piedmont, physiographic region

piedmont, any area near the foot of a mountain, particularly the plateau (the Piedmont) extending from New York to Alabama E of the Appalachian Mts. and W of the Atlantic coastal plain. In Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina it is E of the Blue Ridge Mts. The plateau is cut by numerous small rivers, whose fall line is along the eastern edge of the plateau. “Piedmont” is French for “foothills.”

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