, in the
Ardennes s in
Koksijde, at the
North Sea Belgium has three main geographical regions: the coastal
plain in the north-west, the central plateau, and the
Ardennes uplands in the south-east. The coastal plain consists mainly of sand dunes and
polders. Polders are areas of land, close to or below sea level that have been reclaimed from the sea, from which they are protected by
dikes or, further inland, by fields that have been drained with canals. The second geographical region, the central plateau, lies further inland. This is a smooth, slowly rising area that has many fertile valleys and is irrigated by many waterways. Here one can also find rougher land, including caves and small
gorges. The third geographical region, called the Ardennes, is more rugged than the first two. It is a thickly forested plateau, very rocky and not very good for farming, which extends into northern France and in Germany where it is named
Eifel. This is where much of Belgium's wildlife can be found. Belgium's highest point, the
Signal de Botrange is located in this region at only . Belgium has relatively few natural lakes and none of any great size. Notable natural regions include the Ardennes,
Campine and
High Fens.
Rivers and lakes All of Belgium is drained into the
North Sea, except the municipality of
Momignies (Macquenoise), which is drained by the river
Oise into the
English Channel. Three major rivers flow into the sea: the
Scheldt (200 km in Belgium, 350 km in total), the
Meuse (183 km in Belgium, 925 km in total) and the
Yser (50 km in Belgium, 78 km in total). Other rivers are the
Rupel,
Senne,
Sambre,
Lesse,
Ourthe,
Lys and
Dijle. The main lakes include the
Lake Genval,
Lake Bütgenbach,
Lake Eau d'Heure,
Lake Gileppe,
Lake Eupen and
Lake Robertville.
Artificial waterways Belgium also has many artificial waterways or canals, among others the
Brussels–Scheldt Maritime Canal, the
Brussels–Charleroi Canal, the
Canal du Centre and the
Albert Canal in
Antwerp.
Climate The Belgian climate, like most of northwest Europe, is
maritime temperate, with significant precipitation in all seasons (
Köppen climate classification:
Cfb; the average temperature is in January, and in July; the average precipitation is in January, and in July). Belgium usually has cool winters but temperatures as low as −16 °C (3 °F) have been registered and summers are comfortably warm but temperatures can occasionally rise as high as 30 °C (86 °F). {{Weather box
Mountain and hills Belgium's highest point is the
Signal de Botrange at 694 metres above the sea level. Other hills in Belgium include the
Kemmelberg (159 m high) and the
Koppenberg (77 m high) both known as part of the route of the cycle races
Gent–Wevelgem and the
Tour of Flanders respectively.
Extreme points This is a list of the extreme points of Belgium, the points that are farther north, south, east, west, high or low than any other location. • Northernmost point —
Dreef, municipality of
Hoogstraten,
Antwerp Province • Southernmost point —
Torgny, municipality of
Rouvroy,
Luxembourg • Westernmost point —
De Panne,
West Flanders (also the northernmost point in France) • Easternmost point —
Krewinkel, municipality of
Büllingen,
Liège Province • Highest point —
Signal de Botrange (694 m) • Lowest point —
De Moeren (−3 m) The
Belgian National Geographic Institute calculated that the central point of Belgium lies at coordinates , in
Nil-Saint-Vincent-Saint-Martin in the municipality of
Walhain. ==Human geography==