The Engadine lies at the southeasternmost end of Switzerland and at the western end of the
Eastern Alps, and constitutes the Swiss part of the -long valley drained by the En/Inn until it turns northeast again after a large bend to northwest just before
Landeck in
Austria. The Austrian part is simply called the
Oberinntal (upper Inn Valley). From the
Maloja Pass () to the border of
Tyrol, just before the
Schergenbach, coming from
Samnaun, enters the Inn, it runs for the whole Swiss length of , always above in
elevation. The Engadine is connected by the
Julier,
Albula, and
Flüela Passes and the
Vereina Tunnel to the northern part of Switzerland and the rest of the canton of Grisons. It can be reached from northern
Italy by the
Maloja Pass to the west and the
Bernina Pass to the south. Via the
Pass dal Fuorn () it connects to the southern
Val Müstair () and further south over the border to the
Val Venosta () in Italy. ) begins at the Maloja
mountain pass () in the southwest with a subsequent chain of lakes running southwest–northeast:
Lej da Segl (, ),
Lej da Silvaplauna (, ), both famous for windsurfing, and
Lej da San Murezzan (; , ). To the southwestern side, the Maloja Pass drops precipitously down to the
Italian spoken
Val Bregaglia () and then over the Swiss-Italian border further down to
Chiavenna (), and thence southwards to
Como. Near the
Lunghin Pass (), northwest from and above Maloja, lies the most notable triple watershed in Western Europe, from where the water flows via the Inn and then via the
Danube to the
Black Sea, via the
Maira and then via the
Po to the
Mediterranean Sea, and via the
Gelgia and then via the
Rhine to the
North Sea. Near Samedan, the river
Flaz joins the
Inn from the south and the valley opens into a wide meadow framed with mountains. The Flaz is a major tributary which flows north, down the
Val Bernina starting in
Pontresina at the confluence of the
Ova da Roseg and
Ova da Bernina. Here, on the flat between those two rivers one also finds the
Engadin Airport. ) begins. Here the villages are no longer located on the valley floor, with the exception of Zernez, but higher up on sunny terraces formed during glacial periods. In contrast to the elevated plain of the Upper Engadine, where the upper reaches of the En flow gently down the valley, the geological background of the Lower Engadine forms a very different landscape. The right flank of the valley, the Lower Engadine Dolomites, is highly jagged, densely forested and steep. Glaciers and rivers have marked the left side of the valley in many different ways, where the geological structure has allowed for the formation of a fairly broad valley floor and softly rising, rounded landscape features with high-lying terraces, which is where most of the villages - with the notable exception of the main town
Scuol - are located. overlooking the valley To the north, another train route connects the Lower Engadine with
Klosters (and
Davos) in the
Prätigau via the recently built
Vereina Tunnel. And further via Landquart to Chur or
Zürich. The capital of the Lower Engadine is the ski and spa resort
Scuol at around . At the very end of the Engadine, a curvaceous mountain road through the deep gorge-like
Val da Tschera, not build before 1912, connects to the remote, very secluded and duty-free ski resort
Samnaun, which shares a huge ski area with Austrian
Ischgl. Samnaun, as well as all larger and even most smaller villages in the main valley or its side valleys, is connected by regular
PostBus Switzerland services with RhB stations either in Scuol or any other stop further up the main valley. Regular bus services connects Scuol also via Martina and the Austrian
Pfunds with the Landeck-
Zams in the
Tyrolian Upper Inn Valley (). Here you meet the main railway line between Zürich –
Innsbruck – Salzburg – Vienna. PostBus Switzerland also connects the main valley from Zernez with the Val Müstair or even further to the South-Tyrolian
Mals, and by an Italian bus service back to the Lower Engadine via Martina, or vice versa. ==Demographics==