos Islands	low flat limestone; extensive marshes and mangrove swamps
227	Tuvalu	low-lying and narrow coral atolls
228	U.S. Virgin Islands	mostly hilly to rugged and mountainous with little flat land
229	Uganda	mostly plateau with rim of mountains
230	Ukraine	mostly fertile plains
231	United Arab Emirates	flat barren coastal plain merging into rolling sand dunes of vast desert; mountains in east
232	United Kingdom	mostly rugged hills and low mountains; level to rolling plains in east and southeast
233	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
234	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
235	Uruguay	mostly rolling plains and low hills; fertile coastal lowland
236	Uzbekistan	mostly flat-to-rolling sandy desert with dunes; broad flat intensely irrigated river valleys along course of Amu Darya Syr Darya
237	Vanuatu	mostly mountainous islands of volcanic origin; narrow coastal plains
238	Venezuela	Andes Mountains and Maracaibo Lowlands in northwest; central plains
239	Vietnam	low flat delta in south and north; central highlands; hilly mountainous in far north and northwest
240	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
241	Wallis and Futuna	volcanic origin; low hills
242	West Bank	mostly rugged dissected upland in west flat plains descending to Jordan River Valley to the east
243	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
244	Zambia	mostly high plateau with some hills and mountains
245	Zimbabwe	mostly high plateau with higher central plateau

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