Plain

plain, any relatively level area of the Earth’s surface exhibiting gentle slopes and small local relief. Plains vary widely in size. The smallest occupy only a few hectares, whereas the largest cover hundreds of thousands of square kilometres—as, for example, the Great Plains of North America and the expanse of gently undulating land that sweeps from the Pyrenees Range on the French–Spanish border across northern Europe and Asia almost halfway around the world nearly to the Bering Sea.

Occupying slightly more than one-third of the terrestrial surface, plains are found on all continents except Antarctica. They occur north of the Arctic circle, in the tropics, and in the middle latitudes. Corresponding to their broad geographical distribution, the plains of the world show considerable variation in vegetation. Some are tree covered and others are grassy. Still others support scrub brush and bunch grass, while a few, which are nearly waterless deserts, have only the most sparse and scanty plant life. See Pampas, the; prairie.

The major plains of North America, South America, Europe, and Asia occur in the continental interiors, but broad extensions of some of these flat lands reach the Atlantic coast. The largest plains of Africa occupy a vast portion of the Sahara and extend southward into the Congo and Kalahari basins. Most of the interior of Australia, from the mountains along the eastern margin to the plateaus in the far west, is one vast desert plain.

The majority of the world’s most extensive plains were formed as a result of the dominance of erosional and depositional processes over tectonic activity—e.g., uplift or subsidence of the Earth’s crust. By contrast, a large number of smaller plains developed in areas where crustal deformation was quite intense. Most of these consist of depressed crustal segments that have been partly filled by sand, clay, and rock debris deposited by streams from adjoining highlands.

With certain exceptions, plains have become the sites of major centres of population, industry, commerce, and transportation. Their flat surfaces are easily cultivated and usually contain the most productive soil. Moreover, such areas of low relief present few obstacles to land transportation, and the rivers running across them are generally much easier to navigate than are those of rougher terrain.