Plateaus are found on every continent and even beneath the ocean. They range from the massive Tibetan Plateau in East Asia, the largest on Earth at 3.6 million square kilometers, to the ice-covered Antarctic Plateau surrounding the South Pole. Some sit at extreme elevations, while others spread across lower landscapes shaped by ancient lava flows or slow tectonic uplift.
Asia: Home to the Largest Plateaus
The Tibetan Plateau dominates any global list. Covering about 3.6 million square kilometers, it formed roughly 55 million years ago when the Indo-Australian and Eurasian tectonic plates collided. The land buckled upward along the collision zone, creating the Himalayas, while the broader region behind them rose into a vast, flat expanse. About 59% of its surface sits above 4,000 meters, earning it the nickname “Roof of the World.” The Himalayas also create a massive rain shadow, keeping much of the plateau dry by wringing moisture out of air masses before they can cross the peaks.
Asia holds several other significant plateaus. The Deccan Plateau covers roughly 1.9 million square kilometers across west-central India at elevations between 300 and 600 meters. It was built by enormous lava flows rather than tectonic collision. The Iranian Plateau stretches across approximately 3.7 million square kilometers at 300 to 1,500 meters. The Mongolian Plateau spans about 2.6 million square kilometers at 1,000 to 1,500 meters. Pakistan’s Deosai Plains, at an average elevation of 4,114 meters, are considered the second highest plateau in the world. The Armenian Highlands, the Anatolian Plateau in Turkey, and the Najd on the Arabian Peninsula round out Asia’s collection.
North and South America
The Colorado Plateau is one of the most recognizable plateaus in North America, covering about 337,000 square kilometers across Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. Its rim sits at roughly 2 kilometers above sea level, surrounding a slightly lower core. Geologists believe the plateau has been rising at about 0.03 centimeters per year for more than 10 million years, with a cushion of magma pushing up the rock from below providing its most recent lift. The Grand Canyon, carved into the Colorado Plateau by the Colorado River, reveals billions of years of exposed rock layers.
Farther northwest, the Columbia Plateau in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho formed from repeated runny lava flows that spilled from cracks in the ground and spread across hundreds of square miles. The Yellowstone Plateau in Wyoming sits atop a volcanic hotspot that has been active for 17 million years, with the most recent lava flow occurring about 70,000 years ago. Mexico’s central highlands form the Mexican Plateau, another major high-altitude landform in North America.
In South America, the Altiplano is the most extensive high plateau on Earth outside of Tibet. It stretches across Bolivia, Peru, and parts of Argentina and Chile where the Andes are at their widest, with elevations above 3,000 meters. More than 3 million people live on the Altiplano, mostly in Bolivian and Peruvian cities like El Alto (population around 903,000), La Paz (757,000), and Oruro (310,000). The Colombian capital Bogotá sits on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, a separate Andean plateau roughly the size of Switzerland.
Africa and Its Highland Plateaus
Africa’s most prominent plateau is the Ethiopian Highlands. Within that system, the Sanetti Plateau in the Bale Mountains towers over southeastern Ethiopia, spreading across thousands of square kilometers with much of it at 3,000 meters above sea level. It is the most extensive high-altitude feature on the African continent. Several volcanic cones on top of that base rise above 4,000 meters. The plateau formed tens of millions of years ago through successive outpourings of lava.
Southern Africa has the Highveld, the portion of South Africa’s inland plateau sitting between 1,500 and 2,100 meters. In northern Africa, Egypt’s Giza Plateau (the famous base of the Great Pyramids) and the Galala Mountain region rise to about 1,000 meters above sea level.
Oceania and Antarctica
Australia’s Western Plateau is an ancient geological formation covering roughly 700,000 square kilometers across the continent’s southwest. It is one of the oldest land surfaces on Earth, part of the Australian Shield. The Northern Tablelands, covering about 18,197 square kilometers, are Australia’s largest highland area. In New Zealand, the North Island Volcanic Plateau occupies much of the center of the North Island, featuring active volcanoes, lava plateaus, and crater lakes, including Lake Taupō, the country’s largest lake.
The Antarctic Plateau, sometimes called the Polar Plateau, covers most of East Antarctica and is home to the geographic South Pole and the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Unlike other plateaus, its surface is a thick layer of ice rather than exposed rock. It is one of the coldest, driest, and most remote plateaus on the planet.
Plateaus Beneath the Ocean
Plateaus are not limited to dry land. Oceanic plateaus are vast underwater formations, typically elevated 2 to 3 kilometers above the surrounding seafloor. They can span up to 2 million square kilometers with crust up to 38 kilometers thick, far thicker than average ocean floor. The Kerguelen Plateau in the southern Indian Ocean and the Ontong Java Plateau in the Pacific are among the largest. These underwater plateaus formed from massive volcanic eruptions millions of years ago and play an important role in ocean circulation patterns.
How Plateaus Form
Plateaus generally form through one of three geological processes. The first is tectonic collision: when two of Earth’s crustal plates push into each other, the land can buckle into mountains at the collision zone while the broader surrounding area lifts upward into a flat, elevated surface. The Tibetan Plateau is the clearest example.
The second process involves magma pushing up from deep inside the Earth without actually breaking through the surface. Instead of erupting, the magma acts as a cushion that slowly raises the rock above it. This is how the Colorado Plateau gained much of its elevation over the past 10 million years.
The third process is volcanic buildup. Repeated lava flows spill from cracks in the ground, spread across wide areas, and cool into flat layers. Over millions of years, these layers stack up into a plateau. The Columbia Plateau and the Deccan Plateau both formed this way. National Geographic classifies all plateaus into two broad types: dissected plateaus, shaped primarily by tectonic uplift and then carved by erosion into valleys and gorges, and volcanic plateaus, built up gradually by lava flows.
Why Plateau Locations Matter
Plateaus shape the climate, water supply, and livability of enormous regions. Their elevation forces air masses upward, cooling them and squeezing out moisture on one side while leaving the land beyond in a rain shadow. The Tibetan Plateau influences monsoon patterns across all of South and East Asia. The Altiplano’s extreme elevation creates thin air with low oxygen levels and intense UV radiation, conditions that have shaped the biology and culture of the millions of people living there for thousands of years. Plateaus also serve as the headwaters for major river systems: the Tibetan Plateau feeds the Yangtze, Mekong, Indus, and Brahmaputra rivers, supplying water to billions of people downstream.