Engadin

The Engadin or Engadine (Romansh: Engiadina^ⓘ; German: Engadin [ˈɛŋɡadiːn] ^ⓘ or [ɛŋɡaˈdiːn] ^ⓘ; Italian: Engadina; French: Engadine) is a long high Alpine valley region in the eastern Swiss Alps in the canton of Graubünden in southeasternmost Switzerland with about 25,000 inhabitants. It follows the route of the Inn (Romansh: En) from its headwaters at Maloja Pass in the southwest running roughly northeast until the Inn flows into Austria, little less than one hundred kilometers downstream. The En/Inn subsequently flows at Passau into the Danube, making it the only Swiss river to drain into the Black Sea. The Engadine is protected by high mountain ranges on all sides and is famous for its sunny climate, beautiful landscapes and outdoor activities.

In English, the valley is known as either Engadin (German pronunciation: [ˈɛŋɡadiːn] ^ⓘ, locally also [ɛŋɡaˈdiːn]) or Engadine (/ˈɛŋɡədiːn/ ENG-gə-deen, US also /ˌɛŋɡəˈdiːn/ ENG-gə-DEEN).

The Romansh toponym Engiadina was first attested as Latin vallis Eniatina in AD 930. A derivation from the reconstructed ethnonym *Eniates (with a Celtic suffix -ates denoting "settlers, inhabitants", as in Licates or Atrebates) has been suggested, with the first part of the ethnonym in turn containing the name of the En (Aenus (Enus)). By that derivation the name would mean lit. '"Valley of the Inn people"'.

Especially in touristic and advertising contexts, the meaning of the name is widely given as "garden of the Inn", presumably based on an incorrect folk etymology involving the Italian word giardino. The Romansh languages retain descendants of Latin hortus to refer to a garden, namely üert or iert, and not the ultimately Germanic loanword found in modern-day French and Italian.

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 130 kilometres (81 mi)-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 Inntal (Inn Valley). From the Maloja Pass (1,815 m (5,955 ft)) to the border of Tyrol, just before the Schergenbach, coming from Samnaun, enters the Inn, it runs for the whole Swiss length of 100 kilometres (62 mi), always above 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) 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 (German: Ofenpass) it connects to the southern Val Müstair (German: Münstertal) and further south over the border to the Val Venosta (German: Vinschgau) in Italy.

The highest mountains in the wider area of the Engadine are in the Bernina Range in the southwestern part. The formation of the Engadine is linked to the activity of the Engadine Line.

The Engadine is traditionally divided into two parts: