Topography
In terms of surface area, Bavaria is the largest of Germany's
federal states, and also the southernmost. The landscape of Bavaria
can be subdivided into four major regions: the Alps, with the
Zugspitze, the highest mountain in Germany at 2,962m; the Alpine
foothills with their numerous lakes; the Eastern Bavarian central
mountains with the first ever national park in Germany; and the
Swabian-Franconian cuesta landscape. The longest rivers are the
Danube and the Main. Bavaria is also the most forested part of
Germany.
Bavaria was the first ever region in Europe to be precisely
measured.
Nature conservation and environmental protection are of high
importance, and have been an integral part of the Bavarian
constitution since 1984. The German Alpine Association has set
itself the task of making the Alps accessible while preserving the
alpine environment.
The deepest borehole in Europe was drilled in Bavaria, for research
purposes. In Windischeschenbach, in the Upper Palatinate, the
continental deep-drilling reached a depth of 9,101 metres.