- See Association of the Alpine States for another meaning
The term Alpine states or Alpine countries refers to the countries associated with the region of Alps. As defined by the Alpine Convention of 1991, the region of the Alps comprise the territory of 7 countries. This territory includes 83 NUTS 3-level local administrative regions and about 6,200 communities/municipalities. The 7 alpine states are Switzerland (Swiss Alps), Liechtenstein, Austria, Slovenia, Germany, France, and Italy.[1]
After Monaco became a party of the convention under a separate protocol, topics related to the Alpine Convention refer to "eight Alpine states".[2]
In the narrow sense, the term "Alpine states" may be applied to the first three or four: Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, and optionally Slovenia (after the dissolution of Yugoslavia), with all or major part of the territory within the high elevation terrain of the Alpine arc. The four are also included into the traditional region of Central Europe.
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