Title: Alps - Wikipedia
Headings: Alps
Alps
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Contents
Etymology and toponymy
Geography
Passes
Highest mountains
Geology and orogeny
Minerals
Glaciers
Rivers and lakes
Climate
Ecology
Flora
Fauna
History
Prehistory to Christianity
Christianity, feudalism, and Napoleonic wars
Exploration
The Romantics and Alpinists
The Nazis
Largest cities
Alpine people and culture
Tourism
Avalanche/snow-slide
Transportation
References
Notes
References
Works cited
External links

Content: Evidence of human habitation in the Alps goes back to the Palaeolithic era. A mummified man, determined to be 5,000 years old, was discovered on a glacier at the Austrian–Italian border in 1991. By the 6th century BC, the Celtic La Tène culture was well established. Hannibal famously crossed the Alps with a herd of elephants, and the Romans had settlements in the region. In 1800, Napoleon crossed one of the mountain passes with an army of 40,000. The 18th and 19th centuries saw an influx of naturalists, writers, and artists, in particular, the Romantics, followed by the golden age of alpinism as mountaineers began to ascend the peaks. The Alpine region has a strong cultural identity. The traditional culture of farming, cheesemaking, and woodworking still exists in Alpine villages, although the tourist industry began to grow early in the 20th century and expanded greatly after World War II to become the dominant industry by the end of the century. The Winter Olympic Games have been hosted in the Swiss, French, Italian, Austrian and German Alps. At present, the region is home to 14 million people and has 120 million annual visitors.