 Most of the perimeter of the Western Carpathians is quite sharply defined by valleys.To the northwest and north they are separated from the Bohemian Massif by the Forecarpathian Lowland and the Lesser Poland Upland; to the west the Moravian Gate leads over to the Sudetes.To the south the mountain chain falls away towards the Pannonian Plain, a large plain situated between the Alps, the Dinaric Alps, and the main mass of the Eastern Carpathians.